2023 elections remain most credible in Nigeria-Don
…calls for regulation of social media
By Mosunmola Ayobami
A lecturer in the Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan, Dr Wole Oladapo has described the just concluded general elections as credible.
Oladapo stated this while delivering a paper at the WesternPost annual retreat held at Ibadan.
He spoke on the topic: “Social media and the 2023 general election: blessing or blight?”
“Nigeria has never conducted an election of credibility as that of the just concluded 2023 general elections,” he said.
Speaking on the topic of the day, the don said that social media played both negative and positive roles before, during and after the election.
According to him, the roles played by the social media during Occupy Nigeria (2012), Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) 2014 and the #EndSARS protest (2020), made Nigerians realized its powerful role in their engagements with the government.
He said: “Nigeria’s 2023 general elections have been variously described as a social media election.
“Mobilization for permanent voter card (PVC) registration was intense on social media. individuals, groups, and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) utilized different formats such as text, audio, image, video, and multimedia to get the message across to other users on social media.
“They shared information about registration centres and what was required of anyone seeking to be registered. Young people who got their PVC shared the information on social media to encourage others to do the same.
“Voter education took a different dimension during the 2023 general elections. Besides the activities of the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the mainstream media of the television, radio, and the press, social media users played a prominent role in convincing Nigerians that voter registration is a civic responsibility as it is a precondition for voting. They went beyond simply encouraging people to do the registration. They provided information about how to vote, and which finger to use to print the ballot papers.
“It is widely acknowledged that participation in the electoral system increased due to the mobilization efforts of young people. For the 2023 general elections, 39.65% of registered voters were youth between the ages of 18 and 34. Those between the ages of 35 and 49 constituted 35.75% of voters. These are the category of individuals who are active social media users. Their activities of various social media platforms are a boost to the increased participation.”
The don, however, said the social media also experienced explosion of fake news, while it deepened ethnic and religion profiling, before, during and after the election.
He said there was a misconception of political participation and activism by supporters of candidates.
According to him, there was also premature announcement of results on the social media, which the rejection of the final results as announced by the electoral umpire by candidates.
“Fake news about the 2023 general elections were so many that both local and foreign media could not ignore them. Although they permeated other media platforms, social media were the primary site where those falsehoods were shared.
“It was beyond the handiwork of some mischievous supporters of candidates and their parties. It appears like a coordinated attempt to swing the outcome of the elections through the manipulative fakery.
“For example, a BBC report was said to found out how politicians engaged social media influencers with an amount as high as N20 million to spread disinformation about their opponents.
“Ethnic and religious profiling was widespread on social media while electioneering campaigns were ongoing. The trend was observed across the country,” he said.
Dr. Oladapo said it is dangerous to allow social media operate without any control, adding that even in the Western world there are regulatory framework to checkmate the usage.
He said that Nigeria has no choice than to regulate the social media through a bill to the National Assembly.
“Social media is like a two-edged sword. As it has been established in this piece, social media can be useful in strengthening the democratic process just as much as it can be used to roll back in just one election the democratic progress achieved in decades.
“In the case of Nigeria’s recently concluded 2023 general elections, it is apparent that the problem with social media is not social media itself but that of context.
“To fix the problematic use of social media, relevant stakeholders will need to work to increase social media literacy and political literacy among the populace.
“There is also a need to engage religious and ethnic leaders on the need to draw a line between politics and religion and politics and ethnicity.
“Lastly, government at all levels must work to ease the hardship that citizens experience to reduce the citizens’ tendency to participate in the electoral process as a form of vengeance,” he concluded.
