Alfred Asemota
Coming out of a successful weekend of social media interaction with Edo Youth and voters which gave opportunity to answer questions directly, APC candidate Obaseki hits the upswing in social Media interaction among Edo voters. Over 7,000 tweets were recorded. But there is more data to show how Obaseki trounces his opponent Eze Iyamu in the race to Edo government house.
Indeed as the race for the Edo governorship election hots up, gladiators in the battle to succeed the comrade governor have taken the battle to the cyberspace ostensibly to woo younger and internet savvy voters most of who, like their counterparts in the other more developed democracies usually do, want to be able to interact directly with candidates, ask real questions and generally task the candidates to explicitly divulge their plans and programs and action plans to enable the potential voters make informed choices.
You would recall that current President of the United States of America, Barack Obama was the first globally acclaimed politician to win a major election by using the power of the internet I.e. Twitter and Facebook. He was able to galvanize the younger voters to buy into his plans and vision for America.
You would also recall that the current Nigerian leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, came into power on the back of a powerful online movement backed by a horde of volunteers and young Nigerians who wanted to see their country on the path to greatness, away for the slimy cesspool of corruption that was the immediate past administration.
The incoming Edo election is therefore one that would be won or lost based on the credibility and potential of the candidate that can successfully galvanize the youths and the online community based on sellable ideas, clear attributes and panache as perceived by the potential voters.
Currently the PDP candidate, Ize Iyamu has about 2,818 followers on twitter, 4,919 on Facebook and 450 likes on his Facebook page.
On the other hand, the APC candidate Godwin Obaseki has a combined total of 63,243 followers on his official twitter handles and those of his volunteers, 75,000 followers on Facebook page, 35,000 likes with an average view of 3,373 daily.
Obaseki also trended massively recently when he sponsored a question and answer hashtag named #talk2Obaseki which attracted over 7,000 tweets giving potential voters a rare one on one opportunity to ask serious questions concerning his plans for the citizens and dwellers of Edo state.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the social media has come to stay and with the mindset of the current generation who want to be as involved in the day to day affairs of who governs them, it would be foolhardy for any serious aspirant for a political position to neglect the social media, otherwise known as new or digital media.
The beauty of the Obaseki online interaction is that most of his followers and those engaging with him online are either based in Edo state or are indigenes of the state in other major Nigerian states.
