The Definitive List: These are the 100 most influential Nigerians on Twitter

by Ayokunle Odekunle, with support from Mark Amaza and (yes) Hauwa Gambo

ELRUFAI1.2

When Dino is not embroiled in controversies over ‘Child paternity’ with his alleged ‘baby mama’, he is busy defending himself over wife battering allegations.

There is no gainsaying the fact that Nigeria’s ‘Twittershpere’ is one of the most interesting in the World. There, you find the very best of people from all facets of life struggling to be heard. You can never have a dull moment on twitter as there is almost always something to keep you glued to your handset or computer; Twitting.

Who are those people who make Nigeria’s this zone thick?

This list, which is in no particular order, points to 100 of the most influential Nigerians ranging from Entertainment and Arts, Sports, Technology, the Political Analysts and the ubiquitous band of ‘Twitter Activists’ – in 2013.

POLITICS & NATIONAL ISSUES 

1.      @cchukudebelu:

‘Mwalimu’ as he is popular called has to be the ‘deepest’ Nigerian political analyst on Twitter. His ability to give very expert opinions on politics and contemporary issues makes him one of the most sought after tweeps.  He seems to know something about everything.

2.      @Omojuwa

Activist per excellence. Controversial and viewed by many as an ‘agent provocateur’.

3.      @Nedunaija

Calm, brilliant writer, eloquent political analyst

4.      @eggheader

One of the premium ‘Overlords’ on twitter. Has an opinion on everything – and it’s usually solid

5.      @Obyezeks

Okay. We know Twitter is a place for ‘Men of Yesterday’ to go and show the world that they are born again and so should be taken as saints. But Oby Ezekwesili is different. Her handle is a thorn in the flesh of the Federal Government. She engages the government in constructive criticism and has a large and cult followership to show for her influence on twitter.

6.      @RealFFK

His ability to churn out controversy week in, week out explains his influence of Twitter.

7.      @Elrufai

A former Minister of the FCT under the Olusegun Obasanjo regime, El-rufai has been one of the leaders of the opposition and he has chosen twitter as his ‘platform’. He is the toast of every APC honcho on twitter and the thorn in the flesh of the anti-APC people.

8.      @TejuCole

Respected International author. Seldom comments on national issues but when he does, people listen.

9.      @Atiku

Tweets politics and is never tired of professing his love for his beloved Arsenal football club. Verified on twitter.

10.  @NOIweala

The World renowned and respected economist and Super Minister is not an active tweep but when she tweets, she gets everybody’s attention.

11.  @Akaebube

Ebube has to be the biggest lover of President Jonathan on Twitter. Infact, many people are of the opinion that he performs better than Reuben Abati and Reno Omokri in preaching the ‘GEJ Gospel’. Once he starts twitting about why President Jonathan is the best President ever, the whole Twitter just stands still.

12.  @DoubleEph

DoubleEph is an active commentator on Twitter where he holds his teeming followers spellbound with his indepth analysis of the nitty-gritty of politics and economic issues.

13.  @Ogundamisi

While there are those who see Kayode Ogundamisi as an alarmist who might hold sensation over fact, others see him as a voice for the ‘hoarse voiced’ – who must be listened to. His influence on Twitter cannot be overstated.

14.  @Toluogunlesi

With a followers count of over 50,000, Tolu Ogunlesi ranks as one of the most influential political analysts vis-à-vis ‘twitter overlords’.

15.  @Egbas

Jude is a very brilliant writer and is someone who is versed in  politics analytics. He is influential on twitter because he is one of the very few people who remain balanced and unbiased in their political views.

16.  @Dino_Melaye

When Dino is not embroiled in controversies over ‘Child paternity’ with his alleged Baby Mama, he is busy defending himself over wife battering allegations. In his spare time, he reminds us that he is born again democrat and a messiah. Some people take him seriously and he exerts influence over them.

