By 
Are we witnessing an emerging era of pulling down the anticipated digital promise? Before we delve deeper into the critical Pillars of this interrogation, first, I cordially invite us to consider and imagine the possibility that we are currently living in a Nigeria with a population of one million people without technology champions and solutions?
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According to the United Nations, by 2050, our population will surge to 409million mouths to feed and people to develop. How do we educate our children, govern, develop and survive in an era where syndicate-strangers organise in pulling down the scaffold of our collective digital promise? How many volumes of wasteful but economically harmful falsehood would be enough to undermine our IT bedrock – aimed to drowning the nation into perpetual penury?
Earth is perpetually driven by digital transformation
Indeed, at a time like this, when the planet Earth is perpetually driven by the centrifugal force of technology and digital transformation, the harm done by trading in technology falsehoods is capable of deaccelerating and setting us back by a coefficient of time measurable to 100 years!
This consideration becomes more contingent if we factor the acceleration of AI at the speed of Quantum computing! Now, lets get started. Under-development comes in many shades and colours – replicating the hidden layers of human attitudes, behaviours and impressions wrapped with the coloration of darkness!
These catastrophic crystals of negative human intuitions represent perhaps the most dangerous factor, hunting the foundation pillars of the anticipated IT development strategies, progress and benefits for our nation. Those benefits were earned through enormous sweat and tears. Meanwhile, those negative onslaughts – directed at the IT Community and Generation Next, were not only aimed to damage past achievements of the IT Industry.
Discrediting enviable track records of IT excellence by forerunners
But indeed, their mission aims to shut the doors of digital innovation to emerging vision-bearers and digital champions who aspire to anticipate and pursue technology innovation culture. They aim to discredit the enviable track records of IT excellence achieved by forerunner digital-dreamers along the value chain.
Currently, this visionless wind of underdevelopment is equipped and blowing with the tenacity to do harm by manufacturing and multiplying the trajectories of deformed analogue development model. This phenomenon is not new but accelerating with particles of maximum danger. While others call it blackmail, it is better perceived as blindfolded mind trap in a whirlwind of digital ignorance.
Blindfolded Mind-trap is the unassuming part of creation that generates negative mindset and resulting into a selfish mind-trap! It becomes part of that misguided intuitions and notions that create the illusion that nations fall out of the sky, evolve and develop without being guided by Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Character of corporate blackmailers
Whereas, in the past 50 years, gifted professionals and vision-bearers have dedicated their entire lives to anticipate, create and build the Nigerian Information Technology industry sector from ashes into enviable monument. Alas, suddenly, unclassified and faceless Locusts have emerged to harvest and feast where they did not sow any seed. This is the character of corporate blackmailers.
Indeed, Corporate blackmail, also known as corporate extortion, refers to the parasitic practice of using embedded coercion, threats, or manipulation to extract concessions, money, or other benefits from a victim, company or organization. The economic and national development consequences of corporate blackmailers are very severe in many dimensions. And if not nipped in the bud, it can create far-reaching and damaging consequences for the sustainable development structures of IT in a developing economy such as Nigeria!
The major economic consequences include but not limited to the  following extraordinary impacts: Firstly, it fuels the creation of huge corporate investment crisis and loss. The critical dangers of corporate blackmail and/or parasitic whitemail are coated with the covert strings to discourage and indeed erode investment.
Painting the environment as unstable for sustainable business
This is achieved by, encouraging other investment companies to view the environment as unstable or unpredictable for sustainable business. Also, it reduces economic growth. The uncertainty and instability created by corporate blackmail can reduce economic growth, driving companies to delay or cancel investment and projects.
Furthermore, it escalates costs of doing business. That means that such negative influences compel companies to incur additional costs to mitigate the risks associated  with corporate blackmail, such as hiring lawyer or paying ransom on demand.
It also leads to reputation damage which consequently leads to the loss of business patronage, customer trust and loyalty. Apart from direct impact on the affected business, it triggers negative national development consequences such as undermining the legitimacy and effectiveness of institutions, such as the judiciary and law enforcement agencies.
Corporate blackmail impacts foreign direct investment
Not only that, but corporate blackmail also affects foreign direct investment (FDI). Indeed, corporate blackmail do discourage foreign investment, as investors may interpret the business environment as unstable or unpredictable. It can also breed increased unemployment and institutional corruption.
This is especially true, where complexities of emerging technologies generate ambiguities for third-party decision makers at large. Ultimately, the attitude can develop into a cankerous worm that breeds elongated pressure points leading to a culture of bribery and permanent culture of corruption as panacea to make other concessions to avoid blackmail demands.
Informed sources indicate that apart from fuelling unemployment in fragile economies, corporate blackmail can easily lead to social unrest, where communities erroneously assume that companies the affected corporate entities are not contributing their quota to the affected local economy. And by extension, that leads to national security risks – elongated as kidnapping business investors and their families – where some casualties may lead to untimely death!
There is an urgent need to educate the general public on the importance and fragility of the digital promise. Such catastrophes can be mitigated by strengthening Institutions such as the judiciary and law enforcement agencies by advancing technology and digitalization knowledge to them to ensure and prevent this cancerous worm classified as organised corporate blackmail. Our digital promise must the protected at all costs by all of us – against all odds.
Chris Uwaje is a technology leader and accomplished business professional based in Lagos, Nigeria.
