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Meet Nigeria’s Nationalist, Obafemi Awolowo

Rufus Okoro Chief Obafemi Awolowo (1909 – 1987) was a Nigerian nationalist, lawyer, statesman, and one of the country’s most influential political leaders. Born Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo on March 6, 1909, in Ikenné, present-day Ogun State, Nigeria. He studied law at the University of London and qualified as a barrister. Awolowo founded the Action Group (AG) political party in 1951. He served as the Premier of the Western Region from 1954 to 1960, later emerged the Leader of the Opposition in Nigeria’s federal parliament. ALSO READ >>> Meet Nigeria’s First President, Nnamdi Azikiwe He served as the Vice-Chairman of the Federal Executive Council and Minister of Finance, during the Nigerian Civil War, 1967–1971. Awolowo introduced free primary education and free healthcare for children in the Western Region, which became a model in Nigeria. He advocated federalism as the best system for Nigeria’s diverse ethnic groups. He was widely know...

Google Commences Germini 2.0 Flash Experimentation

 



The Tech giant, Google has announced the launch of Gemini 2.0 Flash and its associated research prototype. It is believes that this is a step forward in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the new model is designed for developers and showcases several experimental agent-based applications.


Building upon the success of its predecessor, 1.5 Flash, Gemini 2.0 Flash offers enhanced performance with similarly rapid response times. Notably, it outperforms 1.5 Pro on key benchmarks while operating at twice the speed.


Beyond speed improvements, 2.0 Flash introduces new capabilities, including support for multimodal inputs like images, video, and audio, as well as multimodal outputs such as generated images and multilingual text-to-speech audio. It also integrates with external tools like Google Search and code execution environments.


This model is currently available to developers in an experimental phase through the Gemini API in Google AI Studio and Vertex AI, with broader availability planned for January.


Beyond the core model improvements, the announcement highlights the development of AI agents. These agents represent a new approach to interacting with technology, focusing on task completion and proactive assistance. Several research prototypes demonstrate this concept, such as:


  • Project Astra: This project explores the concept of a universal AI assistant capable of understanding multiple languages, utilizing tools like Google Search and Maps, and maintaining context over longer conversations. It has seen improvements in dialogue, tool use, memory, and latency.

  • Project Mariner: This prototype focuses on browser-based agent interaction. It aims to understand and interact with web content, including text, images, and code.

  • Jules: This is an AI-powered code agent designed to assist developers within a GitHub workflow. It can analyze issues, develop plans, and execute code under developer supervision.


  • Gaming Agents: These agents are designed to interact with video games, offering real-time suggestions and utilizing Google Search for game-related information.

  •  There’s also exploration of Gemini 2.0’s spatial reasoning for robotics applications.

A strong emphasis is placed on responsible AI development. The development team is actively addressing safety and security concerns through various measures, including internal reviews, red teaming, safety training, and collaboration with external experts. Specific examples include mitigations against unintentional data sharing in Project Astra and protection against prompt injection in Project Mariner.



The release of Gemini 2.0 Flash and the associated agent prototypes marks an important advancement in AI. The focus on performance, multimodality, and agent-based interaction, combined with a commitment to responsible development, positions Gemini as a key player in the ongoing AI evolution.