Social Media

By Iranloye Sofiu Taiye

One of the essential elements that strengthen the unity of countries with numerous ethnicities is the mutually esteemed mode of communication, respect for their diversities, and by extension, mutual political relationship. But presently, the Nigeria social media fora are nothing but a channel for perpetrating, promoting, and sowing seeds of national discord, anchored on the uncivilised conduct of the politician and the supporters of political parties. It’s now conspicuous, apparent, and plausible that the spurious actions of the users of the social media platforms encompassing Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp groups have nourished the already perturbed and suffocating political terrain. 

Glaringly, this is an indication that we have a long battle to wrestle with, considering the pandemonium that ravaged the online space aftermath of this year’s general election. It’s very disheartening and daunting that we now freely strike and attack each other on the online space devoid of decorum and let alone having regard for divergent political opinions, which ought to be the beauty of democracy. The uncultured and vulgar attitude of the Baptists, Obidient,s, and Articulators was very appalling, which invariably made users of social media jettison the esteemed hitherto cultural mode of interpersonal communication, alas! we’ve now regrettably substituted it with barbarous, sadistic, and wanton mannerisms. 

The magnificent of social media platforms being a free platform where people exchange ideas, audio-visual content, and debate political perspectives with the use of internet connection had forthwith metamorphosed into caliginous and obscurity due to the pretentious salvage rhetorically disseminated by politicians to their naive and gullible followers who have been brainwashed with the grandiloquence of their preferred candidate. Hence, mutual content-sharing and collaboration have become hallucinations in the social media space.

It’s a known fact that all the political parties now budget a humongous and whopping sum of money on social media purposely to manipulate the thinking of the people to kowtow to their interests. These are cliques and gangs the political parties recruited as an online army of soldiers to perform several tasks, including the following: cyberbullying, paddling false information, using hate hashtags, threatening and intimidating their opponents with their unguarded utterances and abusive statements, spreading derogatory anonymous articles and engaging in an illogical debate just to mislead the public. 

This is quite terrible, horrendous, and awkward. Many youths have been cajoled and fed with negative thoughts and hatred about the country. After all, youths are the major users of social media, and this uncivil engagement is a stigma on the image of our nation State. The hate speech and this needless confrontation, brawl, and hullabaloo have set the citizens against each other, which is a setback to our nascent democracy and a violation of the expression of freedom, respect for the dignity of man and freedom of association as entailed in our national constitution. 

However, Since the ill-ambitioned politicians and the hatred-fed supporters of the political parties have no monopoly on expression and the online space is free for all citizens to utilise, then the intellectuals, scholars, and objective writers should brace up their pen to engage in thoughtful and analytical political discussions, and logical debates on the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other online space, to stem this delinquency before it wakes up the sleeping dogs. Let’s remember that the pen is mightier than the gun.

Note a Yoruba maxim said, “When elders are in the market square, the head of a new baby cannot be laid upside down”

Iranloye Sofiu Taiye (Optimism Mirror) is a public affairs analyst, public speaker, writer, and youth advocate. He can be reached via iranloye100@gmail.com. 

By Muhsin Ibrahim

Social media has a double-edged function. It can uplift you or do the exact opposite. It largely depends on the people and pages you interact with. Worried about their teens’ mental health, Utah became the first US state to regulate teen social media access this week.

According to a BBC report, “under the measures enacted on Thursday, a parent or guardian’s explicit consent will be needed before children can create accounts on apps such [as] Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.”

People of all ages can have their mental health wrecked on social media if they aren’t cautious. Some of us crave attention or other’s validation. Thus, people do crazy things to get more “likes” or ensure what they do gets their friends’ applause. That is one thing some of your social media ‘friends’ will never grant you because they are not your friends in the true sense of the word. So, the earlier you understand this, the better.

Of course, you should not be carefree. Each culture has its codes, and so on. So, consider these etiquettes but worry not about people’s attention or endorsement. Social media friendship is primarily fake. Folks, especially teens, can’t understand this. Thus, trolling push them to lose self-esteem, hate themselves, and some take their lives!

I salute the government of Utah. I am sure more states in the US and elsewhere will do the same. However, as ours (in Nigeria) will likely not do the same anytime soon, parents and guardians should do more. As it’s very challenging to deny your kids access to social media, monitor whom they interact with and the pages they visit.

