One of the things I fancy so much about the mobile phone is its ability to be with us at all times. Three things we can hardly leave the house without; a mobile phone, Keys and our wallet [Money]. Not only is the mobile phone with us at all times, but it connects us with the wonderful conversations we like to have with people that we are connected with.
Pledge51 with the support of Indigo Trust and Co-creation Hub is releasing the Version 2 of The Nigeria Constitution on mobile phones. The app has been repackaged and developed to promote citizenship enlightenment.
I remember when the Nigerian constitution app for Blackberry was first released in January 2011, I was one of the first set of people to download it and it saw a huge number of downloads from Blackberry users. Even if you can always go ahead and buy one in the bookshop, wouldn’t you prefer the portability and ease-of-use that comes a mobile app version?
The social feature of the mobile app cannot be underestimated. Facebook was developed for the desktop. It started as a primary desktop platform. As soon as people found out that they can access their Facebook on the go from their mobile phone, there was a shift. Folks have started accessing their Facebook and some other social media platforms more often from mobile devices. We have thus seen some applications and social apps that have primarily launched on only mobile platform, including: Instagram, MXit, 2go, and Eskimi.
Another point to note is the increasing conversation online on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and forums like Nairaland, that cover things going on in Nigeria. There’s hardly a day I browse through my twitter stream and will not meet a conversation on the state of the country or issues related. Imagine how rich some of these conversation will be when they have ready access to the constitution.
Aware of the huge conversation going on online, a lot of work has put into the development of 2.0 app version, so as to meet the demands of the many folks currently using the app. The app is now available on other mobile platform – no longer Blackberry only, but on Android and Nokia phones.
It has the following features now:
Constitution Forum – There’s a quick and easy access to a forum where people can ask questions and engage in a conversation
Search the Constitution – The constitution is a voluminous document and looking for a section for a desired topic can be very hectic, hence the search features. It allows for the use of keywords to search.
Facebook Share – The app allows people to share section of the constitution with friends on Facebook. This should help to enlighten more people about the constitution, the rules governing Nigeria, and their rights.
Legal Directory – provides directories of lawyers allowing people to have access to legal practitioners on-the-go.
Why not download the app now? The app is already performing very well and lots of people have started downloading it. There’s been about 8,100 download on Blackberry for the version 2.0, for Nokia it’s been about 29,700 and for Android 250. Total downloads, adding the first release of the app, will be about 80,000. If you have any of Nokia s40 and above, Blackberry and Android, go ahead and download the app now.
