SocialMediaTrends: Buhari’s ‘hat-trick’ of recession, CCTV revelations on Lekki shooting & more

Social media users on Saturday were mostly concerned about the state of Nigeria’s economy under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Conversations around the shooting of unarmed protesters at the Lekki tollgate last month was also kept the mills spinning, among several other topics.

The following were top trends across social platforms this weekend:

Recession

Nigeria has reportedly plunged into recession as official figures from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the nation’s economy maintained a downward growth for the second consecutive time in 2020.

According to the report, the economy shrank in the second quarter of this year for the first time in three years after the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 6.10%, followed by another 3.62% fall in the third quarter.

This year’s recession, owing largely to the lockdown measures occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, is said to be the worst the country has experienced in the last four years.

The Buhari-led administration recieved backlash once again as Twitter users expressed disappointment over the development, recalling that Nigeria had slid into a recession in 2016 and also in 1984 during Buhari’s time as a military leader.

Read Also: SocialMediaTrends: Importing petrol from Niger Republic, Ifeanyi Okereke’s ‘unfortunate death’ & more

CCTV

The Lagos Judicial Panel of Inquiry probing the Lekki toll gate shooting examined a CCTV footage submitted by the operators of the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) which revealed that the Nigerian Army deployed no less that seven military trucks to the Lekki toll gate on the day unarmed #EndSARS protesters were shot last month.

The footage showed people running towards the direction of the toll gate at 6:43pm and the army arriving the venue at 6:45pm.

At 6:53pm, the lights at the toll gate went off and the military drove in at 6:55pm.

Flashes of gun fire could be seen at 6:57pm as the military appeared to have surrounded the demonstrators on both sides of the gate at 7:09pm.

Twitter users have considered the development a step in the right direction as they anticipate the outcome of the investigation.

King David, Papa Ifeanyi

Fans of Nigerian Afropop artist, David Adeleke, better known as Davido, took to social media to pour out goodwill messages in celebration of the award-winning musician who turned 28 on Saturday.

The ‘FEM’ Crooner, who recently dropped his album ‘A Better Time’, was also praised for his notable impacts in the Nigerian music industry as well as in the October #EndSARS protest.

…By Okiemute Abraham

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