An avid web/mobile application developer, Zubair Abubakar ’08 started application development while a student at Ashesi, where he studied Computer Science. While at Ashesi, Zubair developed the first election portal for the Ashesi Student Council, and also developed a patient management system for the university’s clinic.

Within the years after graduation, Zubair has designed and produced many applications. His work includes the Ramadan and Freedom of Information apps, as well as one of Nigeria’s most popular information portals, connectnigeria.com, which he helped build. But in Nigeria, most people know Zubair for his simple and wildly popular application: the Nigerian Constitution app for mobile.

“I came across a print copy of Nigeria’s constitution at a time when I was learning to develop applications for Blackberry phones. I asked myself what it would be like if the Nigerian constitution could be easily accessed via mobile. The thought of the possibilities and the impact such a move could have in and out of Nigeria was what fueled my drive to create the app.”

A year later, and with over 80,000 downloads for version one of his constitution application, Zubair, a TEDGlobal and Institute for Venture Design fellow and a social entrepreneur, now has the record of creating one of Nigeria’s most successful mobile apps. “I have always been interested in high impact solutions,” says Zubair. “It was my hope that the Constitution App would bring law awareness to the many people of Nigeria. I am glad that the acceptance has been so great.”

Initially launched on Blackberry mobile phones, Zubair expanded the app’s access to Nokia and Android phone users. Now, with a £7,000 grant from Indigo Trust through Co-Creation Hub Nigeria, Zubair is launching version two of his Constitution App through Pledge51 – a company he’s co-founded. “The grant from Indigo Trust is one of the best things to happen to the Constitution App. Now the app can be opened up to more mobile platforms, and we can create more functions to make the application more useful.”

The new version of Zubair’s application will include improved search features, a forum for users to engage each other in conversation, functions for social media sharing, and a directory that will allow users to reach legal practitioners on-the-go.

“I love this application; it’s mind blowing,” a user, Mariam Mazeone, remarks. “Every Blackberry user in Nigeria needs to have this app.”