by Debo Adejugbe

Personally, I would have loved if “Social Media Votes” translated to actual votes… Sadly, it doesn’t! It means that all our hue and cry will amount to nothing if we don’t dig in and get dirty.

I read two short but extremely powerful articles on YNaija two weeks ago. One was written by Cheta Nwanze analyzing the just concluded FCT Municipal Elections (PDP won 5 of the 6 councils) and the effect (or lack of it) of Social Media activism on the outcome. The other was written by Jude Egbas and he gave us a piece of his mind on the newly formed ‘Mega’ APC party, reminding us that they are not necessarily the ‘answer’ but a question which we need to take seriously, nevertheless.

Couple these two opinions with my last Y!Politico piece, A Man for the People published the same week, where I asserted – using Chinua Achebe’s eyes – that the people are complicit in the present political and social impasse we face as a nation. Three days after that piece, the legend, Chinua passed on and I’m of the opinion that he did his best by encouraging us to ask the right questions. Ignorance cannot even begin to qualify as an excuse worth considering as there are several avenues to source for information in this age. Not exploring any of these options can only constitute as criminal negligence on our part. The world is changing and we must, as a matter of necessary compulsion, move along with it or be left behind in our self-tended quagmire.

The FCT Municipal Elections came and whistled past like the president’s siren but there are very obvious lessons to be learnt. I will advise that you read those three articles first to fully juxtapose my thought thrust in this piece.

I am a fierce proponent of Social Media and the positives it represents to this generation. Its usefulness cannot be overemphasized as it adds value to businesses, advocacy push, social education and awareness, and ultimately, offers a great platform for actualizing the 2015 dream we presently nurse. I believe we have gone beyond analyzing the myriad complications another ‘Goodluck Presidency’ will mean for Nigeria; the focus has to be how to dislodge this “house of corruption” we find ourselves servicing with the resources of crying and pregnancy-laden generations.

Personally, I would have loved if “Social Media Votes” translated to actual votes. I would automatically be the handler and contributor of close to 2,000 votes. Sadly, it doesn’t! It means that all our hue and cry will amount to nothing if we don’t dig in and get dirty. The Abuja election is an eye opener. Chinua Achebe aptly describes it thus: “If you don’t like someone’s story, write your own.” We can all shout and cry, but if we don’t get up to get the work done, we have no right whatsoever to criticize the PDP who have decided to milk us dry but are working for it.

You can suggest that it doesn’t matter. You can even conclude that it is close to the seat of power and as such, was the expected result. You can even posit that your votes wouldn’t have mattered in the grand scheme of things but I can assure you, that is an erroneous position to take. Majority of us on Social Media are resident in the urban areas and if, as supposedly socially aware youths, we neglect our civic duties despite all the noise we make on ‘SM’, what is the fate of the “socially unaware” in the rural areas?

During #OccupyNigeria, I decided I wasn’t going to join the Ojota central protest point but organize protests in my area to let people understand that we are all affected irrespective of our social or educational standing in the society. I joined up with weed smokers, Okada men, Keke Napep drivers, traders and the rest to protest and enforce the no-movement order. We even seized Okada from stubborn policemen as a bonus. I was automatically made the mouthpiece as I understood the issues better than most of them and they took pictures of me addressing the press and gatherings. I joined them in sourcing for used tyres to make bonfires when it was time and even offered to donate my car’s tyres if the need ever arose. I got my hands dirty!

I posted some of the pictures on my BlackBerry display and this geared my friends living in the area to come out and join us. It was extremely successful. Why the story? You can only leverage on Social Media when you have taken a step towards participation. You can’t sit in the anonymity and exclusion of your homes and tell people to vote when you don’t even have a voter’s card or know where the nearest polling booth is located. This is OUR future and if we expect it to be resolved by others while we “siddon look“, the redemption we wait for will perpetually move into the future.

The earlier we realize that social media is a means to an end and not the end itself, the better. Anything other than this is sheer ignorance. 2015, in political terms is a short time away but two years is also a very long time if we commit the right resources and energy to it.

As a last word, I’ll say ‘Social Media Votes’ don’t count when it doesn’t contribute to the desired goal.  Our efforts can only be amplified by Social Media and not replaced by it. For those doubting the opposition, I’ll say, like Jude Egbas, let us ask them the right questions and get to know them better before we throw away the baby with the bath-water. It is glaringly obvious that the PDP will continue its role as a party created to siphon our commonwealth and standing aloof expecting God to chase them out for us, is not just the height of ignorance, but folly also!

The price of this ignorance is that, the present ‘Social Media Lamentations’ will perpetually linger and become a putrid din that will turn SM itself on its head!

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Debo Adejugbe is a trained Telecommunications/Electronics Engineer and a certified IT professional living in Lagos. Dad to amazing Hailey and an advocate against Sexual and Domestic Abuses. Debo has political sympathy for the Labour Party. He tweets from @deboadejugbe

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.