Shrinking labour force and low birth rate in European and North American countries are attracting a large number of young and vibrant immigrants from Nigeria. A 2023 survey by Phillips Consulting shows “more than half (52 per cent) of Nigerian professionals are considering leaving their jobs and moving abroad within a year.”
While many leave the country in search of greener pastures in Europe, especially Britain, Italy and Germany, others consider North America such as the USA and Canada. Data from the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) show that between January and June, 2023, 10,180 Nigerians migrated to Canada.
Because intending immigrants want to japa (a term used in Nigeria to mean escape) from the country with ease, travel agencies, advertisers and some marketers have taken their advertisements to the digital space, where many of their clients can be found.
Statista reported that there were over five billion internet users worldwide as at April, 2023. This was 63 per cent of the global population. Of this total, Nigeria had approximately 122 million active internet users as at January, 2023.
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To reach this huge Nigerian market already charged with the japa syndrome, the travel agencies embark on online advertisements that pop up automatically on phones and computer screens while browsing. Many Nigerians who spoke with Daily Trust Saturday described the pop ups as not only disturbing, but frustrating as they appear too frequent without one subscribing for them.
Why pop up ads target Nigerians
A cross section of Nigerians who spoke with Daily Trust Saturday said there was a link between the adverts and the high number of immigrants willing to leave the country.
A staff of a Kaduna State-based travel agency, who asked not to be named, said the advertisers sometimes targeted a demography, especially on opportunities and economic reality in the diaspora.
He said, “This is also because there may be a high demand of prospective immigrants from Nigeria willing to relocate to Canada. These companies are looking for potentials they can use to improve their economic growth, forcing them to take away the best out of the best Nigeria has.”
Based on responses obtained from a filled google form shared by Daily Trust, one Ukashatu Ibrahim Wakili said, “Citizens easily fall for these kinds of promising offers and are willing to invest in them, hoping they would get something in return.”
Another respondent, Saluk Istifanus, described the pop-up adverts as frustrating, saying there were several scam-related sites on immigration services on the internet.
Benard John said the adverts were targeted at Nigerians due to the poverty level in the country and the system of governance, and lamented that, “Data and privacy of an internet user are not safe. People’s data are exposed to so many sites.”
Gift Ovuede and Abubakar Muhammad, who said they came across the pop-up adverts frequently, claimed the adverts were either for work or studies, especially in Canada, and that they contained promises of sponsorship and residence permit for applicants.
Tabitha Ordue said, “The annoying part is that when a person clicks on the link they are only to find out that it will always be redirected to another advert site which requires payment and information that are not useful without proper details on how to travel to the said country.”
Our reporter tried clicking on several links advertising “Canada immigration”, among others, but only found that the sites were placed on ChatBot or automated reply via AI which could not give access to how the agencies run their activities.
Zainab Musa said, “If you click on a link they may hack into your device, but for me I know it’s fake. Is it that easy to get a visa to travel out? It’s just scam.”
How the algorithm of obtaining users’ data works
Most of the adverts are placed on Google AdSense that uses a combination of automatic and manual review processes to determine which ad to be displayed on a specific website and how much revenue the owner can earn, Salisu Hassan, an ICT/Web developer, explained.
He said the sites also placed the ads by contextual targeting, keyword analysis, user behaviour and interaction, explaining that Google did not typically consult individual website owners to place adverts.
He, however, said there might be a higher demand for immigration services from the demographic zone.
These unsolicited, “Do you want to work/study in Canada adverts” also pop up in videos, not only pictures, whereby an explainer appears on the screen trying to motivate users whether they require such ads or not.
ICT experts explained that this was an indication that internet companies were collecting data from the activities of phone users.
Mu’azu Umar said he started to get the Canada adverts on every site he visited when he asked a friend who lived abroad via WhatsApp messenger about how they lived in Canada.
There’s no request for automatic ads placement – Web owners
An IT expert clarified that such ads usually appeared without any request, hence that such web owners had no option but to accept them if they wanted revenue.
The Chief Information Officer of Media Trust Group, Eng Yusuf Abdullahi, said, “Web owners can only control the Google AdSense by selecting their preferences.” He explained that the online space was the centre of all sorts of advertising messages because of its affordable packages for both small and big advertisers.
Another ICT expert, Idris Bash-Tech, said, “There are many factors in online advertising algorithms; they can be designed to display advertisements to a user based on his/her online behaviour, location and preferences.
“They can vary from one user to another based on online activity. They collect data in various ways like cookies and other things.”
Regulatory intervention
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has implemented guidelines specifically addressing electronic communications and marketing. The regulations outline the obligations of marketers to provide clear opt-out mechanisms allowing recipients to unsubscribe from unwanted adverts.
Also, the Consumer Protection Council’s (CPC’s) regulations prohibit unsolicited emails and spam adverts, safeguarding consumers from intrusive marketing practices. Violating CPC regulations can lead to severe consequences for businesses, including reputational damage and legal repercussions. But do these rules work?
The traditional media: television, radio, print and outdoor advertising, are well regulated in Nigeria by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON). All creative content must be sent for vetting before they are exposed. However, it is not the case online.
The Director (North West) of ARCON, Mr Jibril Yelwa, , said the agency took zero tolerance on the exposure of adverts on any social media platform, stressing that they were engaging Google on how to stop unsolicited adverts from websites.
He recalled that recently ARCON sued Meta Platforms Incorporated and its agent, AT3 Resources Limited, at the Federal High Court, Abuja, for showing unapproved advertisements to the Nigerian audience.
He said ARCON alleged that Meta, owners of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, continued to expose unvetted adverts which led to the loss of revenue for the federal government.
Nigeria data protection regulation
Daily Trust Saturday learnt that the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice Sales Promotion provides that: “All advertisements directed at the Nigerian market using the internet or other electronic media must make sure that unsolicited messages are not sent except where there are reasonable grounds to believe that consumers who receive such communications are interested in the subject matter or offer.”
Due to increasing concerns over privacy and data protection, it stated that all marketing communications sent via electronic media should include a clear and transparent mechanism enabling consumers to expressly opt out from future solicitations.
According to Data Protection Laws of the World Handbook published on DLA Piper, the constitutional right to privacy applies to electronic media, including mobile devices and the internet. Violations of these rights may be subject to civil enforcement.
Abubakar, Benard, Rukayya, Gift and Ukashatu who responded to Daily Trust’s Google form, hope that the authorities concerned improve on data protection.
However, Tabitha opined that, “If it is for better opportunities, I see nothing wrong with such adverts,” while believing that the authorities cannot do anything about it.
How to get rid of unsolicited ads
There are over two million non-Google websites and apps that partner with Google to show ads, but there are other websites that also display unwanted ads to users, such as Meta.
ICT expert, Salisu WebMaster, said an internet user could manage the advert preferences on Google and on sites and apps that partnered with Google.
Daily Trust Saturday discovered that Google’s privacy policy indicates that: “You can modify your interests, choose whether your personal information is used to make ads more relevant to you, and turn on or off certain advertising services.”
Neither Google nor one of the travel agencies contacted responded to the email sent to them on the issue.
