The FB front runners. A sideways look at the 2011 general elections in Nigeria

Part of reclaiming our nation is to analyse those that seek to lead Nigeria in the general election less than a year away. This time we are looking at FB popularity by fan size. The President, Goodluck Jonathan outstrips everyone and this is understandable as he is the most active and holds the highest post in the country. With 140,176 fans when we checked, he leaves his nearest challenger, Governor Fashola of Lagos State in his wake. Fashola's second place is well deserved as he can easily claim to be the highest performer amongst all the governors.

The real battle ground for the hearts of Nigerians is in the middle ground where the trio of Pat Utomi, Nasir El Rufai and Nuhu Ribadu fight to capture the hearts of Nigeria's estimated 1.7 million FB users. Pat leads the way probably for having the vision to engage Nigerians on FB at a time the others were still too busy with EFCC and FCT work to see the benefits. But his popularity is remarkable too as he, unlike the others, has not served in government at the level they have. All three though have been youth activists and have a lot to offer.

The real shocker are the relatively poor showings of Donald Duke and Sullivan Chime who have 11,424 and 1179 Nigerians following them. In Sullivan's case, his annual updates mean there is little to encourage you to keep an eye on his page but Duke is very active on FB and Twitter.

Altogether though, this new era of Nigerian politics is fun and long may it continue.

The Figures:

Goodluck Jonathan - 140,176 fans

FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/jonathangoodluck?ref=ts

Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGoodlucktweets - 144 Followers


Babatunde Fashola - 60,211 fans

FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/BABATUNDE-RAJI-FASHOLA/32609636260?ref=ts

Twitter: http://twitter.com/tundefashola - 303 followers

Pat Utomi - 45,818 fans

FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/Utomi?ref=ts

Twitter: http://twitter.com/utomi2011

Nasir El Rufai - 38,617 fans

FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nasir-El-Rufai/393816480127?ref=ts

Twitter: http://twitter.com/elrufai - 955 followers

Nuhu Ribadu - 28,578 fans

FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nuhu-Ribadu/37035137872?ref=ts

Twitter: http://twitter.com/NuhuRibadu - 1,431 followers

Donald Duke - 11,424 fans

FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Donald-Damien-Duke/18568433589?ref=ts

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Donald_Duke - 2,540 followers


Sullivan I Chime - 1,179 fans

FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SullivanIChime-Governor-Enugu-State-of-Nigeria/66482083614?ref=ts

Twitter: None

Winds of Change

I have been labelled a sycophant in the last week by a childhood friend who I love very much. Why? Because I can barely conceal my excitement since Nigeria's President, Dr. Goodluck Ebere Jonathan (GEJ) announced and subsequently fulfilled his promise to create a page on FB and personally manage it. My excitement may well have something to do with my enjoyment of the internet and all its possibilities. Maybe, years of working in the IT industry is wholly responsible.

After giving it some thought, I have finally put my finger on the source of my excitement. It is simply this; I remember the many conversations I had with my peers at secondary school, university, youth service and for the first few years of my working life in Nigeria. We had so many ideas and aspirations and amongst all of this was a good dose of enthusiasm. Alas, we were mostly having those under the sad watch of the military leaders. Theirs is a tale of nothing but shame as they ruled Nigeria for 16 years and destroyed everything I grew up with.

At the point they bowed out as most useless leaders do, in diabolical circumstances, i had returned to Nigeria and watched as civilians regained control of the country (albeit under the watch of a former general in Obasanjo). There was hope.

What we have witnessed so far since has simply been an extension of the military rule under civilian cover. The particular distinction has always, for me, been about communication. You cannot claim to be a democratic nation whilst a few people do whatever they like at the top regardless of the will of the people. The difficulty has always been how to accurately present the will of the people. In the West, opinion polls drive everything.

So my real excitement is that in making this single act of creating a prescence on FB, GEJ is saying that he is happy for opinions on the page to be held valid by him and us as the opinion and wishes of Nigerians. So far the page membership is growing at over 1000 Nigerians a day.

This is a good thing. Now if a Nigerian has an opinion, he can share it on a page officially created by the President of Nigeria.