December 11, 12:30pm ET
Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett St, 2nd Floor
Armed with little more than a modest smartphone (mostly even ordinary
phones) and an Internet subscription that will permit only a fair access
to the mobile GPRS/EDGE, Nigerian young people went into the 2011
elections with a new wave of enthusiasm and interest.
This was the fourth consecutive elections since the reemergence of
democratic governance in 1999. And until then [2011], none of the
previous elections received positive review in the aspect of credibility
– or freeness, or fairness. Now, with the appointment of a new
leadership and growing influence of technology in fostering more
accountable processes, Nigerians optimistically anticipated a marked
improvement in the April 2011 elections over past discredited
experiences.
It is even more significant that more attention were paid to the 2011
elections as it portended to be the most expensive electoral experience
for Nigerians. A leadership change had recently been effected in a
tensed political climate and the elections management body (EMB) had set
a plan for the costliest elections ever.
In light of the renewed hope and confidence, and the desire to get
things right, several civil society organizations established election
monitoring platforms via SMS, twitter, websites, blogs, facebook,
telephone lines etc. One particular organization recruited volunteers
and got itself embedded within the INEC systems to promote a “two-way
communication between INEC and its stakeholders”.
What evolved was a media-tracking centre established to assess the
robust blend of traditional and new media during the election period. It
was an interesting trend to see how social media, for the first time,
was adopted and, quite interestingly, adapted, to ensure credibility of
the electoral process.
During this presentation, I intend to showcase the Nigeria experience,
highlight what worked and what didn’t; specific instances of how social
media interventions prevented rigging; how the elections has helped the
growth of use of social media, the patterns of usage during and after
the elections; and, how traditional media has adjusted to social media
practice.
I hope the audience will share their experiences and proffer
recommendations to revamp the innovation for a more institutionalized
adaptation in promoting good governance in Nigeria, as I continue to
explore this in my present research work.
About Oluwaseun
Odewale, has degrees in Chemistry (Medicinal Chemistry) and Chemical
Engineering Technology. Born in Lagos, South West Nigeria, he also holds
professional training diplomas in Community Local Participation
(UNICEF); International Elections Observation Missions (KAIPTC/ECOWAS);
Mentoring Young Leaders under the Kwame Nkrumah emerging leaders
training series, and; the African Contingency Operations and Training
Assistance (ACOTA) (ECOWAS) among others.
This young chemist has garnered a combination of nine years local and
international work experiences in social and development work, spanning
especially the West African sub-region. He has worked variously with
regional institutions like the West African Civil Society Forum
(WACSOF), the West African Bar Association (WABA) and recently, the
Economic Community of West African States as Programme Officer (Youth),
Programme Officer (Governance and Human Rights) and Research Assistant
(Disaster Risks Reduction) respectively. His research experiences
spanning the academic and development sectors cover both the natural and
social sciences. In the development sector his focus areas include
human rights, governance and political processes, regional integration
and human security (security sector governance and architecture). He has
five years of field experiences in Elections Observations and
Monitoring in twelve member states of ECOWAS and other parts of Africa,
UNOWA youth employment mapping in West Africa and inclusion of young
people in processes for attainment of the Millennium Development Goals
(MGDs) under the United Nations Millennium Campaign African office
situated in Nairobi.
In addition, he has had volunteer, internship and extra-curricula
experiences in campaign, mobilization and civic education working with
the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and the West
African Students’ Union (WASU). Odewale is also a former Director of
Training and Protocol to the Junior Chambers International (JCI), an
international collegiate youth growth club also known as Jaycees.
Mr. Odewale has undergone and facilitated a number of training exercises
both within and outside Nigeria. His training experiences cover the
media, education, youth employment and empowerment, MDGs, youth
leadership and democracy. In 2006, he was admitted as a research fellow
at the International Leadership Training Seminar (ILTS) of the Danish
Association for International Co-operation in Køln, Denmark.
Last updated December 11, 2012