Former Head of State, General
Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.), is
believed to be more popular than
any other presidential aspirant of
the All Progressive Congress. But
investigation shows that his
popularity among the masses,
especially in Northern Nigeria,
does not necessarily translate into
a huge following on social media.
There is an indication that Buhari
himself, not the army of youths
that have stood behind him over
the years, may be responsible for
his lack of activity on social
media.
There is no evidence, for instance,
that the former head of state
operates a personal Facebook
account. But some fake accounts
associated with his ambition
currently exist on the social
network service.
Some of the few pseudo-Facebook
accounts where support is
canvassed for Buhari include
‘Major-General Mohammadu
Buhari for President’ and ‘Gen
Mohammadu Buhari/Dr. Musa
Rabiu Kwankwaso to Villa’.
Buhari’s ambition is most visible
on ‘Major-General Mohammadu
Buhari’, another public account
opened and operated by unknown
enthusiasts last March. With 1,724
likes as of Tuesday’s evening, the
Facebook page has become a
forum for pro-Buhari discussions
and exchange of ideas, though
some subscribers also visit to
share their disapproval of his
ambition.
While it is believed that the
Katsina-born retired major-general
— who also lacks imprint on
Twitter and Instagram — is not
heavily-present in social media
platforms, his fellow northerner
and key opponent in APC, Atiku
Abubakar, does.
On facebook, the Atiku
conversation is ongoing. Opened
on May 2008, the timeline has
been updated to capture his
campaign theme – #
ANigeriaforALL. The page is a
flurry of political debates. But with
only 404,297 likes, many do not
consider Atiku’s reach-out on
Facebook impressive.
In spite of this, the page gets an
hourly update, which seems to
sustain the date on the debate on
the Turaki’s campaign slogan.
“In the past three weeks, I have
visited almost every state of this
great nation, meeting people. They
are asking for a change from the
status quo,” Atiku posted on
Tuesday.
But the change the people were
asking for, one Egbuhuzo Ifeanyi
noted, could only be achieved when
the older generation, which the
former vice president belonged to,
relinquished power to younger
Nigerians. Besides, he added, the
presidential hopeful could
contribute to the change Nigeria
dearly need without occupying the
top office.
In two hours, about 576 individuals
had endorsed the post.
Atiku also seized the limitless
opportunity offered by the cyber
space to seek support for worthy
causes. On Tuesday, he called on
Nigerians to participate in the
ongoing voter registration, saying
that without it the change that
Nigerians desire might not take
place.
Atiku also embraces Twitters
except that his imprint on the
platform may not be considered
good enough for a presidential
aspirant. He is followed by
178,000 people from different parts
of the world, while he follows 28,
including Babatunde Fashola of
Lagos State; South Africa’s Jacob
Zuma; Leader of Mavin Dynasty,
Michael Collins. He is also
following a couple of corporate
handles such as Arsenal Football
Club.
From August 2010 till Tuesday, the
politician’s Twitter handle recorded
2,414 tweets. His two tweets on
Tuesday’s morning were (jointly)
re-tweeted by 176 subscribers in
six hours. In 24 hours (between
Monday and Tuesday), Atiku has
six tweets, which were all centre
on his campaign.
The most regular question from his
fans and foes on the social media
is why the presidential aspirant-
sponsored university should be so
expensive. In a veiled response to
this, Atiku said that private school
could never be compared with
government-funded education.
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