The outbreak of monkeypox which was reported by Nigeria Centre
for Disease Control (NCDC) dominated searches on Internet search engine —
Google — this week.
Google’s
Spokesman, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, made this known in a dispatch on Thursday in
Lagos.
According
to him, the week’s top trending search terms on Google Nigeria are dominated by
national news.
He stated
that “the NCDC recently stated that the first case of monkeypox was reported on
Sept. 22 in Bayelsa.
“As at
Monday 31, other suspected cases had been reported across seven states
including Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun and Cross River.
“The Chief
Executive Officer of NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, said in a statement that the
centre had activated an emergency operation centre to coordinate the
investigation into the outbreak and also workout appropriate preventive
measures across affected states.
“Concerned
Nigerians raced to Google to search for information on causes, symptoms and
prevention of the disease.”
Kola-Ogunlade
said Nigerians bid farewell this week to former Chief of Army Staff, Gen.
Victor Malu, who died in a hospital in Cairo on Oct. 9.
He said
President Muhammadu Buhari, in a condolence message, noted that Malu
demonstrated incredible courage and leadership during his reign as chief of
army staff and even in his retirement.
“Well-wishers
visited Google to read more about Malu’s achievements,’’ Kola-Ogunlade said.
The Google
manager said that in the world of sports, football lovers celebrated Nigeria’s
1- 0 win over Zambia during the third round of the World Cup qualifiers match
held on Oct.7 at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo.
He added
that the win qualified Super Eagles for FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The Google
spokesman said “Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, expressed excitement about the
World Cup qualification.
“This saw
excited fans racing to Google search to get more details about the match,’’ he
said.
Kola-Ogunlade
said University of Lagos suspension rumour also got people’s attention online.
He noted
that the management of the university had condemned rumours that they suspended
a final year student of the institution for dancing with the statue of the
former vice-chancellor.
He added
that students of the institution posted a video on social media of a 400 level
student from Faculty of Arts dancing with a statue of former Vice Chancellor,
Prof. Adetokunbo Sofoluwe.
“Nigerians
reacted negatively to the video, which went viral. This sparked rumours that
the student involved was rusticated from the university.
“Concerned
citizens raced to Google to get updated information about the situation.”
Google
Trends launched in May 2006 allows one to see how popular search terms and its
demography have been over time on Google.
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