A social network that knows where you are
Not through your device's GPS — through the state, LGA and town you told us you belong to. That difference is the whole product.
Community is local. Feeds aren't.
Nigerians organise their social world by state, by local government area, by town. It's how people introduce themselves, how they find each other, how they decide what matters. Every global platform flattens that into one feed ranked for everybody at once.
The result is predictable: your neighbour's post competes with Lagos and loses. Local content is drowned out by national volume, and the thing that made the community worth joining is the first thing to disappear.
WeNaija turns Nigeria's actual administrative hierarchy — National, State, LGA, Town — into four feeds that rank independently. Your town's biggest post doesn't have to beat the country to reach you. It only has to be the biggest post in your town.
That's the bet. Everything else in the first version exists to test whether it's right.
Four people we're building for
When two designs are both defensible, we pick the one that serves the first of these on a 3G connection.
People who live somewhere specific
The feed you want most is the one from your LGA and your town — the one where you recognise names, places and faces. That's the feed nobody has built.
Nigerians abroad
Full access with an international number. No Nigerian SIM required, and the state you left is one of the states you follow.
People who want to be known locally
One picture a week, ranked in your town, your state and the country. Recognition you can earn without already being famous.
People on cheap phones and counted data
Opens from a link. Installs to your home screen for a fraction of an app download. Works when the signal doesn't.
Five rules we don't trade away
Principles that only apply when convenient aren't principles. These settle arguments.
- Mobile-first always — designed at 360px, tested on real low-end Android hardware.
- The network will fail. Messages queue and send themselves; offline is a designed state, not an error.
- Rankings stay in Explore. The main feed never becomes a leaderboard.
- Ask for permissions in context, at the moment they pay off — never on first load.
- Free at launch. No advertising, no paid tier, no data sold.
Where the work is
Published early, on purpose. It's cheaper to be argued with now than after it's built.
- 01Complete
Product definition
Requirements, geography model, ranking design and the full v1 specification.
- 02In progress
Web prototype
The public site, plus a working feed prototype running the real ranking algorithm on seeded content.
- 03Up next
Platform build
Accounts and onboarding, the geographic feed, stories, chat, and the recognition system.
- 04Up next
Single-state pilot
A closed launch in one state, so local feeds have real density from day one.
- 05Up next
Nationwide
Open registration across all 36 states and the FCT.
Want to talk to us?
Whether you want early access, want to help build it, or think we've got something wrong — we'd rather hear it now.