Nigerian internet warriors can troll for Africa, pardon the colloquialism. Aproko and Tatafo have since been elevated to cyber-stalking, clout chasing and cyber-bullying so much so that perpetrators now assume celebrity status, amassing massive following, tags and mentions. It has become the favourite pastime for netizens to “drag” whoever or whatever is on the front burner. There is usually the race to broach a subject that would trend, and they brook no prisoners nor care less about the effect of their cyber indiscretions on the victim. Some recent examples may suffice:
Soon after a popular gospel songstress finally revealed the face of her toddler, boom… trolls started agitating for a DNA test, peddling the ludicrous claim that the baby doesn’t look like her husband but resembles a prominent male singer in the same music scene. Such unconscionable busybodies and home wreckers! Earlier in February, Super Eagles midfielder, Alex Iwobi suffered so much vitriol that he deleted all his posts on Instagram. He was the victim of virtual jungle justice by the digital mob over what they judged his disappointing performance in the AFCON 2023 final.
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The 27-year-old was so pummeled on the internet that his teammates, legendary Jay-Jay Okocha, the Nigeria Football Federation and Sports Ministry had to censure those calling out the Fulham star over the Super Eagles’ 2-1 final defeat to the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire. It is therefore in appreciation of this zest and activism by the Nigerian blogosphere that we welcome the Nigerian government’s launch of Citizens’ Delivery Tracker App. How else will the unabashedly clout chasing prevalent online benefit society if not in promoting probity in public service?
In line with the promise made by President Tinubu last November to make Nigerians an integral part of the monitoring and performance management process of his government, his special adviser on policy, Hadiza Bala-Usman announced on Monday that the upgraded Citizens’ Delivery Tracker App is now live and “will enable all citizens to view the deliverables and key performance indicators for all ministries and give their own assessment on the performance of each of the indicators”.
Bala-Usman, who heads the Central Coordination Delivery Unit (CDCU) of the federal government, further disclosed that the tracker “presents citizens with the opportunity to give real-time feedback on their assessment of policies, projects, and programmes of government from anywhere they are in the country… We are counting on all Nigerians to help shape this process.” This is definitely where Nigeria’s digital natives should divert their online activism. For a long time coming, the ever-vibrant Nigerian youth have looked the other way while politicians despoil the country. Even when pushed to the wall by policies instigated by egregious corruption, Nigerians would rather dig through the wall than confront what is responsible for their misery.
Now that it is the government inviting them to monitor and raise questions, it is expected that the same inflamed passion expended over the award of most dressed female to the cross-dresser Bobrisky would be invested in this tracker. Enough of the inanities, it’s time for influencers and self-styled online activists to spend their social media capital towards ensuring that citizens’ voices are heard regarding projects and policies that affect their quotidian lives. This is more so as Nigerians have been enjoined to leverage the app in fostering a culture of civic participation and co-create a future where governance genuinely serves the needs of the populace. It is true that what’s at the heart of prevalent online activism and quest to belong to the exclusive club of influencers is content creation.
What the federal government has now introduced promises a treasure trove of content if bloggers know where to look. With the proliferation of podcasts that are increasingly chipping away the relevance of broadcast stations, the citizens’ delivery tracker can guarantee a steady stream of topical issues to talk about. Let podcasters and their guests join in shaping the conversation for the good of the country. However, yours sincerely is not ignorant of how these things work. Nothing bores the Gen Z and to a large extent millennials like issues of governance. They instantly switch off when it comes to public policies and projects.
These youngsters can’t be bothered when there are salacious gist and trends to entertain themselves with. Content creators and clout chasers are very mindful of this and would for the sake of relevance, feed their audience with what tickles them. Pray, where is the influence of an influencer if they cannot set the agenda or set trends? There’s no denying how Herculean and daunting this can be, what with the tepid and fleeting reaction of Nigeria social media to the recent astronomical hike in the pricing of electricity. The bulk of the online community didn’t bother to waste data megabytes on the removal of electricity subsidy even though the concomitant inflation will affect them directly.
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Understandably, most Nigerians for the sake of their sanity and wellbeing sequester themselves from the often-depressing developments in the polity, taking solace instead in the riveting social media feeds even if fake and bogus. They are not to blame as it is simply the uses and gratification, and selective exposure theories of mass communication at play. The job of the CDCU is therefore cut out for them. Beyond launching the accountability tracker, they must deliberately court the buy-in of the Nigerian demography conversant with internet apps. The unit should also enlighten these internet savvy Nigerians so they can be constructive rather than destructive in this tracking. They must not approach the civic responsibility as trolls and cyber bullies but citizens who want the best for their communities and country.
Bala-Usman and her team should be ready to get down to the level of netizens, and not remain in their high horses expecting the Gen Z to besiege the Google play store and Apple store to download the Delivery Tracker application. If the government is sincere about getting the citizenry to hold its officials accountable, it should consider incentivizing participation. Nevertheless, conscientious digital natives shouldn’t wait for handouts before doing what is good for their country. It’s in the enlightened self-interest of Nigerians with the wherewithal to take advantage of the citizens’ delivery tracker app in instilling rectitude in governance. This is one instance where the first line of the National Anthem aptly applies. Therefore; Arise, O compatriots, Nigeria’s call obey!
You can engage with the author on X via @sylvesugwuanyi