Beyond selfies, using Social media as mobilization tools for Nigerian youths

Beyond selfies

And so, Mark Zuckerberg came visiting Nigeria, privately, but even had to come back at the behest of the Federal Government, which was possibly hoping to reap from the opportunities offered by the huge Publicity to be generated by the visit of the $56b man who came calling with no airs or fanfare.

Back-slapping, klieg lights, dinner, photo ops and all, soon followed. But the question remains: how have we, as Nigerians, benefitted from this visit? Were there any Zuckerberg endorsements for the technological efforts of our government and people? Besides hyping our jollof rice, was there any consequential upping of the info-tech game and a concrete augmentation of the terrain?

Mark our jollof

Myriad questions might be essential, but they are not the essence of this piece. The contention is whether Nigeria and its managers have been successful at exploiting social media platforms in the mobilisation and positive orientation of its teeming, restive youth population that has grown from still pictures of Zuma rock to steal pictures with the best the world has to offer.

Whether society approves it or not, today’s youths will get engaged. And that may go from constructively, to controversially. They want to, and understandably need to explore the world. And today, it’s in their palms.

The typical urban Nigerian youth is on at least one of the social media collectively featuring Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Google, Linkedin, Skype, etc, with content including music and movie broadcasting, offering huge potentials for deliberate, planned and sustainable grooming, orientation, and purposeful mobilisation.

This is a generation moved by movies. They’d believe more what (Jennifer) Aniston said than what (Albert) Einstein said; they accord greater regard to what they read on Facebook than what they read in the Bible or Quran; and they’d defer to their heroes, music stars, actors, and celebrities, before their leaders.

So why won’t Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Mr. Femi Adesina, the National Orientation Agency, and other custodians of Brand Nigeria, take advantage, and exploit the opportunity to meet these youths at the point of their interest, the point of their deference, and the point of their convergence, with no inhibitions or prejudice? This has never been easier to do. Nigeria can help these budding Nigerians identify and emulate quintessential characters, images, and situations.

Mark their purpose

Nigerian youths can also be offered direction on how sane societies, systems and processes work, just like America has regulated its own youth population, using pop culture to influence the pre-eminence of America in their minds. Patriots are not bred only through May Day and Independence Day speeches and rallies, but via deliberate, mass, instant mobilisation of the youth population.

Today, trending issues and instant messages can reach and affect them in the fraction of a minute, cause tens of thousands to sing the same song at a football match, hundreds of thousands to do a sit-in, even millions to protest simultaneously against a government.

Nigerian youths are just as up-to-the-minute as those in the developed world, in a lot of sense. They crave modernity; and modernisation, they say, is Americanisation. And trust the Nigerian youth to emulate in the afternoon, whatever their counterparts in America did at noon. They defer to their music icons. They refer to their media heroes, and they’ll deter all efforts of society unless they have the mark or endorsement of those they look up to. 

Marking the youths of Nigeria

The social media are a 21^st century reality, unlike anything ever before, light years ahead of airmails, stamp collection and Pen-pals harvesting, some of the very few means through which we attempted to reach the world decades ago. No communication technology, no information dissemination tactics have ever been as real, as touching and as immediate as today’s social media. On them relationships have been built, and broken.

Bandying phones in the equivalent of $800, some Nigerian youths are on about memes and all the less constructive exploitation of the social media, while their counterparts around the world are using the social media more constructively to influence their society, to pressure governments, and to bring development that impact lives and lifestyles.

Mark my words!

But it’s time for our leaders to show them, or indirectly influence them to live decent, productive and purposeful lives, and make even greater positive contribution to society. And the social media provide ample platforms to do that, including our own music television platforms - Soundcity, Nigezie, HipTV, etc.

So, beyond grinning from ear to ear taking selfies with Zuckerberg, directors of our national heritage, orientation and mass mobilization can reach Nigerian youths via schemes on the social media and on music television to manifest well-crafted orientation and mobilisation strategies to tactfully deliver key messages. Music idols can be influenced and used to influence the mind-set and perception of their fans and groupies.

Social freedom and intellectual independence aside, leaders of tomorrow need not be learning to fashion their own course, beat their own path, and find their way in the absence of exemplary orientation, positive mentoring and good examples from the waning tribe of role models.

-Dele Dele-Olukoju