By Chigozie Effe
Over the years the media, often described as the fourth estate, had played a vital role as the watch dog of society.
While the media cannot win elections in the country, but then, to a very large extent, it helps to shape and influence the minds of people towards a person or individuals vying for political positions in the country.
The role of the media in the just concluded 2015 general elections in Nigeria and its aftermath is one that would not be readily dismissed with a wave of hand.
While to a very large extent, it over heated the polity with propaganda and unfounded speculations and campaign of calumny on the prompting of sponsors, the media immensely also contributed to the success achieved.
Take, for instance, the political consciousness created by the Independent National Electoral Commission using the media.
Nigerians as well as the electorate were enlightened on a daily basis on how best they could perform their civic duties at the polls.
Moreso, the electoral umpire in the person of Attahiru Jega had in different forum educated the citizens on the need to make the exercise hitch free.
It must be mentioned that the two major political parties, People Democratic Party and the All progressive Congress, were guilty of propanganda using the media. But while the PDP was using the power of incumbency and resources within its power to assassinate the character of his main opposition figure, Muhammadu Buhari, the APC was busy harvesting from the sympathy of most Nigerians who are fed up with the ruling party’s campaign of hate.
From the issue of his school certificate to health and to military years, the PDP harangue rather than demonise Buhari gave him and his party a boost to excel.
The social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instragram among others witnessed an unprecedented visitation by Nigerians especially in the build up to the elections.
It was even reported that the social media recorded 67 million Nigerian users during the 2015 elections, an indication that the social media has become a hot bed for most Nigerians. As if to rub it in, it clearly shows that Nigerians are technologically inclined and are becoming politically matured.
According to a Social Media Expert and columnist, Mr. Japhet Omojuwa, the social media is that space, the many tools helping to amplify the voices of average Nigerians, taking ordinary voices and making them extraordinary by bringing them to homes, offices, and places most of them would have probably never reached under different circumstances. It started out as a playground for mostly young jobless people. Today, it has become the battleground of what would arguably be the most competitive election in Nigeria’s history.
People read the newspapers’ headlines following the Presidential election’s results, announced by the Independent Electoral Commission, at a roadside in Asaba, Delta State, on April 19, 2011. AFP PHOTO / PIUS UTOMI EKPEI (Photo credit should read PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP/Getty Images)
The magazine learnt that President Jonathan’s Twitter page @presgoodluck with 32 tweets and 25,000 followers, had been abandoned since May 2011. One would now imagine what four years of tweeting would have done to the president’s social media image. It’s clear that its only usage these days is to be listed on his World Economic Forum profile during the yearly Davos meetings and the WEF Africa sessions. Compare this to his main challenger Gen. Muhammadu Buhari who only joined Twitter recently.
With just about 900 tweets, he has garnered over 117,000 followers and has since been verified by Twitter along with his running mate Prof. Yemi Osinbanjo who, with some 430 tweets, has almost 80,000 followers. This doesn’t tell the whole story. Their biggest strength has to be the fact that they have been able to plug their campaign into the organic anger against the government that has been cooking in Nigeria’s social media space for at least four years.
However, President Jonathan’s decision to join the social media a couple of years ago appears to be his greatest mistake in his latter days in office as most disgruntled Nigerians who are apparently tired of PDP excuses and its inability to bring Boko Haram’s onslaught to an end used the medium to damage his image.
More worrisome, is the fact that the wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan’s speeches before and during the electoral campaign period, became a topic of discussion in virtually all the social media network even to the point that some of her speeches which had minor flaws were used as songs and ring tones.
To an average Nigerian, that is belittling; especially as it is coming from the First Lady of the country. This certainly had a damning effect on the candidature of Jonathan.
If there is any incumbent President that has been so insulted in the world using the media, it is Jonathan. Even worse, those handling his account in the likes of Doyin Okupe didn’t help matters especially their reactions to critics.
In any case, for most Nigerians, the best place to vent their anger on issues that pertains to governance including the work place and home is the social media. The social network created an atmosphere of tension with all manner of stories renting the air.
But in the end, despite the damage the media had done to the parties involved in the much talked about elections, it must stated that it contributed immensely to the success achieved in the just concluded elections as accessibility to information was made easier for users, just as it awakened the consciousness of citizens to decide who can take the country out of the woods.
