One key observation is that the news and social media have been dominant with chatter about the major Presidential contenders, even though they are not the only ones running.

Hardly would one see a major discussion on the other candidates contesting for seats in the Senate and House of Representatives where laws are made and the president is checked.

And this leaves a huge gap on the identities of these candidates, and the abilities of the citizens to make educated choices.

The very same holds true for the House of Assembly, Governorship, and Sub-national elections. About 11 states of the Federation are holding the governorship elections, but again, not many are aware of the states and the candidates.

Nigerians have benefited less from this practice than they have from it. While these contenders remain hidden behind the shields of their political party, Nigerians have a right to know who is running for parliamentary seats, and what advancement they are willing to bring.

This is why Orodata Science and Open Cities Lab created the MyCandidate portal, which allows Nigerians to learn more about every candidate across all levels and states. The platform has two main components; ‘Locate me’ and ‘Address search’.

Users are able to leverage their location, state, or local government to discover a list of all the candidates contesting in their area and be informed. With the “Locate me” button on the website, the result is instant.

However, with the second feature, a user only needs to start typing the name of their local government and a list will appear, from which they can make a selection to see a list of candidates for all tiers of elections.

MyCandidate includes an embed code, a segment of HTML code that enables users to insert the website’s content into another website. You can copy and paste this code onto any website that accepts HTML.

This embed code can be used by online media, civil society, and other institutions to add MyCandidate to their own websites and provide this data to their own communities.

Orodata science is renowned for enhancing the way people and organizations use data to address pressing societal issues and advance progress. This project aims to bridge the information gap between voters and candidates while also assisting journalists and civil society groups in their efforts to monitor each candidate’s development following elections.

MyCandidate Nigeria is an open-source platform and relies on the extensive data provided by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and verified information sourced from the media. In addition to giving crucial details about each candidate, it also gives access to the Google search engine for more data.

The program lead, Uche Oti, believes that bringing the same initiative before the elections in Nigeria will have an impact on voters’ knowledge and enable them to make better decisions about who deserves their votes. MyCandidate, which was piloted by Open Cities Lab in South Africa, saw great success, according to Uche Oti.

“In order to be heard at the 2023 general elections, MyCandidate Nigeria is a crucial tool.

All individuals are urged to embrace this platform and make an educated decision regarding who will serve as their leader for the ensuing four years. Citizens can feel confident in their voting choices with MyCandidate Nigeria because they have the knowledge and resources needed to make an informed decision ” he said.

The OCL team was received by Blaise Aboh, the Executive Director of Orodata, with other executives and the team at their Yaba Office.

The visit was geared toward mapping out the next phase of the Africa Data Hub project and also developing business partnership ideas.

For the last two years, Open Cities Lab and Orodata Science have worked closely on the African Data Hub, a reputable project and up-to-date source for COVID-19 related data in user-friendly formats on the African continent.

The Africa Data Hub seeks to support and promote quality access to information, data-driven journalism and in turn, facilitate evidence-based decision-making about the pandemic across the continent.

For the first phase of the project in 2021, Orodata Science empowered three newsrooms under the ADH Data Journalism Workshop with tools, data and knowledge to produce more stories that are of public importance. 

A total of 93 journalists were trained across three newsrooms including Nigeria Health Watch, Premium Times and Information Nigeria Data visualization support was also provided to the newsrooms to help their journalists improve the quality of their reportage using an array of newly available data.

With the support of ADH, Orodata Science also developed a Covid19 Vaccine Tracker which provides deep insights into the depth of the outbreak, especially the vaccination administration efforts of government and allied actors.

For the second phase of the project in 2022, Orodata Science is working with OCL to implement the ADH Community Journalism Fellowship and ADH Twitter Space.

The ADH Community Journalism Fellowship (ACJF) is designed to improve the coverage of under-reported issues in local communities across Nigeria while focusing on potential solutions with lasting impact toward effective public service delivery, grassroots development and improving the quality of life.

The ACJF program will be delivered in three cohorts, some of its highlights include Data Journalism Bootcamp to train fellows on advanced investigative, data storytelling and mapping techniques. Each fellow will receive a grant sum and advisory sessions with mentors will be offered to build their journalistic skills.

The ADH Twitter Space is a monthly forum which is facilitated by Orodata Science and it is geared toward driving an incisive conversation with subject matter experts on topical issues with a focus on Equitable Economic Recovery.

The first edition of the ADH Twitter Space focused on the Covid19 outbreak and issues related to the mismanagement of Covid19 funds and the low level of vaccine administration.

The visit also presented an opportunity for the Open Cities Lab team to explore and visit different tourist attractions in Lagos.

Amongst the places that Gevers and Findlay visited are Nike Art Gallery where they beheld artworks by Nigeria’s finest artists and also the Lekki Conservation Centre which boasts of the longest canopy walkway in Africa.

Open Cities Lab (OCL) is a non-profit open and non-partisan organization that combines the use of action research, co-design, data science, and technology with civic engagement to enable the development of inclusive cities and urban spaces. Its design methodology and implementation will always reflect ethics with the user placed firmly at the centre of all important decisions.

OCL works to build inclusion and participatory democracy in cities and urban spaces through empowering citizens, building trust and accountability in civic space, and capacitating government.

Orodata Science in the past few years has worked with global corporations, institutions, and organizations at different levels on numerous projects encompassing data and digital rights, media innovation, and most importantly on improving equitable access to public services. 

Orodata democratizes public data, and knowledge for the benefit of citizens and societies towards openness, transparency in governance, and effective policy design and development.

To trigger real outcomes and emancipatory changes, Orodata supports communities at scale through the development of civic solutions and support of community solutions journalism.