Hello 2015! These are the 100 Most Influential Nigerians on Twitter #MINT100

by Mark Amaza & Chi Ibe

 

They say ‘voters are not on Twitter!’ but they spend all day whipping up the votes on Twitter. They say ‘Twitter has no impact on my life!’ but then spend all day on… well, Twitter!

So can we all stop pretending about this? If you have an opinion, or if you have something to share, you need Twitter. You love Twitter, you listen to Twitter, you respond through Twitter.

And here, therefore, is our list of the 100 Most Influential Nigerians on Twitter, in different sectors from 2014, set to hit 2015.

Now, go to town guys, this is the #MINT100!

Politics & National Issues

@cchukwudubelu
The man who previously called himself “Mwalimu” (meaning “teacher” in Swahili) and now goes by the name “Onye Nkuzi” retained his influence with his expert opinions on Nigerian and global political issues, and knowledge about almost everything. We still do not know anyone who has met him nor do have we seen a picture of him.

@omojuwa
Activist per excellence. He has not lost his penchant for controversy but has also bravely taken on many causes, such as organizing a protest after the Nigerian Immigration Service Recruitment Exercise stampede which claimed 17 lives.

@nedunaija
Brilliant writer and excellent political analyst. He has even gotten better over time like fine wine.

@eggheader
He got promoted from Personal Assistant to the immediate past governor to Special Adviser this year. Although his principal lost his re-election in June, it has not diminished his influence in politics & ability to engage maturely.

@obyezeks
One of the most defining events of this year was the abduction of 276 girls from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State by the Boko Haram terrorist group. The #BringBackOurGirls campaign started to exert pressure on the Federal Government and has been driven by Madam Oby Ezekwesili

@RealFFK
The former minister has not lost his touch to be controversial with his articles on politics, religion and everything in between. He also knows how to hold his own when attacked for his views and returns fire for fire.

@ElRufai
The former FCT Minister saw his stock rise as one of the leaders of the opposition APC, winning the governorship ticket of his party for Kaduna State for the February 2015 elections. His preferred choice for the presidential ticket, Muhammadu Buhari also won.

@MrAyeDee
The US-based tweep came into Nigerian Twitter consciousness with his scoops and intel on Boko Haram. After that came his famous spat with the blogger, Linda Ikeji on plagiarism. Of late, he has been focused on tweeting for PDP candidates and aspirants such as Senator Musiliu Obanikoro and President Goodluck Jonathan.

@Atiku
The former VP increased his Twitter relevance with an excellent online campaign to win the presidential ticket of the APC. Although he was unsuccessful, he remains influential online and public perception of him has gotten better.

@NOIweala
The Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy does not tweet much. But when she does, she has everyone’s attention.

@Akaebube
Every politician should hope to have a supporter as passionate as Ebube supports President Jonathan. He is indefatigable in portraying the president in a positive light.

@iamtenseven
Emeka is a PDP member and a staunch supporter of President Jonathan. He also has insight into political happenings in many states across the country, but is still humble enough to keep mute or ask for opinions on where he does not know much. He is constantly found sparring supporters of the APC.

@Doubleeph
London-based accountant, Feyi does a daily newspaper review of headlines which has a large following. He also blogs quite often and writes intelligently on every subject he puts his mind to. He is also @iamtenseven’s favorite sparring partner.

@Ogundamisi
Another very controversial tweep, he is as passionately against President Jonathan as he is passionately for General Buhari. He got into many controversies this year with his alarmist and sensational portrayal of political events.

@Toluogunlesi
Award-winning journalist with a healthy dose of humour, Tolu’s influence keeps increasing through his writing and tweeting.

@Egbas
In a section of Twitter that has a lot of acerbic views, Jude’s gentle tone of expressing his opinions rarely gets him on the wrong side of people. He is well-balanced in his views. He is also an editor at the political blog, Ekeekee.com

@Dino_Melaye
Thankfully this year, Dino was not in any controversy – no false assassination attempts, no baby mama or wife battering allegations either. His sensationalist tweets against the PDP and President Jonathan continued however. He is the APC Senatorial Candidate for Kogi West next year.

@Abati1990
The presidential spokesman does not tweet often, and has managed to hold back himself in spite of the attacks on him for doing his job – defending his boss and laundering his image.

@MrFixNigeria
One of the leaders of the PDP Youth Circuit and an SSA to the immediate past Minister of State for Defence, Ohimai is constantly in the cross-hairs of the Twitter crowd over his political views.

