Banky W’s wedding, Anambra election, Mugabe dominate Google search

Singer Oluwabankole Wellington, better known as Banky W, and actress Adesua Etomi’s wedding dominated the internet search engine Google this week.

Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s communications and public affairs manager, Anglophone West Africa, made this known in a dispatch to NAN on Friday in Lagos.

He said that the Anambra state governorship election also top the chat of the search engine.

“The highly anticipated wedding of Nigeria’s favourite couple, R&B singer, Bankole Wellington and Nollywood actress, Adesua Etomi was held on Sunday.

“The couple, who announced their engagement shortly after co-starring in the Wedding Party movie, also held their court wedding on Monday.

“The video of the court wedding went viral as soon as it was posted on social media by the happy couple.

“Fans and friends have since taken to Google to search for more photos from the couple’s traditional wedding,’’ Kola-Ogunlade said.

The Google manager said that Willie Obiano, this week, was declared the winner of the Gubernatorial Election held in Anambra State.

He added that in his acceptance speech, Obiano thanked the citizens of Anambra State for voting despite several instances of election manipulation and over-voting cited by the election officers.

Kola-Ogunlade said that this led to the cancellation of results in several units.

Well-wishers also raced to Google to search for more details about the election results.

Also, the reported death of Alex Ekwueme, former Vice President, who died in the early hours of Sunday in a London clinic became a trending topic.

“The sad news was confirmed by his family in a statement. This followed his family debunking news of his death two weeks earlier.

“Fans and well-wishers raced to Google to confirm the sad news,’’ he said.

Kola-Ogunlade said that the news of the resignation of the Zimbabwean leader, Robert Mugabe also trended on google.

“Mid last-week, in what was referred to as a “bloodless transition”, Mugabe was removed from office and placed under house arrest.

“After almost a week of uncertainty, the 93-year old dictator resigned on Tuesday after nearly four decades in power.

“His resignation letter was read out at a joint session of the Zimbabwean Parliament in Harare and as the celebration continues in Zimbabwe, Nigerians took to Google to confirm Mugabe’s resignation,’’ he said.

Early this week, news broke of Cyntoia Brown, a 29-year-old victim of sex trafficking, who had been sentenced to life in prison in Nashville, Tennessee,’’ the Google manager said.

He added that she was sentenced for shooting her abuser after being forced into prostitution at the age of 16.

“Brown, who has already served nearly 13 years in prison, will be eligible for parole after serving 51 years behind bars.

“This sentence has drawn outrage from celebrities such as Kim Kardashian West and Rihanna, who has begun a social media protest with the Free Cyntoia Brown.

“Nigerians raced to Google to read more about Brown’s story, making her name a top trending search term,’’ he said.

NAN reports that Google Trends launched in May 2006, allows one to see how popular, search terms and its demography have been over time on Google.