Nigerian Social Media Ass-kissing And Ethnic Bigotry.

There are two major groups of people rapidly emerging from Nigeria’s social media environment; the ass-kissers and the ethnic bigots. The next time you are about to click to post a comment, click to like a post, or click to tweet or re-tweet a message, please take a moment to think to which of these two categories you belong. If you identify your group, maybe it is time you start considering the possibilities of weaning yourself from the soured boobs of bigotry or avert your glossy lips from the foul-smelling ass you are about to kiss. If you are a Nigerian active on social media, consider this message especially for you, a potential digital ass kisser or ethnic bigot. Well, members of the common Nigerian 419 squads that are already versed with various niches on social media market are exempted for now. Please read on, there is no time to waste.

As Nigerians continue to establish their place within social media –a very important tool of change and globalization – there is more to be seen and learned on how it can be utilized; the world is yet to see the full potentials of social media, until Nigerians fully come onboard to revolutionize how it is used. Without Nigerians fully onboard there are still many facets of social media that entrepreneurs such as Mark Zuckerberg will be missing. It may not sit well with a businessman of his caliber to not harness the full potentials of social media. That’s why a Nigerian immersion into social media is always important to look into. But let’s look into what is currently trending on Nigerian social media at the moment.

Despite the increasing integration of people on social media, ethnic bigotry is not waning within Nigeria’s social media environment. We could relate this to the characteristics of exchanges of posts, likes, tweets, and re-tweets on social media from the home country’s social media exchanges. In a market where political commodities lead the trade markets, we could narrow down our interests to the Facebook pages and Twitter accounts of Nigerian politicians gaining their grounds on these platforms.

In other words, one may expect that as social media integration proceeds, syndromes such as ethnic bigotry may disappear or become increasingly irrelevant within Nigeria’s social media environment. Surprisingly, however, this does not appear to be the case. One symptom of ethnic bigots on their individual existence on social media is diagnosable through the cross listing of their friends on any of social media platform. Most Nigerians friendships on Facebook or Twitter tend to move in the direction of ethnicity and tribes – an encumbrance to our social development.  In the case you have 70-90 percent of your Facebook friends being mainly Nigerians from your own tribe or ethnicity, beware… you might be an ethnic bigot, especially if you live in a Nigerian city where it is hard to find one dominant tribe. It is near impossible to attend schools in any Nigerian cities without mixing-up or having friends with other tribes and ethnicities.

This leads to the question: what makes one more of an ethnic bigot on social media than others? We find that politicians want to be close to their people nowadays, but not because they want to listen and implement their opinions. Nigerian politicians are not good in implementing peoples’ will; rather they are cheap talkers. More so, they are realizing the power of social media as an image-making tool, so they want to tap from it: posit an image whereby they have no true and realistic identity to match it. Therefore, the “smart ones” amongst them are beginning to open up Facebook pages and Twitter accounts where naïve Nigerians would like and follow them as fans. There is no harm in following politicians on social media if it will be to understand their political ideologies and to form your decisions as an electorate whenever the time comes to elect them into political offices (or to hold them accountable when necessary).

However, this is not true with many Nigerians. Instead of monitoring these politicians and their ideologies, most Nigerians still carry their ethnic and religious sentiments on to social media. The decisions they make when following these politicians is charged from the fact that he/she comes from their tribe, state, or region, rather than what political commodities he/she is selling. Such attitudes from Nigerians keep prompting the politicians to keep misleading and defrauding these people selfishly.

In recent times it has become more of defending or castigating of Nasir El-Rufai or president Goodluck Jonathan by those from their states or regions or those not from their states or regions respectively. Some have become so consumed in it that even when El-Rufai is selling a pristine ideology that could move Nigeria forward, they remain blind to it and ask for him to be beheaded, probably because he removed some illegal structures as an FCT minister. Others do not want to know whether the president is in Aso Rock to only drink ogogoro or not as long as he is an Ijaw man bearing an Igbo middle name.

From ethnic bigotry springs ass kissing within Nigeria social media environment. Some do not mind the kind of ass they kiss as long as it is that of an El-Rufai, a Hausa man or Jonathan, an Ijaw man. Even when these politicians defecate on their faces, they don’t mind, for them it has sweet taste. In addition, there are those who ass-kiss to gain access to the corridors of political powers. These ones use their Twitter and Facebook accounts and pages, even blogs for praise singing of corrupt politicians. This is what happens in a non-egalitarian society, where people are not given opportunity based on merits but on whom they know in the upper class. These days we are witnessing a system where Nigerian politicians garner some groups of intelligent Nigerian youths – ass-kissers with benefits – to sing their praises on every form of social media.

Egregiously, this has become a new trend on Nigeria’s social media market environment. But what Nigerian youths should understand is that these politicians that lie, cheat, and defraud you face-to-face, they would fill your head with filth worse than you could imagine, any time, any day, and anywhere. Rather than fall prey to this form of bigotry and ass kissing, it is time we stop this nonsense and use social media forums to educate, inform, integrate, and understand ourselves better. It is time we probe into what these politicians are selling to us and channel the power that social media offer to bring a change that will benefit our societies. These politicians would continue to take us for a ride if we give them these opportunities. They will not change, but we will continue to suffer in their hand if we submerge ourselves. Open your mind, and be careful where your lips might land.

Follow writer on Twitter: @drpoetafrica