17.  @Abati1990

Whenever he manages to come out of ‘hiding’ tweeting to defend his boss, the twitter renegade will go after him baying for blood. One of the best writers of this generation, Mr. Abati’s influence on Twitter; both over the PDP and APC honchos, and also aspiring writers cannot be over-emphasized.

18.  @MrFixNigeria

Mr. Ohimai is one of the leaders of the PDP Youth circuit and also the Special Assistant to the Minister for Sports. At a pretty young age, he ran the Presidential campaign for Dele Momodu. He is respected by many on Twitter.

19.  @BukolaSaraki

The strongman of Kwara politics is an active tweep who manages to engage his followers in in-depth conversation ranging from politics or contemporary issues

20.  @MrEnclave

When he is not discussing politics with the general twitter populace, he is ranting about poor power supply to his ‘Bar’. Muyiwa runs Bar Enclave which is the meeting point for the ‘twitter people’. His Bar is where ‘Twitter friendships’ have turned into ‘Real friendships’.

21.  @Iamtenseven

Emeka is a controversial albeit influential tweep. A staunch and unrepentant PDP lover, he is always defending the PDP and the President. He is almost always involved in banters with the APC supporters. And believe me, these banters are cool for the neutrals.

22.  @Rosanwo

Looked up to mainly by people who angrily see what needs to be changed in Nigeria and the Federal Government. He is good at stoking the embers of hatred for the president and the PDP.

23.  @UtomiPat

This economist per excellence is one of the most respected and most influential Nigerians on Twitter. He rarely tweets politics but when he does, everyone stands in awe of his dexterity and brilliance.

24.  @AbangMercy

Mercy is the brain behind NewswireNgr. She has a larger followership who yearn to hear her views on politics and general issues.

25.  @DOlusegun

Olusegun Dada is an active partaker in the various political discourses on Twitter. He is known to have a very strong bias for the APC. The ‘Progressives’ on Twitter love him.

26. @TunjiAndrews

He is a market analysis and FDI specialist. He is a Business Commentator with the BBC. Once he starts analyzing on Twitter, people run to dust their economic textbooks.

27.  @TundeLeye

Excellent writer, excellent political analyst. Everything about him oozes of excellence. Very influential on Twitter

28.  @RenoOmokri

President Jonathan’s Special Assistant on New Media. He always pays for his boss’ blunders as the ‘children of anger’ on Twitter never hesitate to call him out. He replies by quoting bible passages and African proverbs.

29.  @CollinsUma

Collins Uma is a columnist with a number of reputable online media, YNaija.com inclusive. His political analyses are bulls eye and his views are well respected on Twitter as fair.

30.  @Ikhide

Pa Ikhide is a Nigerian who tweets from the diaspora. He writes on everything under the sun and his articles are critically acclaimed. He is highly regarded on Twitter.

ENTERTAINMENT

donjazzy

31.  @DonJazzy

Michael Collins needs little or no introduction. Apart from the fact that he is Africa’s best producer, he is arguably one of the most influential personalities on Twitter. When he is not sharing airtime among his followers, he is playing pranks. Very likeable.

32.  @LindaIkeji

Nigeria’s number one ‘gossip’ merchant’s influence cannot be over-emphasized.

33.  @WizkidAyo

There is no gainsaying the fact that Wizkid Ayo Balogun is one of the hottest musicians on the Nigerian music scene. His cute looks makes him a major attraction to the ladies. And how they love ‘Starboy’ on Twitter!

34.  @iam_Davido

Omo Baba Olowo, with over 600,000 followers remains a huge influence on Twitter. He is adored by his followers who time without number beg him for retweets and shout outs.

35.  @Olamide_YBNL

This has been a particularly good year for Olamide. He has practically taken over the music industry…his unprecedented rise has also seen his influence on social media, most especially Twitter grow in leaps and bounds.

36.  @Basket_Mouth

He is so popular and influential that there are so many parody accounts on twitter bearing his name. people look forward to his tweets as he makes them laugh away their sorrows.