Muhsin Ibrahim lives and works in Cologne, Germany. He can be contacted via muhsin2008@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Abdurrahman

A photo and video clip of a man and his wife went viral in the past days on Nigerian social media. Several users, especially on Twitter, alleged that the wife was 11 years old while the man looked much older.

Others condemned the marriage, calling the man a paedophile and other unprintable words.

The man, identified as Aminu Danmaliki, debunked all these rumours. He those sharing them “blackmailers and doubting Thomas”.

Danmaliki, in a Facebook post, says:

“My recent marriage with Sakina has generated a lot of tension and unfounded allegations that I married an underage girl, some suggesting she is 11 years old and that she was forced to marry me. That is untrue.

“The wedding video went viral. We decided to keep mute, but [I] was advised to state the true facts. Here it is: My beloved wife is 21 years old. She made her own choice of me as her husband, and I loved her too.

“I hope the blackmailers and doubting Thomas will see the reality in this picture and leave us alone to enjoy our honeymoon.”

Danmaliki, per his social media profile, hails from Bauchi. However, he now lives in Abuja. The Daily Reality has not been able to contact him for further information.

By Ishaka Mohammed

The Department of State Services (DSS) has launched its official social media accounts to enhance public and stakeholder engagements.

In a statement released on Monday, March 6, 2023, the Service publicised its presence on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and dissociated itself from any handles other than the ones listed therein.

At the time of filing this report, the Twitter handle, @OfficialDSSNG, has over 44,000 followers, notable of whom are the Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami; the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Human Angle Media, and APC Nigeria.

The statement also revealed the Twitter handle of the spokesperson for the Service, Dr Peter Afunanya. “Similarly, the PRO’s Twitter handle is @DrAfunanya_PNA. Hitherto, the Service did not own or operate these handles. Its decision to operate them with effect from 6th March, 2023 is to enhance public and stakeholder engagements,” part of the statement reads.

Below are the social media handles.

Twitter: @OfficialDSSNG

Facebook: OfficialDSSNG

Instagram: @OfficialDSSNG

By Muhsin Ibrahim

I am in my late 30s. However, I sometimes struggle to minimise my presence online. That is even though being online is part of my main job (thanks to digital ethnography) and my ‘side hustle’. Often, one or another thing on the internet will take your focus away, and before you know it, you waste quality time doing nothing important.

According to reports, TikTok rolled out new screen-time limits for teens yesterday to help them reduce their addiction to the video-sharing platform. Under-18 users will get an alert when “they hit an hour of daily scrolling. To dismiss it, they’ll have to enter a passcode.” Unfortunately, this may not help much because kids know how to navigate these restrictions. For instance, they can fake their ages.

Folks, select whom you interact with on and off social media carefully. Avoid toxic people even if they are ‘influencers’. If their content continually disturbs you, unfollow, unfriend, or even block them. Don’t seek people’s validation; learn to ignore and tolerate trolling.

Perhaps more importantly, remember that there is a life beyond social media and outside the internet in its entirety. Live it very well. It’s, in fact, the real deal.

Muhsin Ibrahim lives and works in Cologne, Germany. You can contact him via muhsin2008@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Few days to election and the remours that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was planning to shut down all e-transactions on Thursday have gone viral on social media.

However, the CBN has reacted in dismay to the widespread rumours in the early hours of Thursday on its official Facebook page.

The rumours said that the CBN planned to shut down all financial transactions from Thursday, 23rd to 27th of February.

Part of the remour instructed that, “Anyhow you can get money between today and tomorrow get it. Also whatever transfer you want to do, do it between today and tomorrow.

“As from Thursday, banks network will go off till Sunday or Monday so that politicians will not be able to transfer money to anybody for vote.

“So buy enough money and do your transfer now,” the false information said in part.

Meanwhile, the CBN also asked the general public to disregard the rumour while describing it as baseless and misleading.

By Aminu Mohammed

This article may ruffle feathers and annoy some people, but it is done with good intentions. I have observed youths’ excitement and political campaigns for presidential candidates on different social media platforms. In some cases, friends and associates have turned to foes for having opposing views on their candidates. Some even terminate a business relationship because of politics.

Indeed, I am aware of the difficulties faced by the people, especially the increasing cost of living worsened by inflation. Nigerians are suffering because of the bad economic policies of the present government and the ongoing depreciation of the Naira, which has plunged millions of people into poverty. In other words, people’s living standards are getting worse, as life was better a decade ago than now.

