2019: ‘Social media is key to electoral victory’

Any politician that does not know how to use the social media channels to influence the views and decisions of Nigerians should forget about making an impact in the forthcoming 2019 general elections.

This was the submission of a legal practitioner and author, Abiola Fashina who further noted, that the social media and the internet also hold the key to good governance in Nigeria.

“Any politician who does not know how to use the social media to influence the people will have a lot to lose in 2019”, Abiola stated, while speaking at the launch of her books in Lagos on Saturday.

According to her, there is a paradigm shift in the way voters in Nigeria are thinking, because they are more educated and more enlightened, and that her three-part book, ‘Politics In Nigeria & Social Media, The Importance for Elections and Governance’ addressed these and more.

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“If you have a good social media manager and a good social media strategy for your campaign, there is a way you can influence people using social media. If you don’t use it well, other people will use it in such a way that it will smear your candidature, put out fake news and spoil you. So it’s up to you to handle your social media in such a way that you win the elections and the popular votes”, she explained.

Abiola noted that money will fail many politicians in 2019, if they do not get it right as the social media is changing elections and the way people think and vote, not only in Nigeria, but other parts of Africa as well.

“You need to use the social media, and digital media in 2019 to get the votes, because it’ll count”, she counseled.

She urged politicians to create apps and channels for their campaigns, as ways of reaching out and getting people’s votes.

Abiola also lamented that many Nigerians know very little about the potentials and wealth inherent in Nigeria, hence they are always looking outside its shores for wealth, even as the billionaires and foreigners are seeking inroads to get into Nigeria.

While lamenting that history has been removed from the curriculums In Nigerian schools, the author and entrepreneur rued the fact that many Nigerians do not know about the country’s symbols and their meanings.

She noted that there is a need to look at how other governments have done things right, and see how the Nigerian government can emulate such by creating social media channels through which the populace can communicate with those in government, “leading them to help us to help them”.

 

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