@Doubleeph, @RenoOmokri, @ElnathanJohn, @SeunOsewa make the list! See the 10 most powerful people on Social Media – #YNaijaPowerList

by Wilfred Okiche

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The sun now rises and sets on social media, and in the virtual community these guys hold all the power. Having quickly gained social networking skills, these ones have created a power base out of nothing and most are now regarded as leaders of thought. Some are ‘Twitter overlord’s who lead the conversation, while others drop Facebook updates that get all the likes. Be it blog posts with thousands of hits or viral Instagram pictures, these ones are the kings of the new order. Here are social media’s power 10, all between the ages of 18 and 40.

Japheth Omojuwa

The halls of Arik Air will probably never forget the name of Japheth Omojuwa. Love him or hate him, Omojuwa is a force to reckon with on social media, especially on Twitter where he has garnered over 100,000 followers. Omojuwa runs a blogspot which he started in 2009 and has become popular for its hard hitting political opinion pieces and editorials. His tweets have been branded by corporate organizations like MTN, Pepsi and Interswitch and while some tweet for the fun of it, Omojuwa’s earns a couple of thousand for every tweet. He also just completed a stint as guest lecturer at the Free University, Berlin, Germany, where he discussed African democratic prospects and challenges.

Blossom Nnodim

She is influential on Twitter as @blcompere and her #AdoptATweep initiative has morphed into a shining example on how social media can be used as a medium for networking and developing business contacts offline. Nnodim has been involved in election monitoring through social media and was one of the African leaders invited to observe the US elections in 2012.

Chinedu Ekeke

This young man works as an accountant during the day but by night, he is the editor of the blog ekekeee.com where he dishes out revealing pieces on the state of the nation. His Twitter moniker @Nedunaija is a zealous critic of the GEJ administration and his 30,000 strong army of followers know enough not to get in his bad books as he is not one to derail from an oncoming collision course.

Ediong Umoh

It is okay not to know the name Ediong Umoh but it is probably a crime to be doing business online and not know of Nigeria News Desk, the premier news aggregator. Arguably the country’s most popular Twitter handle (with well above 500,000 followers), @NND aggregates tweets for various new media platforms like YNaija, Daily Post Nigeria and The Scoop. With each tweet or retweet, Umoh is definitely smiling to the bank.

Elnathan John

Elnathan John

Elnathan writes so well that actress Rita Dominic would gladly have lunch with him. He garnered international attention when he was shortlisted in 2013 for The Caine Prize for African Writing for his short story ‘Bayan Layi’ and though he did not win, the Twitter crowd heartily rooted for him. His lengthy blog posts have become weekly reading for his impressive number of fans and his sharp, witty commentary on popular culture, delivered as punchy tweets excite his 7000 followers to no end.

Feyi Fawehinmi

Brilliant, astute, clear-eyed and informative, Feyi Fawehinmi who tweets from the handle @DoubleEph almost never wastes tweet. His Twitter bio says he is the “Twitter mentor to the Twitter mentorless” and this is no idle boast. His 11,000 followers hang on to his every word and each tweet prompts a cascade of retweets and replies. That is only part of the story, though. His blog posts, some of which are syndicated on YNaija, go to the heart of every high falutin government policy and break them down for everyine to comprehend. All this happens from his base in the UK where he is a senior investment accountant.

ezeani

Kingsley Ezeani

Ezeani’s Information Nigeria is the king of Facebook; no other person or website even comes close. While some critics accuse the site of not creating original content, Facebookers beg to disagree and in August of 2013, Information Nigeria became the first Nigerian website to have 1million fans on Facebook. That number has since been steadily growing and the site was acknowledged as the fastest growing in all of Africa. The twitter numbers are not doing badly, but Ezeani’s niche remains Facebook, where the Information Nigeria comment pages often become a battle ground for people with insistent warring opinions. Ezeani is also the winner of The Future Award Africa Prize in New Media.

Reno Omokri

Bemigho Reno Omokri is the Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on New Media. The Twitter crowd definitely loves to hate him but are constantly on the prowl, waiting for his tweets in support of one government decision or the other. Without a doubt a conversation starter, Reno has become one of the most popular voices on social media where he gives as good as he gets. He was recently linked to a suspicious email tying the activities of the Boko Haram terror group to the suspended CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

Seun Osewa

Osewa is the founder of Nairaland, the country’s most popular online community. Currently ranked as the 7th most visited site in Nigeria and the most visited indigenous platform (according to Alexa.com), Nairaland sees more action than Twitter. With boards that offer discussion on any topic under the sun, Nairaland’s approach has attracted over 1million registered users. Yep, Seun Osewa is a pretty big deal.

Teju Cole

To the world, Teju Cole is a critically acclaimed writer of two well received books, with a distinguished writing residency at Bard college. However, to twitter Cole may well be the smartest (and wittiest) man alive. His tweets on Nigeria and beyond are gems to ponder on and his Small Fates series of tweets – which mix tragedy with irony and dark humour – have inspired a crowd of copycats all over the world. On the night of the Golden Globes, he patented a new concept, using a series of 35 retweets by some of his 120,000-plus followers to narrate an entire short story titled ‘Hafiz’. When Mr Cole tweets, the world takes notice.

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