@BukolaSaraki
Strongman of Kwara politics, former governor and incumbent senator, he has continued to use Twitter to engage on politics, national and local, and on his activities and work as a senator.

@MrEnclave
He is one tweep who has used his Lagos bar, Bar Enclave to be a venue for taking online relationships and conversations offline, especially with his “Conversations About Nigeria”.

@Rosanwo
Passionately for General Buhari/APC, passionately against President Jonathan, he has also been involved in political campaigns offline. He is also part of the team behind #NHBi, a weekly relationship talk show on Twitter.

@LanreNeville
A passionate supporter of APC, he is always to be found where there are political arguments and spats. He has a lot of influence in disseminating news, information and propaganda.

@Oddy4Real
He is the President Jonathan equivalent of @lanreneville – not afraid to get into the most heated arguments when it comes to defending the president.

@AbangMercy
The brain behind NewswireNGR, she has excellent insight into politics and general issues.

@DOlusegun
An APC member and passionate Buhari supporter, Segun Dada is active in political discourses online and political activities offline.

@TunjiAndrews
A BBC Business commentator, markets analyst and FDI specialist, he is the resident top business and economic analyst on Twitter and makes people dust off their economics textbooks once he starts his analysis.

@alkayy
A consummate journalist, he has excellent insight into political and national issues worth paying attention to, and it does get paid attention to.

@RenoOmokri
Reno has had quite an infamous year, especially with the Wendell Simlin episode. He is a favorite for attack by the “children of anger”, which he always deflects by going philosophical with Bible verses and African proverbs.

@CollinsUma
Columnist and editor with Ekeekee.com, his political analyses are always right on the mark and is generally regarded as fair and unbiased on Twitter.

@Ayourb

Some see him as a rabblerouser ‎ but he no doubt gives his followers exactly what they want – undisguised opposition to the government in power. His crude language may be a turn off for some but we don’t see him changing as the 2015 elections draw even closer. Reno and the gang should watch out.

@ikhide
Based in America, Pa Ikhide writes on about everything under the sun, and his opinions on politics cannot be ignored.

@SamHart
As someone who has been in government before (Chief Press Secretary to the Abia State governor, 2003 – 2007), Sam Hart tweets politics as someone who knows, especially from the inside. His opinions are not to be taken lightly.

Entertainment

@DonJazzy
A man that needs no introduction, Africa’s best producer arguably continued to have a stellar year with his Mavin Records crew, releasing the hit “Dorobucci”. He is still very likeable on Twitter, courtesy of his mischief and his generosity by sharing airtime.

@LindaIkeji
Africa’s number one blogger grew bigger, but was also embroiled in the biggest controversy of her blogging career – charges of plagiarism which caused Google to take down her blog for a day. She is still the gossip blogger of choice.

@WizkidAyo
He continued releasing music, although his sophomore album dropped to mixed reviews with many saying that the Pakurumo singer could have done better. He still maintains his fan base.

@iam_Davido
If 2014 was the year of any Nigerian artiste, it was Davido’s year. Award after award, hit after hit, he took them all. He also had collaborations within Nigeria and even Africa, teaming up with the South African group, Mafikizolo.

@Olamide_YBNL
A year in which he released his hit song, Story for the Gods, which has also been mired in controversy about it being a song advocating rape. He still remains popular, and judging from recent photos, seems to have pitched in with campaigning for the APC against the next elections.

@Basket_Mouth
Nigeria’s number one stand-up comedian continued with his popularity by making people laugh. However, he had a controversial episode with a joke that seemed to endorse rape.

@AlibabaGCFR
An icon in Nigerian stand-up comedy circles, Ali Baba continues to use humor to tweet his opinions on Nigerian issues.

@PeterPSquare
One-half of the singing duo, Psquare, he and his brother were on the verge of splitting and their Twitter timelines for the subs thrown at each other. Thankfully, they did not split and fans of their music were all the better for it.

@Rudeboysquare
The other half of Psquare.

@BankyW
The head honcho of E.M.E continues to woo music lovers with his songs, female fans with his looks and Nigerian Twitter with his down-to-earth nature.

@TosinAdeda
Popular music blogger who knows his opinions when it comes to that, and also not scared of saying what could even be adjudged controversial.