First, I want to clarify that I’m not too fond of politics and have no interest in any presidential candidate for the 2023 elections. However, as a Nigerian, I am a bit worried about how our people campaign for their candidates on social media platforms. Some clerics have gone to the extent of warning people not to vote for candidates outside their region. Unfortunately, the northern youth have not learnt any lesson in the last seven years.

The fact of the matter is that the current structure and governance system only benefits the elite and their cronies, as well as a coterie of aides, while most people are pauperized. The northern youths who are dissipating energy on these presidential candidates should note that the elite do not care about them but their aggrandizement. The northern political elites are hiding under the name “Arewa” to deceive the masses while using proceeds of corruption to buy properties in London, Dubai, New York, Kuala Lumpur and Paris.

Have they pondered to ask why public universities were closed for eight months, and the elite did not see the urgency to address the plight of the striking lecturers? Has the life of an ordinary northerner improved in the last seven years, although President Muhammad Buhari is in power? Was there any economic transformation in the North in the previous seven years? In my 12 years of experience as a journalist in Nigeria and my interaction with politicians and government officials, I have concluded that politics will not rescue the North, but only an attitudinal change towards entrepreneurship and commerce will change the narrative.

Attitudinal change towards entrepreneurship/commerce

I have never seen a society transformed based on political patronage. I have never seen a prosperous community due to its people being fixated on political power. So let me clarify that our fixation on political power will not save the North. It will not take millions of children out of the streets or rescue our economy.

Our focus should be on improving our economy, empowering women through education, and creating businesses and initiatives that will improve the general well-being of our people. I have seen many cases of global transformation based on entrepreneurship and commerce. For example, we have all witnessed China’s transformation based on the manufacturing and development of small and medium-scale enterprises. This is also the case with countries in South East Asia such as South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. Thus, emphasis should be placed on the youths’ personal development and self-reliance. The idea of depending on politicians for handouts instead of pursuing self-reliance in the North should be de-emphasized. No society has prospered based on such practices of handing out peanuts to hangers for survival.

 Acquisition of vocational/ digital skills

Our focus and pursuit of political power have never helped us in the past, and they will not help us going into the future. It only helped to enrich the northern political elite and establishment at the expense of the majority. What will save us is a society with an amalgamation of empowered youths equipped with the requisite education and modern skills relevant to the global economy.

I want to reiterate that our youth should learn vocational skills to support themselves and stop wasting their time blaming their relatives for not helping them or sitting in “Majalisa”. Academically inclined people should learn digital skills offline or online to get remote jobs or fend for themselves. They can also learn digital skills for free on platforms like Coursera, Simplilearn, Udemy, and Udacity, among others. I am appealing to northern youths not to waste their time antagonizing friends and associates over these charlatans masquerading as leaders.

Aminu Mohammed is at the Kiel School of Sustainability, Chrtistan Albrechts Universität zu Kiel, Schleswig Holstein, Germany. He can be reached via gravity23n@gmail.com. 

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The social media app, Twitter, plans to start charging $20 dollars per month for users whose Twitter accounts are verified.

According to reports by The Verge, verified users would have 90 days to subscribe or lose their blue tick badge.

This is coming after Elon Musk completed the acquisition of Twitter. It is believed to be amongst the many policies expected from Twitter’s new owner.

Musk has been critical of Twitter’s verification process before acquisition. He announced in a tweet on Sunday, October 30, 2022, that the the entire verification process is currently being revamped.

“The whole verification process is being revamped right now ” He tweeted

Employees working on the new features were reportedly given a deadline of November 7 to complete their task or get fired by Musk.

By Dr Aliyu Dahiru Muhammad

My brilliant friend Dr Muhsin Ibrahim, who tries to mentor and guide many followers on social media, raised a concern about how some people announce death news on social media. I found the topic interesting, especially the responses it generated. So, I contributed my points of view which I am reproducing here for the benefit of others.

1. I think we should learn the ethics of announcing death to a relative and the general public. For instance, posting the news on sick beds or even a corpse picture is unethical and unprofessional.

2. We should be aware and sensitive whether we are the ones to inform others or not. For instance, I post this kind of news when the death directly affects me, a relative, close friends etc. However, some elders represent their areas and people respect and trust them.

3. We should be mindful of the time and how we announce if we are to do it. For instance, it was reported that one of the wives of the Prophet’s companion, whose son died, prepared him and dressed well before her husband came back. When he returned, she brought him food and had a marital relationship with him. After that, she asked him if someone kept trust in him and he now comes to take it, would he mind? He said no, it belongs to the owner. She now told him that Allah, that gave us our son, had taken him back. He now took a deep breath and started asking why you appeared the way you did until they had so and so relationship. She said to calm him down and allow him to submit easily to Allah’s will. Interestingly, they got another son who excelled among the companions in that relationship.

