On Twitter, Fashola leads the pack

As the social media use gains currency and relevance in the country, more state governors appear to be catching up with the trend. Although restricted to a 140-character space per tweet, governors are using their personal Twitter handles, apart from official state government accounts, to deliver messages and connect with the citizenry in some interesting ways.

Social media experts say apart from providing a direct channel for delivering a message, Twitter can be a powerful listening tool. Little wonder, a school of thought believes that social media may render surveys obsolete in the foreseeable future.

Among the governors who have embraced the use of Twitter, Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, commands the greatest number of following with 150, 000 users of the micro-blogging service subscribing to his tweets. Curiously, he seldom makes use of the handle. In the course of this year, he has sent messages via the medium only twice – during the Easter and Eid el-Fitr celebrations on March 31 and August 7, respectively.

Another occasion he was apparently forced to make use of the social network was on August 11, 2012, when he raised the alarm over a text message making the rounds, asking unsuspecting members of the public to pay certain amount into an account on his behalf. The tweet was the third to the last. It’s worthy of note that his handle, @tundefashola, is the only Nigerian governor’s account that is verified by the social media website.

Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State also stands tall among his peers in terms of the use of social media. His Twitter handle, @raufaregbesola, appears to be more updated than that of his Lagos counterpart. However, he boasts a following of a little above 20,000 of users of the social service.

Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, who tweets via @euduaghan, appears to be the most prolific among his peers. Hardly does a day pass without an update appearing on his Twitter page. However, his activities on the social service, which majorly deals with state activities, have yet to commensurate with the following he commands on the social networking site.

As at the time of filing this report, the account has attracted only 1,830 followers.

 However, the philosophy of social media use for Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State differs from those of his counterparts.

 His Twitter handle goes beyond the function of an online news medium as he uses the platform extensively to inform his followers, via tweets, issues of concern within the Nigerian polity. It was observed that tweets related to the running of the state were restricted to the official Twitter page of the state government, @ekitistategov, unlike what those of the other state governors who have accounts on the social network.

 For Governor Babangida Aliyu, who calls the shot in Niger State, he has recently cultivated the habit of tweeting regularly.

 The account, @MuazuBabangida,  was launched on the social network on December 31, 2012. But in spite of the governor’s upbeat with the account in having an engagement with residents of the state, only 837 people have shown a gesture of goodwill and willingness to listen and subscribe to his tweets.

 Other state governors with a substantial amount of following on Twitter include the Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, @LiyelImoke; Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun, @govsia; Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko, @olusegunmimiko; and Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi, @AAAjimobi.

 Meanwhile, former political office holders are also taking advantage of the opportunities Twitter provides as a new media engagement tool. Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who claims he is still “new’’ on the social network, now spends quality time daily fielding questions from some of his over 18, 000 followers.

 Also, a former Minister of Education, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, have also embraced Twitter as an inexpensive medium for communicating her thoughts about the Nigerian polity. Ezekwesili, who tweets via @obyezeks, regularly employs the use of the hashtag, #PublicPolicy101, to string her thoughts together on the network.

One past political office holder, who some Nigerians may be looking forward to having on Twitter is former President Olusegun Obasanjo. A check on the platform reveals that there are tens of fake profiles laying claim to his identity on the network. However, his foundation, the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation, has a presence on Twitter with the handle, @oofoundation.