37.  @Alibabagcfr

The undisputed Nigeria’s King of comedy is a fans’ favourite on twitter.

38.  @Peterpsquare

Peter, who is one half of the high-flying duo, Psquare exchanges pleasantries with fans who are all over Africa on twitter.

39.  @Rudeboysquare

He prides himself as the ‘rude boy’ of the musical group ‘Psquare’. He is also the more jovial of the two. His followers love him because he exchanges friendly banters with them.

40.  @BankyW

The Helmsman of E.M.E has a lot of female fans on twitter and he shows them love by managing to remove his cap once a while *winks

41.  @TosinAdeda

Tosin Adeda is a popular blogger and he knows his opinions when it comes to music. He almost always stirs the hornet’s nest with his controversial opinions.

42.  @Realseunkuti

Seun Kuti is one of the best afro-beat musicians in Africa at the moment and his hugely followed on Twitter. He also does some kind of ‘activism’ on twitter

43.  @OvieO

Mr. Ovie runs arguably the biggest and most popular music blog in Nigeria: NotJustok.com. That is his claim to fame. And upcoming artistes mob him on twitter to seek his favour.

44.  @ElDeetheDon

Eldee might not have dished out a monster hit in recent times but that nonetheless, his popularity on twitter has refused to wane. He has almost 400,000 followers who practically worship him.

45.  @iamdbanj

No one seems to know how Ejan la does it. No hit song in almost 2 years, yet, his popularity is on the increase. He rarely tweets but when he does, the ladies swoon and go into a frenzy. He’s the boss!

46.  @GenevieveNnaji1

Arguably the best and most popular actress out of Africa, Genevieve Nnaji (MFR) also rules on Twitter. With a verified account and 507,864 followers, she remains one of the most influential Nigerian entertainers on Twitter.

47.  @MI_Abaga

‘Mr Incredible’ has an incredible followership on Twitter. Many still regard him as Nigeria’s best rapper…a fact they are never tired of haranguing people with on twitter

48.  @TiwaSavage

Sultry musician who manages to dance like Beyonce is another immensely popular and influential Nigerian on Twitter. Imagine, because she tried hard to dance like Beyonce, many of her female followers also try to dance like Beyonce. Now that’s influence!

49.  @2faceidibia

Like a boss. 2baba does not tweet much. Yet he commands so much respect on Twitter… from his fellow musicians to non-musicians

50.  @Iceprincezamani

Not everyone agrees that he can rap. Yet the ladies love his style of ‘rap’. He is followed by almost 500,000 (Population of some cities in Ghana). Lol

51.  @Tontolet

After punishing us by releasing any of her ill-fated tracks, ‘POKO’ would trend endlessly for days on Twitter. And guess what, her follower count would increase and she can also claim to be ‘influential’.

52.  @Realomosexy

With 326,097 followers, we can at least say she is also influential. She sometimes ‘manages’ to find her voice to ‘rant’ about the state of the nation of Twitter and some people love her for that. She ‘try’.

53.  @Iyanya

With his sex appeal, it is no wonder he is a fan’s favourite on twitter. The ladies love him.

54.  @Audu

Audu Maikori is the ‘Oga at the top’ in Chocolate City music group. He speaks with authority on Twitter and people listen.

55.  @I_am9ice

You are shocked? Well, at the thick of his problems with his ex-wife, 9ice deleted his Twitter account which had almost 600,000 followers  (One of the highest back then). Now, that he has a new account, he has notched up over 100,000 followers already and his teeming fans waste no time in asking their idol for shout-outs. Which he sometimes obliges them wit

 

TECHNOLOGY

Jason Njoku iROKINGH

56.  @SeunOsewa

Seun is the brain behind Nigeria’s number one forum: Nairaland which has over 1 Million Members. That explains his influence on the whole of social media.

57.  @JasonNjoku

Jason is the man behind iROKOtv and he is one of the most influential ‘techies’ on Twitter.