4. We should be ready and prepared, not panic always, and accept the sad reality. Since it’s the time of information and communication technology, and we use it for almost everything in our life, why not announce the death of our beloved ones? I rarely call on some people because after the closest relatives, neighbours and friends, as you have hundreds of contacts, it will be faster to let people know, and many people would tell you; I ATTENDED THE JANAZA because I saw your post. We know the benefits of praying for a person that passes away especially attending the funeral (Janazah) and seeking Allah’s forgiveness for them. We all want that, so there is no problem if we let people know with WISDOM.

5. We should pray even if we don’t type anything on a post, as Allah accepts a believer’s prayer. By so doing, we are actually attracting rewards to ourselves.

6. Since visiting the graveyard is difficult for some of us due to the situation we are in, the environment or other reasons, this may still remind us that death is inevitable. It’s coming to us all. It also sensitizes us to get ready and pray that it comes to us when Allah is pleased with us inshaAllah.

7. We should remember, one day, it’s ours, others will post, and we pray to Allah; whoever sees that, if he knows us, he will testify we lived a good life and have a good relationship with others and try to follow the teachings of our religion on all matters. May Allah forgive us, take our lives as faithful, and grant us your Rahma – Ya ArhamarRahimin.

Aliyu Dahiru Muhammad, PhD, wrote from Bayero University, Kano.

By Lawal Dahiru Mamman

An attempt to kill oneself in response to a tragic or stressful situation is termed ‘attempted suicide’, while success in such an attempt is referred to as ‘suicide.’ This profoundly affects families, especially when such an attempt is successful, and when one survives, they battle other mental disorders.

For suicide not to be seen only as a storm in a teacup, the International Association for Suicide Prevention, in conjunction with the World Health Organisation in 2003, slated the 10th of September to annually commemorate what it termed ‘World Suicide Day’. Issues surrounding suicide are discussed with the hope of ending the horrendous act on the day.

This year’s event got me reminiscing on an incident in my neighbourhood three years ago where a nine-year-old girl in Primary 4 sent herself to the grave by hanging. What would have prompted her? This question continues to resonate in the minds of those unfortunate to see her hanging lifeless. 

Seven hundred thousand people commit suicide yearly, according to the world health organisation (WHO), with 70% occurring in low and middle-income countries. WHO’s country representative to Nigeria, Dr Walter Mulombo, said: “for every suicide, twenty (20) other people are making an attempt and many more have the thought to commit same.”

Ingestion of pesticides, hanging and firearms are said to be the most common method of committing suicide globally. In high-income countries, suicide has been associated with mental disorders like depression and alcohol use disorder. In contrast, in low-income countries, life problems like financial crises, relationship break-ups, chronic pain and illness take credit – these are primarily associated with adults.

On the other hand, children may become suicidal due to poor performance in school, coupled with pressure at home to do better, bullying, losing friends, etc.

Thanks to civilisation and technological advancement, people have become more and more isolated. At the same time, others try to emulate the more often pseudo lives of others they see on TV or social media. Mr A wants his child to be as bright as the child of Mr B; Mrs X wants her husband to provide the luxury Mr Y is providing for his family; Mr M wants his wife to be as dazzling as the wife Mr N, the list goes on. All these think this way while still battling financial crises and others. 

While the authority is setting up mental healthcare centres, and organisations are trying to do the same at workplaces, families need to start being the haven they should be for their members. Parents should understand that failure for children is just okay when they have given their best while helping them be the best version of themselves.

Generally speaking, marriages, relationships, education, intelligence, social status, and all that encompasses life should not be measured using the yardstick we see in the media. As the saying goes, not all that glitters is gold.

Nigeria is a place where religion is held in high esteem. Therefore, religious leaders could take it upon themselves during sermons to discourage suicide. The haves should remain humble and thankful for their possessions, while the have-nots should not despair for whatever position they find themselves in; others aspire to get there.

Dale Carnegie, an American writer, stated, “It is not what you have, who you are, where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.” Understanding this will go a long way in curtailing suicide.

When all hands come on deck, we would be “Creating Hope Through Action.”

Lawal Dahiru Mamman, a corp member, writes from Abuja and can be reached via dahirulawal90@gmail.com.