It’s a fresh new
week, and I can only hope for, and be optimistic about productivity and
efficiency; above all, that things turn out positive for everyone. But they
never always do, so I will just remain hopeful as all humans are. Pick of the
pile is a brand new idea, so I thought to test it today. Should have come fresh
from the press, but I have also been lazy at finishing my work. And I am sorry
it didn’t come rushing out of the blocks as it should. But even though I hope
that the publication can be as weekly as possible, I don’t pray for the
laziness to be as frequent as that. So, I hope that you get to enjoy what I am
trying to do, and also give me feedback on how ingenuous I can be, to serve you
the best.
If you are on
social media, you must know this already. Conversations can flood your timeline
at breakneck speed. Depending on your degree of connection, a lot will happen
and you’ll only get to see but a few. Some will get very popular and go viral,
some might just be popular with an audience which you’re not a part of the ‘tribe’.
Fret not! My job, is to try and scan the ecosystem, and get you some of the top
viral conversations, hoping that I can give you a review of what was said, and
what the reactions entailed. I’m lazy, so don’t expect me to do a thorough job.
Neither should you expect me to feature your favorite picks of the pile. But if
you’re so eager to, you can always send me your scoops. My pick of the week,
will focus on conversations curated on twitter between September 8th
and 14th, 2014.
MY PICK
Oil Theft
Exactly
one week ago, at 9:56am, Aljazeera journalist, Rawya Rageh tweeted “About to
tweet a series of crazy pictures from the powerful shoot we went on with
combined task force fighting oil theft #Nigeria”. What followed, in 45 minutes of 17 twitpics,
was a gory, sad story-telling of an oil war, still raging in the creeks of
Nigeria’s Oil-rich Niger Delta. Years after the amnesty programme to free those
parts, of militants and oil bunkering, it is slowly turning out to be a tough
war for the government to win, as depicted in the mosaic below:
In a
daring patrol, Rawya and her brave crew bring us gory images of environmental
degradation from illegal oil refiners who dump toxic waste without a thought
for the environmental impact, thereby destroying vital flora and fauna that
help the famed delta thrive, and the measures carried out by federal agencies,
which after discovering dangerously refined oil, refineries and bunkered oil,
destroy them thereby, releasing more and more carbon to the atmosphere. Environmental
activists like Uncle Nnimo will certainly be irked by the actions of both parties.
With the Climate “Ban Ki Moon” Summit coming up on the 23rd of
September, climate change activists will certainly be on the lookout for news
as these, and try to understand the position of the Nigerian government in the
fight against climate change. Her tweets reached an average of 153K+ accounts
and made an average impression of 172k+ (accounts that can possibly see the
twitpics). Folks like Rosanwo had the most impressions, as they retweeted them to their timelines and many more people were able to see in graphic details, what seemingly happen in the Niger Delta daily, as the federal government wages war against oil bunkering, theft and illegal refinery.Suicide
On Friday 12th,
@BabajideFajodu drew my attention to a seemingly suicide, when his picture of
a said Liberian, Kate, who hanged herself on a peach tree in Magodo district of
Lagos went viral.
With 150+ retweets, Babajide's tweet was able to reach 96K+ accounts
with an impression of 108K+. There were atleast 50 people who tweeted or quoted
Babajide with the pictures with @Gidi_Traffic, @MrsMUFC, @Ayourb and a few others
making up the bulk of the impressions even as it went viral for atleast two days. The
reactions to his ‘reverse-snap-twitpic-report to Police-drive on’ we as
hilarious, disturbing and empathic as Nigerians can be defined.
The said Kate, had seemingly gone in to depression, after she turned up ill, and residents refused to interact and do busines with her, since she's Liberian, and the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease had made its way in to Nigeria through the Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer, to whom Nigerians now hold an eternal hate.
Am I Your Father's Mate?
While I was minding
my business with apoti on the TL on Saturday, 13th; something
started filtering in with the line, “Am I your Father’s mate?” in it. Before I
was done setting the apoti and sitting on it, jokes and memes were flying in from every angle, and when I realized the
initial statement was used by Gen. Chris Olukolade, Defense Spokesperson, the
stats were already staggering. Apparently, Mallam Jibo who had tweeted at General, must have just been plain honest in his tweet. And while General is still coming to terms with the freedom social media affords, I heard he deleted the said tweet. But not before I was able to screengrab the 'darn' thing! I just hope that General Chris Olukolade will come and subscribe to my short course on ethical use of social media for social good. An hour's session costs an affordable N15,000 only. With all the money making going on in the name of fighting insurgency as Mallam Jibo pointed out, I believe General Olukolade will be able to afford a couple of hours.
Goodluck Jonathan
Early
Sunday morning, news started filtering in of the pavilion collapse at the TAN
rally in Minna. A public show of support for Mr. President as Nigerians seek to
pressure him to run for a second term, the air was dented, when the pavilion
came crashing on the dignitaries. There have been rumors of up to 40 persons
severely injured including the wife of the ‘Chief-Servant’, and counter statements
that no one was injured at all. Whatever the truth was, the story as reported
by @Vanguardngrnews reached 415K handles, and had an exposure impression of
467K+ accounts. More and more media houses have reported it since and I expect
the numbers to jump…
Early
Sunday morning, news started filtering in of the pavilion collapse at the TAN
rally in Minna. A public show of support for Mr. President as Nigerians seek to
pressure him to run for a second term, the air was dented, when the pavilion
came crashing on the dignitaries. There have been rumors of up to 40 persons
severely injured including the wife of the ‘Chief-Servant’, and counter statements
that no one was injured at all. Whatever the truth was, the story as reported
by @Vanguardngrnews reached 415K handles, and had an exposure impression of
467K+ accounts. More and more media houses have reported it since and I expect
the numbers to jump… Nigeria
The Dassault/Dornier Alpha
(NAF 466) fighter jet, one of 24 in the Nigerian Airforce fleet, which has been
effectively deployed in various wars across the continent, was reported
missing, even though some rumors have it that it was actually shot off the
Adamawa skies. Official statements say it’s missing, and the there’s a
concerted search for the pilots aboard. Amassing 150+ retweets and a couple of
favorites, reaching 79K+ accounts, and making an impression of 89K+. The tweet from a parody account, links the missing jet story with
that of a famed missing Chibok girls and a recent dismal performance by the
nation’s senior football team which in the past, is responsbile for the unity
and joy of the country.And that is it for this week. I hope it made sense? However, do let me know in the comment section. And if you have scoops for next week, mail them to kenneth.kolo@aiesec.net or tweet them at me - @KoloKennethK