58.  @MrBankole

Bankole is one of the leading voices on twitter when we talk technology. He is THE brain behind www.Techcabal.com

59.  @MarkEssien

Mark Essien is a software developer based in Lagos and also runs Hotels.ng which is the biggest hotel booking portal in Nigeria. He holds his own when people talk ‘software engineering’.

60.  @MayowaOwolabi

He describes himself as a ‘Technopreneur’ and business architect. He runs www.buynownow.com which is the Nigerian equivalent for Ebay

61.  @EmekaOkoye

This young man is the co-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.

62.  @SeyiTaylor

Seyi is quite vocal on Twitter and he holds no hostages when he gives his opinion. He is ‘on the Board’ of Techcabal.com

    63.     @Simdul

Sim Shagaya is one of the albeit quiet Tech gurus on Twitter. A few of the ‘majority’ however take notice of him whenever he tweets.

64.  @BosunTijani

Bosun is another very influential techie who shuttles between Leicester and Lagos. He is the brain behind Truppr.com

65.  @EghosaO

Eghosa is the founder of EchoVC Partners which  is into delivering IT sevices, ranging from SmartData to Ambient Awareness. Like a typical gold fish, he has no hiding place on Twitter as the ‘wannabes’ look up to him a lot. He is that influential.

66.  @Nubikay

His name is Nubi Kay and he is Nigerian based in Dublin, Ireland from where he holds the Nigerian Twitter community spellbound with his insightful article . He is an Internet entrepreneur.

67.  @Kofiafaedor

Raphael Kofi Afaedor  is the Co-Founder of Jumia. He rarely tweets but he deserves to be on this list as he is one the Tech Big Boys who are on Twitter.

68.  @Mukoshy

Ahmed is the is the  CTO and Founder of  GigaLayer, a domain and web hosting company delivering ‘fire-blazing’ customer service on ‘rock-solid’ web servers in Nigeria.

69.  @GbengaSesan

Gbenga Sesan is one of the foremost IT people in Africa and arguably the most recognized Nigerian when it comes to ICT. He is also a fierce critic of the Nigerian government.

70.   @huntellagadgets

He has a teeming amount of followers who love him because he sells and delivers everything ‘Techy’. Name it! Iyanya once ‘mentioned’ him out to deliver a PS3 to him. He is that popular.

71.  @OotheNigerian

Formerly a co-founder of OnePage, his life’s goal is to inspire a new cadre of Nigerian Internet Entrepreneurs through education and mentoring.

72.  @Oviosu

Tayo is the Founder and CEO of Mypaga which has over 1 Million Users.

73. @Asemota

He is a blogger who describes himself as one who loves ‘African Technology’.

74.  @Techloy

Techloy is one of the leading Tech News sites in Africa. It breaks Tech news as ‘e dey hot’.

75.  @nsisongeffiong

He is a Geek as well as a poet. Effiong is the co-founder of ‘Techie District’.

MOTIVATION

LEKE_ALDER

 76.  @Lekealder

Leke Alder is a ‘Brand Strategist’ and what have you. On Twitter however, he is more or less a Motivational tweep. Once he starts his #LetterToJill series on Saturdays, Twitter comes to a standstill. Very influential individual.

77.  @FelaDurotoye

Fela is a a motivational ‘tweep’. And has a sizable amount of followers to boot.

 

WRITERS

Elnathan John

@Elnathan

Elnathan John is a lawyer, writer, blogger and what have you. He was a nominee at the Caine Prize for literature. He holds his followers spell bound with his witty tweets.

@AyoSogunro

His book ‘Sorry Tales’ which was released recently has shot up to the Twitter ‘Hall of Fame’ (Naija Chapter) as everybody or almost everybody on Twitter wants to know who Ayo Sogunro is.

80.  @Maxsiollun

He does not particularly have much followers but he is respected on Twitter. In fact, one can decipher his influence from the caliber of people following him. He is the author of ‘Soldiers of fortune’.

