The Power Of Social Media In The Nigerian Dream!

Enough chronicles and tales have already been written on the amazing role that the social media played in bringing about the watershed that was the Arab spring. In those months of revolutions in the Arab world, conventions were defied, technology attained a new status and an intriguing precedent was set. Occupy wall street became the theme in the United States, shortly after, and just when many thought that the Nigerian mind was too backward and nasty to accomodate this wind of change, Occupy Nigeria was the answer. It will merely be emphazing the obvious to unequivocally say that we are in a century where secrets have learnt to go viral and indeed, the globe has become a spying camera in itself. The fuel subsidy removal impasse that threw the country into a quagmire underlined the fact that Nigerians have fully grasped the magic of the social media. Rallies and protests were conceived on the pages of Blackberry messenger, twitter, youtube and facebook. The awakening was unbelievable. Mobile phones attained a new meaning in the hands of Nigerians. Messages moved at a speed of light. Images and videos were exchanged at a scary pace. It truly won't be an exaggeration to say that the social media played a pivotal role in the success (or partial success if you like) of the first phase of the Occupy Nigeria movement. However, it does not require a strech of the imagination to see that this change has only just begun. Make no mistake about it, even the illetrates and not so enlightened have all been part of this awakening. For president Goodluck Jonathan, he has to live with the burden that technological innovations has brought. These innovations have ensured that the fancy walls of Aso rock is now transperent. Not only does the walls have ears these days, they also have eyes. The struggle for the attainment of the Nigerian dream did not elapse with the suspension of the nation-wide strike. It only entered a new phase, and with the world churning out novel innovations daily, the social media will continue to play an integral part in this fight to liberate the present and salvage posterity.