The Nigerian media ecosystem is dominated by platforms that lean heavily towards the information demands of mass communication or the entertainment one. This means there are not many platforms that are dedicated to educating the public.
In 2021, Factchecks became popular in Nigeria, and has grown ever since, but explainers have not. People often operate with misleading information and unanswered questions until something big enough happens for the media to factcheck it.
With Airnigma — coined from the complex German machine (enigma) used during WW2 — the idea is to act as Alan Turing by telling stories that provide answers to questions before they are asked.
Nigerians want to know why referendums fail and how they can hold their lawmakers accountable through a recall process. They want to know what it means by a law that empowers the police to profile them based on reasonable suspicion, but what the limits are. They also want to know that unlike in the US, if a piece of evidence is obtained illegally, it still can be used against a defendant in a court of competent jurisdiction.
With Airnigma, I will be able to tell stories, create programmes, and simplify matters that the public can rely on to hold their governments accountable, and perform their own civic responsibilities without running foul on either side.