The Polongo Humanitarian Initiative, supported by the Oyo State Government, has launched a product called ‘Polongo’ to address community issues and provide feedback.
The Polongo Application product was launched in Ibadan to empower Nigerians to effect change through valuable feedback.
Wonderful Osalor, the Product Manager for the Polongo application and a 400-level computer science student at the University of Ibadan, said the product was developed to bridge the gap in feedback to authorities.
She said there was no direct link between the authorities and their members,, but Polongo has been designed to bridge the gap. It’s not just for the students’ community; it applies to Government, Health, and Finance institutions.
According to her, Polongo would help individuals rely on complaints and close the communication gap between community members and the authorities.
Osalor added that Polongo is a mediator; it helps students and Nigerians, in general, tell their stories and speak up on issues affecting their community.
“It also validates processes and systems that are thriving. It can be used to create petitions. So, people can leverage the power of the community to implement solutions for the people, by the people.
“Also, it engenders community discussions, such that it discusses strategies, tracks progress and creates the change we want to see.
“It also liaises with change-makers Bridge the gap between community leaders and their grassroots members.
And Influence sustainable change, build resilient communities by motivating lasting change. Our website can be accessed to get started,” Osalor said.
Also, Oluwanifemi Adeyemo, the co-founder of Polongo, is a Nigerian living in the Diaspora and a 23-year-old Computer Science graduate from Florida State University. In a virtual address, he said he was motivated to start Polongo to engender sustainable change using a participatory community approach rather than just ranting and complaining on Social media.
According to him, ranting and complaining on social media is the current norm.” I believe change is possible when we affirm great initiatives within our community and brainstorm to proffer solutions to identified challenges. Polongo has been birthed to facilitate this.
Polongo, a social enterprise, was launched to coincide with International Student Day with the support of the Oyo State Government, Special Adviser on Students to deploy the Polongo platform within Tertiary Institutions.
“However, Polongo will benefit any service-providing organization for internal quality control and progressive improvement, including Government, Hospitals, Hospitality, Banks, etc.
Adeyemo said the unique advantages were that while anonymity is assured, spurious allegations and claims would also not be permitted because evidence is required; community members can upvote or downvote claims.
“Very participatory indeed towards engendering sustainable change,” he said.
The product was launched at the 2022 International Students‘ Day in Ibadan.
