We are experiencing a hybrid media system, so digital discussions may have an impact on mainstream media and political life offline. With this in mind, determining how social influence is exercised is pertinent. It is also for this reason that political-oriented interactions on social media are analysed, articulated and the actors scrutinised.
Twitter Influencer, Rinu Oduala‘s account pre-#EndSARS did not exactly look like a political-inclined account. May be social issues, but not political. The religious world would say she found purpose after the events of the anti-Police brutality protests and now tweets politics every other day. Besides, we are all supposed to be actively involved if we want the change we demand.
This is why Rinu started a Twitter Spaces conversation as we prepare for the 2023 general elections.
In light of that, another session is happening tomorrow, Saturday, February 5, 2022, and has torn Twitter into two.
One ‘school of thought’ opine that the parley with politicians have begun and Rinu has joined a presumed long list of popular names who are going to ‘betray’ the people and dance with the oldies. The oldies here are politicians who have been in the system for a while.
The other ‘school of thought’ have no disagreeing sentiments and are even helping Rinu push the flyers for the Spaces conversation with former president Bukola Saraki as one of the Speakers. Ndi Kato is also going to be a speaker.
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The supposed issue
There is a general distrust for people who have been in office – and currently in office. Bukola Saraki has once been in office, and had squabbles to deal with, and character issues to tackle. His time as Senate President has both supporting and opposing groups. Not forgetting that the Saraki name in Kwara has stories with it. So, anyone who sits or talks with him is supposedly betraying the general populace.
Recall how social media content creators were called out when they had Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo in their midst when they gathered for an award show? This is it playing out again.
The general idea is that politicians cannot be trusted on any ground. And, no one should be blamed for that, because Nigerian politicians are the ‘promise demons’.
Yet, notwithstanding the level of political will to make progressive changes, there is always a splinter group waiting to say “we said it”.
The conversation we should be having
It is interesting to see that more young Nigerians are involved in political activities in one way or another. It is very important to care about politics because you should know what is going on around you. Also, it is important to have a say in what is going on around you.
However, on many occassions, there is a tendency to lean towards sentiments. In this case, we argue that having conversations with the oldies is just trying to be part of the gluttons eating the plate dry.
The argument is hinged on the fact that the oldies have no good to offer, and any meetings with them is a tendency to want to be a part of the beneficiaries of the national cake, forcibly taken through failed systems and thieving actors. We cannot argue that fact, especially as we have seen it play out on many occassions.
But, that disposition may be flawed, and this is not license to move in with the devil. The idea is to understand the system from the eyes of the oldies, in order to ‘do away with them’ and erect better structures that cause actual progress.
We may have eaten with them on numerous occassions and got nothing from that, but how do we change the system when we do not understand it?
We ask, every day, that politicians tells us their agenda, Rinu’s Twitter Spaces is an opportunity to listen to a politician who has been part of the system and may understand it. It is an opportunity to ask cogent questions about progress, about 2023.
Omoleye Omoruyi… an apprentice web/game developer, novelist, sensitive to happenings in the world. Meet him @Lord_rickie on Twitter/Instagram
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