The Role Of Social Media In Political Activist Movements In Nigeria

It is no secret that the general availability of the internet has given individuals the opportunity to use online platforms as mediums of communication, from email to Twitter and Instagram, which has led to interactions without the need for physical presence. Thus, social media has become an integral part of public discourse and communication in the contemporary society. Furthermore, social media has caused major changes pertaining the way people find groups of individuals with similar interests, the nature of information, the available news sources, or the possibility to require and share ideas. It has presented another communication channel for various interest groups today.

The term social media can be defined as a range of tools and services that facilitate direct user interaction online. Social media are web based services which are otherwise called "social networking Sites". Social media refers to a network of connections and communications among various gatherings or people. Stelzner (2016) defined social media as a platform that was centered on the concept of a read and write web, where the audience and users are past the passive viewing of web content and move on to actually contributing to the content. In simple terms, social media covers anything that makes use of the Internet to enable conversations and most often take the form of social networking sites, blogs, and Wikis. Furthermore, Chaffey (2016) defined a social network site as an online service that permits users to create and modify a profile, either public or semi-private, accumulate a list of connections, as well as view the list of their connections and others utilizing the services.

Social Media (SM) refer to network of relationships and interactions among different users (groups or individuals). Social media platforms include popular networking sites like the Instagram and Twitter as well as bookmaking sites like Reddit. One of the most important outcomes of the increase in the social media use and development of social media technologies can be seen in the areas of politics. As the strength of social media in reaching mass audiences was understood, it started to appeal to the interests of politicians and political activists as well. In many parts of the world, the usage of social media is considered as a strong vantage tool for politicians and political activists alike to succeed in their political campaigns. The political activists groups have benefitted from the use of social media because they might find it hard to get through to audiences through mainstream media due to various reasons however social media breaks that barrier by connecting them directly to their desired audiences.

In recent years, political activists have been able to manipulate social media to create political awareness on social and political issues and mobilize demonstrations. One of such political activist campaigns was the Arab Spring and the Occupy Movement that mobilized social media protests that took place in the last few years in Turkey. Similarly, the London youth demonstrations of 2011 against the high level of unemployment among young adults, the 2009 Iranian protests against the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Egyptian social movements augmented by Twitter and Facebook, when President Mubarak shut down the Internet for five days are further examples of the use of social media to effectively spur political activist campaigns.

Furthermore, the use of social media to spur political activism and political movements have not been limited to countries outside Nigeria as it has been used in Nigeria by political interest groups to create movements that resulted in significant changes. Social media platforms have been used for social movements such as #LightUpNigeria and #OccupyNigeria protests. Furthermore, Young Nigerians used social media to raise awareness on the gang rape of a young girl in Abia State University using #ABSURape. However, one of the most effective social campaigns in Nigeria was the #BringBackOurGirls movement which effectively adopted social media usage to organize and demand answers from the government regarding the whereabouts of missing girls from Chibok, Borno State. The campaign was so effective that it engaged various celebrities and important personalities in the world such as the former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama. The campaign scored some sort of win when 82 of the girls were released due to successful negotiations by the Government with the Boko Haram Sect. The latest political activist movement in Nigeria has been the “Not too Young to Run” campaign on social media.

The “Not too Young to Run” campaign on social media used social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter to effectively mobilize social support to reduce the he age limit for running for elected office in Nigeria. The campaign started in support of bills and motions in Nigeria's National Assembly sponsored by the Tony Nwulu in the House of Representatives and AbdulAziz Nyako in the Senate. The campaign is now global, symbolized by the hashtag# NotTooYoungToRun on Instagram and Twitter. The major purpose of the campaign was to reduce the age of running for elective positions for House of Assembly and House of Representatives from 30 year old to 25 year old, Senate and Governorship from 35 year old to 30 year old and office of the president from 40 to 30 and independent candidature in Nigeria. Furthermore, the campaign sought to reduce nomination form fees as a way to encourage youth involvement in politics. The campaign was driven with the objective to increase youth participation in the 2019 electoral process. The campaign managed to score some wins when the Nigeria's Senate resolved to transmit the Not Too Young To Run bill to the President of Nigeria and on the 31st of May 2018 President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Not Too Young To Run bill into law. However, it remains questionable whether the campaign was successful in achieving its main objective which is the participation of Youths in the electoral process in 2019

The use of social media has changed the landscape of mass communication in the world today. It has generated the emergence of an open social platform where all types of issues can be raised and discussed. According Boyd & Ellison (2008) the fact that social media platforms are web-based services allows individuals from any part of the world to connect with one another seamlessly. Similarly, Chijioke (2013) noted that social media allowed users to individuals to share important information with friends. This has had a big effect on communication and information dissemination around the world. Social media gives people the freedom to express themselves without fear of regulation or censorship and has made people more confident in raising public issues of discussion. Chinedu-Okereke and Obi (2016) noted that the lack of regulation and censorship on social media where traits that appealed to youths and have encouraged them to use the platform to engage in public political discussions and participate in political movements. However, despite this the problem remains that the political activists in Nigeria have had difficulties in mobilizing youths to participate in electoral processes.

The “Not to Young to Run” campaign pinpointed these problem and aimed to solve it through political activism on social media platforms especially on Twitter and Instagram. The campaign pointed out that the Youths in Nigeria had an alarmingly low participation rate in electoral processes in Nigeria and it was because of the age limit allowed for the running of political offices in Nigeria. Mr Itodo who was the chief campaigner also noted that the high costs of political nomination forms had prevented youths from being interested in the electoral process in Nigeria. Mr Itodo also noted that major political parties in Nigeria failed to reserve political office tickets specifically for youths of the country and it has discouraged youths and alienated them from the political system in Nigeria and the electoral processes. Therefore, their campaign was based on delivering a reduction in the age limit of political offices and the significant reduction in the nomination of party forms.

Although, major milestones where achieved with several political parties reserving tickets for youths and reducing their nomination fees and President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Not Too Young To Run bill into law, there remains significant questions as to whether this campaign on social media was significant in improving political participation of youths in the electoral processes in Nigeria. Critics of the campaign have noted that the mere reduction of the nomination fees of the APC from 55 million naira to 45 million naira and the fact the forerunners for the current 2019 presidential elections for the two major political parties (APC and PDP) have an average of 73 is a sign that it will take more than a social media activist campaign to spur significant political participation of youths in the electoral process in Nigeria.