81.  @ChikaUnigwe

Chika is the author of two books that have earned her praise from critics all around the world.

82.  @ChibunduOnuzo

Chibundu is the author of ‘The Spider King’s daughter’. She also blogs. She has a wide readership.

83.  @DemolaRewaju

Demola is the brain behind www.demolarewajudaily.com. He is without doubt one of the most respected writers on Twitter. He writes as well as he tweets.

SPORTS

Osaze intrvw

84.  @CollinsUdoh

There is no overstating the fact that Collins who is the most popular Sports Journalists from Africa, is also the most influential figure when it comes to Sports on Twitter. He tweets with authority.

85.  @SundayOliseh

The former Super Eagles Captain is another influential tweep when it comes to sports. His analytical skills and use of English earns him enormous respect from all and sundry.

86.  @OdemwingieP

When  he is not ranting about being left out of the National team by Stephen Keshi, he is in one trouble or the other in England. All these traits have earned him some kind of notoriety of twitter…where he enjoys a cult followership

87.  @KayodeTijani200

He is a popular sport analyst on TV. He also makes his view known on twitter where he is listened and respected.

88.  @Je_mc2

He tweets as much politics as he does sports. But he is informed when the matches come alive, and – because who doesn’t prefer sports to politics – we have him on this special list.

89.  @Idahpeterside

Former Super Eagles and Orlando Pirates Goalkeeper. Now an analyst with SuperSports. Has a respectable following on Twitter.

90.  @Ikwerreman

Nigeria’s leading football blogger. 95.1 Today FM Sports chief.

91.  @OlaleyeDada

He is the CEO of August 22 media and an award winning Broadcaster. He is an C Milan fan.

92.  @Ifreke

He is Chemical-Engineer at large who seems to have fallen in love with ‘Football Analyses’. He does it very well though and has a respectable followership on Twitter

93.  @Chaplinez70

Charles Anazodo is one of the most eloquent football sport analysts in Nigeria.

LIFE & LIVING

Mo Abudu-Mania Cover

 94.  @PastorChrisLive

If follower-count is anything to go by, Pastor Chris is undoubtedly the most popular and most influential Nigerian on twitter. You don’t believe? His follower count which is above a million tells is there as a pointer

95.  @MoAbudu

She is the most popular TV Talkshow host out of Nigeria at the moment. Hugely reverred on Twitter as well.

96.  @Gidi_Traffic

Almost everyone who stays in Lagos follow Gidi Traffic. Reason? You have to consult with him before going on. Or else, you go enter hold-up o!

97.  @Elcruxificio

Very funny tweep who has some out of this world, sarcastic tweets.

98.  @TweetMopol

His job is to catch ‘Tweet-thieves’ and he does this very well too.

 99.  @Lazywrita

This also is one of the funniest Twitter accounts in Nigeria. The brain behind it also runs a blog. On Twitter, he has over 40,000 followers. Influential

100.   @Gbagaundetector

This guy would crack you up. In his Bio, he describes himself as a “Fake Blogger, Jobless Lad”. Will, he is jobless indeed. He is more like the grammar police of Twitter. He has over 50,000 followers.

This is to more influential conversations – and the inevitable drama – in the coming year. Well done @jack!

*This post has been updated.

Comments (2)

  1. u forgot to add @dappyboy0489
    he broke the record for the highest number of nigerian retweets 2800

  2. Hello YNaija,
    I went through the list and I must commend you for a Job well done. But still I have some reservations. Firstly in the category of celebs/entertainers, @henshawkate & @realsusanpeters are missing. They are very active & fan friendly on twitter too. Secondly, you didn't include the category of motivational/inspirational/relationship handles… I will suggest you involve all categories in your next list. And you forgot to include @Ynaija handle on d list too. For current/accurate news, infotainment, and yes Gossip! Lool…
    Thanks and God bless.
    Sandra…@sandrasandygold

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