HOW TECHNOLOGY EASED BUHARI'S PATH TO POWER IN NIGERIA
Technology played a decisive role in
helping Muhammadu Buhari become the first Nigerian to oust a sitting president
at the ballot box, from social media campaigning to biometric machines
preventing the widespread rigging that marred past polls.
Three decades after seizing power in
a military coup, part of the 72-year-old former general's appeal to the
electorate in Africa’s biggest economy lay in his successful rebranding as a
man who embraced democracy. A good deal of that rebranding happened online,
where campaigning from smartphones can build momentum at low cost.
ADEBOLA WILLIAMS |
"The digital strategy has been
a lifeline of the campaign for young people. We needed to create an image that
enabled people to connect with him," Adebola Williams, the 29-year-old
whose Lagos-based communications company, StateCraft, orchestrated Buhari's
digital drive, told Reuters. Even the doubters conceded that they had seen
campaign material online.
"There were a lot of
discussions on their Facebook pages, but I am not sure that really influenced
me," said Endurance Dauda, 24, a student in the northern city of Kaduna,
who said many of her friends are not online.
While not everyone was convinced the
online methods swung their vote, the potential is hard to argue with.
ADEBOLA WILLIAMS WITH THE PRESIDENT-ELECT |
Africa’s most populous nation - with
170 million inhabitants - has some of the world's highest levels of mobile
phone ownership. There are 127 million mobile phone subscriptions in Nigeria,
the International Telecommunications Union says.
"In the last four years it has
become a lot easier and cheaper to get the Internet on your phone. It isn't
exclusive anymore," Williams said, arguing that going online is no longer
a luxury, despite most Nigerians living on less than $2 a day.
Defeated president Goodluck
Jonathan's team also used social media, including YouTube videos highlighting
Buhari’s autocratic past and facets of Jonathan’s life. In one, he was seen
exercising with a personal trainer and playing squash.
But possibly more significant than
the online campaigning was the use of biometric machines to identify voters,
which prevented the ballot-box
stuffing and multiple voting that characterised
past polls.
PROF. ATTAHIRU JEGA |
"The card reader played a
constructive role in deterring individuals who, in the past, have tampered with
the electoral process either through ballot stuffing or tampering with the
election results," said Dr Christopher Fomunyoh, of the National
Democratic Institute for International Affairs, a non-governmental
organization that promotes democracy. As a result, this election was judged
Nigeria's freest and fairest election yet.
"Fortune favors the bold.
Deciding to go hi-tech was absolutely the right thing to do," U.S.
Ambassador James Entwistle said after the poll. Once the biometric aspect of
election technology had been proven, there was only way for the victor to
celebrate.
When Buhari got the call from
Jonathan conceding defeat, Williams used his phone to capture the moment and
share the image on Twitter and Instagram.
(Additional reporting by Felix Bate;
Editing by Tim Cocks and Alison Williams)
Culled from Yahoo News 03/04/2015.
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