@CharlesNovia
The filmmaker has opinions on everything. No seriously, everything. And many times, he has gotten into trouble for those opinions.

@RealSeunKuti
Like the true son of his father, Seun Kuti is keeping the afro-beat genre alive and also does a lot of political activism.

@AfroVII
Her reviews of Nigeria music albums are mostly on the mark, and are eagerly awaited by music fans. One cannot forget her one particular episode with fans of Wizkid who attacked her for giving his album a poor rating.

@OvieO
The brain behind Nigeria’s biggest and most popular music blog, NotJustOk.com. Upcoming artistes covet his favor as he can propel them to stardom.

@Eldeethedon
Despite not releasing a monster hit in a while, he continues to spread his influence and being politically vocal. Of late, he has also become an investor in a tech startup, Washlify.

@GenevieveNnaji1
The queen of Nigerian cinema tweets sparingly. When combined with her increasing stock, it makes her tweets worth craving for.

@MI_Abaga
His third studio album dropped this year and Twitter was taken over completely by the diminutive rapper and his fans before and after the release date, driving album sales immensely.

@TiwaSavage
The queen of the Mavin Crew got hitched to music video producer, Teebillz in April this year. She also continues hard with her Beyonce dance impersonation, influencing other women to also attempt Beyonce dance impersonation.

@IcePrinceZamani
Not everyone agrees he can rap. But the Jos-born rapper is loved, especially by the ladies and commands a Twitter influence base in the hundreds of thousands.

@RealOmoSexy
She doesn’t tweet often, but when she does tweet, she gets the attention of not just her about 400,000 followers, but even far more.

@HenshawKate
The actress continued to dazzle with her beauty, and also threw her hat into the ring to run for the ticket of the PDP for the Calabar Municipal Federal Constituency. Sadly, she was unsuccessful, which was heartbreaking for her teeming fans.

@Iyanya
Always a ladies’ favorite. His sex appeal seems unending, and though he didn’t release a hit this year, a few collaborations has kept him in the consciousness of music lovers.

@Audu
The boss of the Chocolate City Group, stable to M.I. and Ice Prince, is influential even beyond entertainment circles. He sits on the SURE-P committee of the Federal Government and is involved with the YOUWIN Entrepreneurship Program as well.

@I_am9ce
The Gongo Aso crooner put music aside for politics this year and made a run for a House of Representatives ticket on the platform of the APC. Sadly, his bid was unsuccessful. On the flipside, it might mean that he will be back to the studio to churn out more hits.

Technology

@SeunOsewa
Though he does not tweet much, his Nairaland site continues to be influential in shaping perceptions through the discussions between its over 1 million followers.

@JasonNjoku
The boss of irokoTV and SPARK, Jason is one person who knows his onions when it comes to running a tech business in Nigeria.

@MrBankole
Bankole is the editor-in-chief or “convener” as he loves to call it, of leading tech blog, Tech Cabal. He is also a lawyer.

@MarkEssien
Lagos-based, Ikot-Ekpene born software developer, he runs hotels.ng, Nigeria’s biggest hotel booking platform.

@MayowaOlowabi
Self-acclaimed technopreneur and business architect, he runs BuyNowNow, Nigeria’s equivalent of eBay.

@EmekaOkoye
Mobile and linked open data technologist, he is also the founder of Next2.us which is a company that provides advanced communication services to people and organization in emerging markets. Emeka is a leading semantic Mobile Application developer.

@SeyiTaylor
Vocal on Twitter on technology and politics, he is part of the team at Tech Cabal.

@simdul
It takes guts and brains to start and run two tech startups at the same time, especially when one of them is a major eCommerce site. Sim Shagaya is the founder and CEO of Konga and DealDey and is highly respected among Nigerian techies.

@BosunTijani
Bosun is one of the founders of the incubator, ccHub. He is also the brain behind Truppr.com, where people connect online and engage in fitness activities offline together. He spends his time Leicester, England and Lagos.

@EghosaO
With many years of experience as a venture capitalist at Intel Capital under his belt, Eghosa now runs EchoVC Partners, a venture capital firm. Tech entrepreneurs looking to get funding for their ideas lean on his every word.

@MarekChinedu
Polish by origin but fast becoming a Nigerian, Marek Zmylowski runs Jovago, a hotel booking platform funded by Rocket Internet and competitor to hotels.ng.

