Charts monitored on Google Trends have indicated that xenophobic attacks in South Africa, cancer and English football club, Arsenal, are among the top items that attracted the highest volume of Internet traffic in Nigeria in 2015.
Online research conducted by our correspondent on Thursday shows that xenophobia was top on the list of trending events in the country. It was followed, in order of importance, by the 2015 general elections, the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, the Under-17 World Cup and the Charlie Hebdo attack in France.
The xenophobic attacks on foreigners resident in South Africa did not only draw global attention; it also ignited protests in Nigeria, with many people picketing South African-owned investments in the country.
Cancer was the most searched item in the health category. Cancer, a non-communicable disease that was previously associated with the developed world, became a major health issue in Nigeria and other African countries. The disease has killed many people in recent times.
Arsenal FC tops the list of most-searched football clubs, followed by another English club – Chelsea Football Club. FC Barcelona and Manchester United Football Club occupy the third and fourth positions, respectively.
No Nigerian football club is ranked among the top five most-searched clubs. In a way, this shows that more Nigerians prefer foreign football leagues to the local one.
Muna Obiekwe, a popular Nollywood actor who died last year, was Google’s top trending personality in Nigeria in 2015. President Muhammadu Buhari is next on the list before American basketball player, Lamar Odom; Bruce Jenner (who changed his name to Caitlyn Jenner after a sex swap) and Bobbi Brown, daughter of pop stars, Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston who died in July.
The top trending Nigerian musicians were Olamide, Kiss Daniel, Lil Kesh, Phyno and Falz. The top trending songs at the time belonged to the same artistes.
The top songs in the year under review are ‘Melo Melo’ by Olamide, ‘Woju Remix’ by Kiss Daniel, Olamide’s ‘Shakiti Bobo’, Adele’s ‘Hello’, and ‘Woju’ by Kiss Daniel.
Nigerian Internet users also showed considerable interest in football competitions. It is the reason they dominate the sport competition category, which is topped by the Copa America. The Under-17 World Cup competition held in Chile, the New Zealand Under-20 World Cup, FIFA Women’s World Cup and the English Premier League came next in the second, third, fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
The results of Google searches conducted in the education category show that people are still strongly interested in public universities in Nigeria. The University of Lagos is the most-searched institution in that category, followed by the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; the University of Ibadan and the National Open University of Nigeria.
The top-trending athletes in the country in 2015 were all footballers and foreigners. Pedro of Chelsea FC tops the list. The others are Arda Turan, a Turkish midfielder who plays for Barcelona FC; Anthony Martial, a French national; Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema and Arsenal goalkeeper, Peter Cech.
Other sections dominated by foreign items and brands are the fashion and movie categories. For fashion, Gucci, Channel, Versace, Michael Kors and Louis Vuitton received the highest volume of traffic.
Furious 7, 50 Shades of Grey, Empire, The Flash and Game of Thrones dominates the television series/movies category.
There is no indigenous label ranked among the leading five in the last two categories. This reality is replicated in other categories not reviewed in this report, showing that Nigeria is still far from achieving reasonable local content in Internet consumption.
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