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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