@KofiAfaedor
Raphael Kofi Afaedor, one of the two co-founders of Jumia Nigeria resigned to start his own eCommerce venture, SuperMart.

@Mukoshy
Young and well-respected, Ahmed Mukoshy is the CTO and founder of GigaLayer.com, a domain and web hosting company

@Gbengasesan
Through his organization, Paradigm Initiatives Nigeria, Gbenga Sesan is using technology to change the lives of disadvantaged youths and empowering them. He is also active in social and political issues.

@huntellagadgets
Massively popular because he sells and delivers everything tech. He was once even mentioned by Iyanya to deliver a PS3 to him. Now that is a celebrity endorsement to die for.

@Oviosu
The founder of mobile payments company, Paga, which continues to grow in leaps and bounds.

@Asemota
Self-described as a lover of African technology and fondly called “Big Chief”, Victor Asemota shares his thoughts and experiences on technology on his timeline and blog.

@EditiEffiong
One of his crowning moments was managing the online campaign of former VP Atiku Abubakar through his digital marketing firm, Anakle, and building on the success of their viral web app, BridePrice from last year.

Motivation

@LekeAlder
The brand strategist continues to woo minds and hearts with his insights into relationships and religion through his #LetterToJill, #LetterToJack and other tweet series.

@FelaDurotoye
The motivational speaker continues his motivation magic on Twitter to his teeming fans,

@PastorPoju
The founder and pastor of Covenant Christian Centre and the convener of The Platform, he shares scriptures on his timeline regularly.

Writers

@elnathan
Lawyer, writer, blogger, satirist, activist, nominee for Caine Prize for Literature. He continues to hold people spellbound with his tweets and pieces.

@AyoSogunro
Another lawyer, writer and activist, he continued to build up on the success of his book, Sorry Tales last year with the release of Everything In Nigeria Is Going To Kill You. His tweets pack punch and influence.

@MaxSiollun
Despite not having many followers, his influence is very obvious in how often mentioned in political conversations and the caliber of people who almost swear by his two books, “Oil, Politics and Violence” and “Soldiers of Fortune”. A third book is eagerly being awaited.

@ChikaUnigwe
Netherlands-based writer, her two books have earned her rave reviews from critics around the world.

@ChibunduOnuzo
Chibundu is a young UK-based writer, blogger and author of “The King’s Daughter”. She enjoys a wide readership.

@DemolaRewaju
The brain behind www.demolarewajudaily.com and is without doubt one of the most respected writers on Twitter.
Sports

@ColinUdoh
Without exaggerating, Colin remains one of the most respected sports journalists in Africa and the most influential in Nigeria. When it comes to sports and football especially, he tweets with authority.

@SundayOliseh
The former captain of the Super Eagles is influential not just because of his past reputation but also because of his analytical skills.

@OdemwingieP
This year, the Super Eagles striker was more subdued in his tweeting, most likely in large part to him not being left out of the squad that made it to the World Cup tournament which held in Brazil this year.

@KayodeTijani2000
Popular TV sports analyst, his views are not taken lightly.

@RandaAndrew
Andrew Randa is a football writer with SuperSport.com, owner of 9jafooty.blogspot.com and one of the most authoritative voices on Nigerian league football.

@georgeakpayen
Writer and journalist, George Akpayen pioneered local football statistics keeping in Nigeria, which even the most casual followers of the game here know it is long overdue.

@IdahPeterside
Former Super Eagles and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper and now an analyst with SuperSports has a respectable following on Twitter.

@IkwerreMan
Nigeria’s leading football blogger and head sports reporter at Today FM 91.5

@Ifreke
Chemical engineer by training, football analyst by passion. He does it well that he has earned a respectable following as a result.

@Chaplinez70
Charles Anazodo is one of the most eloquent and recognizable faces in sports analysis in Nigeria. He peddles his trade with SuperSports.
Life & Living

@Funmilola
The host of the now defunct TV show, New Dawn, continues to be influential, judging by not just the number of followers she has, but also their caliber.

@MoAbudu
Highly respected TV show host and media entrepreneur, she packs a lot of influence on Twitter too.

@Gidi_Traffic
What started as an account to give updates on Lagos traffic, which is a necessity if you live in the megacity, has grown to answer questions on even the most mundane and ridiculous stuff, which it answers with humor and wit.

@Olorisupergal: She’s all about her business on Twitter and her brand, Olorisupergal is something to watch out for in the months to come. A super girl she is.

 

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