While Nigeria has a high level of blockchain and crypto awareness, the country still faces issues related to public education in the field. Local experts discussed blockchain education’s challenges in Nigeria at the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN)’s Digital Assets Summit 2023, held in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
In the panel titled Web3 Education: Capacity Building, the group discussed the current level of blockchain and Web3 awareness in the country and the challenges that have surfaced on the journey so far.
Bello Usman Abdullahi, the chief operating officer of the blockchain education platform Bitkova Academy, said the language barrier is one of the current major challenges due to the complexity of blockchain technology and its jargon. Nigeria is one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world, with over 500 languages spoken.
However, local blockchain hubs have begun educating individuals unfamiliar with blockchain technology using local Nigerian languages. Abdullahi said it is important to help individuals new to blockchain technology and Web3 understand what Satoshi Nakamoto was trying to achieve with the technology. This is necessary to correct the fear and negativity created in the minds of citizens by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the government, he said.
In February 2021, the CBN severed connections between local banks and cryptocurrency exchange firms. According to Abdullahi, this act by the government and the CBN slowed the level of blockchain awareness in Nigeria, associating blockchain and crypto with adverse perceptions.
Nigeria has seen better days in terms of crypto interest, with Google Trends data showing the country dropped from the top spot to No. 2 in the world in search interest for Bitcoin (BTC).
Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party.
The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts.
She told Sir Keir Starmer the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you seem determined to stick to”, despite their unpopularity with the electorate and MPs.
In her letter she accused the prime minister and his top team of “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” which are “off the scale”.
“I’m so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she said.
Since December 2019, the prime minister received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.
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Ms Duffield, who has previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, attacked the government for pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies as she resigned the Labour whip.
She criticised the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test the winter fuel payment, and accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” over his acceptance of free gifts from donors.
“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous,” she said.
“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”
Ms Duffield also mentioned the recent “treatment of Diane Abbott”, who said she thought she had been barred from standing by Labour ahead of the general election, before Sir Keir said she would be allowed to defend her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat for the party.
Her relationship with the Labour leadership has long been strained and her decision to quit the party comes after seven other Labour MPs were suspended for rebelling by voting for a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished.
“Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of those people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister,” she said.
Ms Duffield said she will continue to represent her constituents as an independent MP, “guided by my core Labour values”.