A nation of analogue political parties
Globally, the Internet and the social media are veritable tools used by political parties to mobilise the electorate, project their ideologies and boost their chances at the polls. But in Nigeria, the reverse is the case. Currently, only 6.9 per cent of the 46 registered parties have verified websites and just about half have an updated social media accounts. WALE ELEGBEDE reports

 

With a population in excess of 170 million, Nigeria stands as the most populated country in Africa. Regardless of the huge population it shoulders, just only half, precisely 90 million of the country’s size, are internet users. Globally, the internet, websites and social media have become indispensable tools in today’s world and politics is not an exception.

Nigeria’s journey into fullblown internet and social media engagement can be said to have commenced since the #Occupy- Nigeria nationwide anger strike in 2011, when the immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan removed fuel subsidies.

Since then, the internet and its agents, the social media, have continued to play the significant role in the country’s national discourse. At the 2015 general elections that ushered in the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, technology and internet fully impacted on the outcome of the election.

The president and his team maximized the combined efforts of the internet and other social networking facilities, including YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, to win the poll. New Telegraph investigation reveals that out of the current 46 registered political parties listed on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) website, only 15, representing 6.9 per cent, made use of the internet by way of having a verifiable personal website.

The rest could be said to have completely ignored it but chose to rely on the old-fashioned mode of conversation and engage ment. The report According to the findings, out of the 15 parties with websites, only seven have updated website. Two of the remaining eight also have only WordPress website.

On social media platforms, six political parties, namely; APA, APP, BNPP, DA, ID, DPP, NDLP,NEPP, NUP and PDC, don’t have any social media representation either in Facebook, Twitter and others.

Read more @ https://newtelegraphonline.com/2017/12/nation-analogue-political-parties/