There is a distinct sense in which Nigerians enjoy social media, especially when they deploy it in taking potshots of whatever kind at those they blame for their woes.
In spite of the wild uncontrollability of social media and the feeling of frustration that often comes with the realisation that the space often conduces to very little checks or control,it has been revolutionary and transformational in the way it brings people together, especially ordinary citizens, who would otherwise struggle to have access to mainstream media.This singular power of expression is what is at the heart of some of the most ferocious frictions between citizens and their governments all over the world.
A boundless nightmare
There is no telling just how much of a nightmare social media has been to governments around the world especially those governments stuffed with dictatorial tendencies,with the power it puts in the hands of every day citizens who would otherwise be shut out of consuming information and expressing themselves.
The transformational power of the social media seems to far outweigh the many difficult questions it poses to privacy, accurate information and national security.
In this wise,it would appear that the concerns raised by the Nigerian government at different times about the need to regulate social media are valid until when viewed through the prism of the fact that across different countries, social media has shown it has the weapons to serve as a force for social change.
The Nigerian government has made several overtures to regulate social media. In fact, Nigerians will not forget in a hurry the fiasco which fetched micro-blogging site, Twitter, a seven-month ban in 2021.
The intrepidity of intolerance
Under the current administration, as bad governance has continued to be forced down the throat of Nigerians like the bitterest of pills,many have taken to the social media to express their misgivings.
Nursing little doubt that they would have precious little access to mainstream media,many Nigerians have found ample space, time and reach on social media. There, the grievances of Nigerians under the gruelling conditions foisted on them by bad governance have especially found grating expression.
The Nigerian authorities have been mostly tolerant of opposing views, as they should be, for Nigeria remains a democracy, and it remains abominably un-African to beat a child and ask the child not to cry.
For Aminu Azare,a 500-level student of a Federal University in , Jigawa, the joke which was supposed to be on Nigeria’s first lady Aisha Buhari is suddenly on him as he has reportedly been arrested, incarcerated in Abuja, and assaulted, albeit unlawfully.
In a twitter post that sought to make the First Lady the butt of a joke,he had posted alongside the picture of the First Lady a comment that suggested she had fattened herself with money meant for Nigeria’s poor.
Aminu’s arrest and ordeal in the hands of agents of the state at the behest of the First Lady has whipped up a backlash for the first family as many have categorically called for his release while asking the First Lady to canvass legal avenues if she feels aggrieved.
It is apparent that there is no love lost between Nigerians and the first family and despite the dubiety of the credentials of some of those currently contesting for the exalted office, Nigerians cannot really wait to see their backs.
To be fair to her, as her husband has huffed and puffed with little to show for it as President of Nigeria in the last eight years, Aisha Buhari had shown the occasional glimpse of courage. Whether it was all for the impressionable is debatable however.
However, in spite of the morality, legality or otherwise of Aminu’s conduct, the way and manner in which he has been treated reeks of impunity, recklessness, abuse of power and atrocious intolerance.
He may not have been completely circumspect in expressing himself in the circumstance, but it is difficult not to argue that the dire situation many Nigerians find themselves barely allow for caution.
If Nigeria’s fledgling democracy is not to be bungled by those who raise fists of fury at feasts prepared for fury, then the law must always be allowed to take its full and forceful course no matter who the parties to any dispute are.
Kene Obiezu,
Twitter: @kenobiezu
