New York [RR] ABUJA–’NONYE BEN-NWANKWO describes how social media influenced the last anti-subsidy removal protests. The introduction of the Global System for Mobile communications in Nigeria in 2001 by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, no doubt, altered the face of telecommunications in the country.

Before then, the business of reaching out to other people via the telephone was considered to be a luxury, which most Nigerians could hardly afford. And anyone seen clutching a cell-phone was counted among the affluent.

[PHOTO: Protesters at Ojota, Lagos]

That was the situation until the GSM revolution introduced a new dimension in telephony to this side of the globe. Today, most Nigerians are dependent on cell-phones for daily transactions and other communication needs. Some people appear to have developed a passion for smart phones, tablets, androids,ipads, and other modern communication gadgets.
Beyond acquiring these gadgets and using them for phone calls, many Nigerians have come to realise that they are vital to social networking. Little wonder then, Twitter and Facebook have become the biggest platforms for those that are dependent on internet-based social media to express themselves and reach out to each other.

So far, these social media have made tremendous impact on human communications in the country.  Long lost friends and relations have been reunited through such instruments. Socialisation has been taken to another level and information gathering has received a big boost via text messaging, internet chats, and other tools on the web.
The recent anti-subsidy removal protests and nationwide strike have shown just how much the social media could be deployed in making far-reaching changes in the society. They have not only proved to be potent instruments of social change, but dependable media for spreading propaganda or false information.
The protests against the recent hike in the price of petrol provided an opportunity for the subscribers of Facebook and Twitter to ventilate their views on the polity and what they perceived as an unfair policy adopted by the Federal Government.
While some protesters genuinely used the platforms to muster support for the common cause, many others exploited them to disparage and to cast aspersions on the present Nigerian leadership.
As a matter of fact, the likes of President Goodluck Jonathan, the Ministers of Finance and Petroleum, Dr. Ngozi Okonji-Iwela and Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, respectively, and other top government functionaries, were at the receiving end of seemingly endless flak aimed at them by thousands of Nigerians via Facebook, Twitter, and BlackBerry Instant Messaging.
The BlackBerry facility did, of course, play a key role in the dissemination of information during the crisis. Now referred to as ‘pinging,’ this form of instant messaging is common among most users of BlackBerry smart phones in Nigeria.
Angela Oyebade, who works at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, tells SATURDAY PUNCH that she got most of the information about the crisis through broadcasts on BlackBerry.
She says, “I joined a group on BlackBerry group  called ‘Occupy Nigeria’ and almost every second, somebody would broadcast messages to the forum. The forum was also a major avenue for discourse. It was through the forum that we got so many people to be a part of the protest and it was through it that we learnt about those who were killed in the crisis.”
Oyebade notes that the some of the information given out during the strike were false.
“Somebody came to the group and said (Tunde) Bakare had been arrested. We all believed it and even decided to take our protest to another level because of this, only to eventually find out that it was a lie,” she says.
Although information could be sometimes mismanaged, especially on some social media, Emeka Anyaegbu, a lawyer, believes that the advantages of social networking supercedes that of the disadvantages.
He says, “Apart from contributing to the huge success of the subsidy protests in Nigeria, the gains of social media can never be overrated. People want instant news and they want to be on top of every story.
“You can imagine somebody going as far as exhuming what Reuben Abati (Special Assistant to the President on Media) wrote about the removal of fuel subsidy some years ago. I won’t be surprised if Abati was embarrassed by the posting.
“I am not sure he expected Nigerians to be in possession of such records and even go as far as posting them on Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry Instant Message. The same thing happened in the case of the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku.
“Maku’s fierce opposition to an increase in the price of fuel as a student union leader was posted on the social network. Such information had fuelled the people’s anger during the crisis and made them to come out en masse to fight for their rights.”
Anyaegbu attributes a significant breakthrough in  inter-personal communication to the advent of the social networking and at the same time, hints at the impact of the social media on the rights of Nigerians to self-expression.
He says, “Sometimes I wonder what the world looked like before the advent of the social media. Now, somebody can tell you there is a robbery operation taking place somewhere nearby and you will definitely avoid that route.
“Some people tell you about the traffic situation and you certainly avoid that place entirely. These are the advantages of social media. Social media has given every person the chance to be heard in a free space.”
During the crisis, the social media,   provided most subscribers an opportunity to vent their anger against certain people in the society. For example, Nollywood actress, Genevieve Nnaji literally came close to being lynched for daring to declare her support on Twitter for the controversial removal of the subsidy on fuel.
Similarly, a lot of people, particularly stakeholders in the entertainment industry, used the social media to express their opinion on the crisis. It did not matter whether what they said was right or not as long as they were heard.
On the other hand,  Lagos-based accountant, Cyprian Owolabi, thinks the social media can have adverse effects, especially when they are abused.
Citing an example, Owolabi reiterates the fact that some people don’t know how to manage information.
He says, “Just two days ago, somebody just posted on Facebook that Nelson Mandela was dead and she also posted a link to where she got the story. There were over 100 comments on that post and so many people believed it. Only a few that bothered to go to the link and they discovered that it was a ruse.
“And you know how small the world has become, I am sure more than half of the people also posted that same information on their ‘wall’ and some other people would be misinformed.”
Yet, he laments the rate at which lies are being peddled, using social media.
He says, “I may not be a fan of Jonathan or Diezani or even Okonjo-Iweala, but you can be sure that more than 80 per cent of the stories that were excavated during the crisis were lies. Look at the one that was posted on Facebook and Twitter concerning Diezani’s son and how it was presumed that she was lavishing Nigeria’s money on her children.
“The young man has come up to debunk the story and you see there is some truth in what he said. Now they said Okonjo Iweala has bought a bullet-proof Prado SUV. We don’t know how true this is. I am saying for a fact that so many people are taking advantage of the social media to harm individuals.”

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REPUBLICREPORTERS….standing between civilization and anarchy….

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