THE DIGITAL ECONOMY: EXPLORING THE LIVED EXPERIENCES AND SHARED REALITIES OF NIGERIAN CREATIVES

An Investigative Documentary Series By Eden Benibo.

The average Nigerian Creative stays a major driving force of the Nigerian Digital Economy, yet, ironically remains a victim of a system seemingly built to milk raw talents dry within both the private and public sectors, respectively.

A system designed for MORE work, LESS pay.

It’s a world where pain, intellectual theft and various injustices even in the digital workspaces have fast become normalized especially with an economy that leaves one with very minimal choices to fight back and demand for more.

With the advent of AI introduced into this same system, where power supply, strong internet connections and the very basics of technology are still prayer points” to citizens, it begs the question how ready are we as a country to explore this world of AI without taking along the old baggages of corruption into this new world?

In all, the average Nigerian Creative remains one of the most vulnerable members of the society at the receiving end of unregulated policies, unstable technological metrics, unpredictable algorithms and other various inequalities further broadening the socioeconomic, knowledge and digital divides.

Recently at Hello ICON Magazine, we interviewed some members of our Creative Community, top Content Creators and other major stakeholders within the Nigerian Creative economy and one thing stayed glaring— the lack of knowledge in multiple human rights specifically within the Digital Economy, resulting to an industry where ignorance has been weaponized and injustices, normalized.

Nobody talks about these things.
Usually hush hush, and a lot of people just take things like that because otherwise there would be nothing to do.
You exposing this, I can’t even tell you how refreshing it is and how audacious you are.

Thank you for all that you do, Eden.
This a lot of good work you are doing, really.

Kudos to the Hello ICON Team.

Isioma Onyenakwe

While these words are reenergizing to the work that we do at Hello ICON, on the other hand, it serves as a wakeup call to the media and all major stakeholders on the need to further dig into the underreported stories of the digital economy, governmental policies and emerging technologies beyond the surface levels.

LIVED EXPERIENCES AND SHARED REALITIES OF CREATIVES IN NIGERIA..

In 2017, at the University of Benin, Ekehaun campus, long before the current buzz around unethical AI and intellectual property theft, Kome, a final year student of Mass Communication was offered an unpaid virtual internship role as a Content Writer by a journalist, from one of the leading newspaper houses in Nigeria.

With zero work experience and a minimal understanding of a proper work structure, Kome excitedly accepted the offer.

Although there was no financial agreement of any sort, at least building a great portfolio and bylines would have been a fair reward, he shared with me.

Unknown to Kome, the said journalist had no intentions of either paying him nor giving him credit for his works.

Instead, after a while of hard work, research writing, and time invested, Kome discovered his long and detailed articles (on the official website of the newspaper were credited to the journalist who had contracted him.

While Kome is not open to sharing the name of the culprit as he believes this will further open old wounds and the newspaper in question may not have known anything about the virtual crime the pain still lingers, seven years later.

Who do we really report to in times like this? What happens when you cry out and it all seems unheard?

Now in our current reality of AI, what’s the hope of winning a war against a robot’s theft of intellectual property, in a society where human to human thefts thrive.

In Kome’s words, the average Nigerian Creative is hunted by the same people who should protect them.

Olamide, an AI Expert and Head of Tech at Hello ICON Magazine firmly agrees that being a Nigerian Creative comes with many negative baggages.

The algorithm itself has a way of identifying us. Once your IP Address shows you are from Nigeria, you are denied access to various services and opportunities. he says.

This Series uncovers the untold stories of Creatives from diverse backgrounds, yet they share one thing in common, their resilience overtime, reduced to a state where their silence is weaponized and injustice is normalized and taken as a part of the creative hustle.

Kome’s experience with the journalist was just one of the many cyber bullying he encountered as a younger Content Creator.

One of the main reasons he accepted the offer was at the thought of how the internship experience will help him stand out after graduation, in a country where gross unemployment has stayed prevalent over the years.

Are there really laid down systems to practically protect an average Nigerian Creative, beyond the many theoretical frameworks? Kome kept asking, rhetorically as we spoke.

Today, Kome works as an independent digital Content Creator who has zero trust in the public sector, private sector and even the media.

On the other hand, Nkechi, an Illustrator and Digital Nomad spoke to me about her frustration on META Instagram.

She describes her experience as an entanglement on a loop of an algorithm failure.

My Instagram account containing over five years of my creative works was banned, with many of my works gone, even when I did nothing against the Instagram laws, she said.

The META algorithm is quite inefficient in being abed to sort out who is actually legitimate from who is not, she added.

Wetin dey do Nigeria Pass AI, Hauwa, a Social Media Content Creator shared in Nigerian Pidgin English when I asked her about her thoughts on the latest AI government policies released.

The struggle is real, she continued. Are we really ready for AI? With the current unstable electricity power supply and the poor internet connection.

Sometimes, it feels like the world has left us behind.

When Hauwa was employed in 2023, her salary was $37 monthly, with the sole role of Social Media Management.

In less than one year, Hauwa was given additional tasks by her employer to become a graphic designer, editor and HR Manager while her salary remains the same.

A monthly salary not up to the worth of a bag of rice in Nigeria.

Hence, the reason for the most recent #EndBadGovernance protest, which began August, 1st 2024 in Nigeria becomes more glaring.

While Emem told me she feels a bit threatened AI May takeover what’s left of the already insufficient job roles in Nigeria’s digital workforce, she is consoled in the confidence that no AI will be able to match the interaction and blend of emotions between her and her canvas as an artist.

In response to this, Hello ICON Magazine’s Olamide again added that
AI is just another level computers have gotten to.

I’m his words, anything that computes will always need to still input.

AI may learn on its own, but even the learning is based on the data that has been inputed in it.

The next on this series will dive deeper into the world of 𝗔𝗜 in Nigeria, making simple technical terms, increasing understanding and uncovering more stories and relatable experiences behind the scene.

Author by
Eden Benibo