By Jamiu Ganiyu
In the contemporary world, the advancement of Information and Communication Technology has virtually changed all areas of human endeavor including the ways we do things. Some scholars have opined that we are in the information age and the development of various applications has given credence to this.
There are currently four prominent social media applications that bring people around the world closer than what one could ever imagine. They are Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Twitter. While the first three could be easily used by people, Twitter requires advanced knowledge and understanding of summary skills and techniques in order to communicate effectively because of the limitation in the number of characters at a time.
For some ardent users of Twitter, there are personalities on that application that came to limelight through that application as a result of their periodic engagement, opinions, and meaningful contributions to national debates. Some would refer to these sets of people as “Twitter Lords”.
In Osun State, osun.life did a thorough assessment of important personalities who mostly had served or still serving in one capacity or the other in government. Based on their followers on Twitter, we painstakingly collated the top 10 in the order of hierarchy.
1
Rauf Aregbesola @raufaregbesola
Twitter Followers – 540,000
He joined Twitter in 2010. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is the immediate past Governor of Osun State and Minister Designate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In the history of the State, he could be said to be the most privileged politician ever having broken the two-term jinx and successfully installed his preferred candidate as his successor. Some couple of years ago in one of the editions of the weekly Pendulum of Dele Momodu, the Publisher of Ovation International, Ogbeni was listed as one of the topmost influential personality in Nigeria on Twitter with an intimidating 540 thousand followers and a verified account.
2
Femi Adesina @FemAdesina
Twitter Followers – 124,000
Mr. Femi Adesina is a journalist of great repute from Ipetumodu in Ife North Local Government Area of Osun State. He was appointed the Spokesperson of President Muhammadu Buhari immediately after his swearing in 2015, the position he still kept it now. It is also pertinent to note that Adesina’s twitter account is verified.
3
Ademola Adeleke @IsiakaAdeleke1
Twitter Followers – 47,300
Senator Ademola Adeleke inherited the account from his late brother Senator Isiaka Adeleke. He rose into prominence in 2017 after his brother’s death. He contested and won the Osun West Senatorial District by-election which was vacant as a result of his brother’s death. He won with almost 40 thousand votes to beat his closest rival in the ruling APC. He later ran for the 2018 Governorship seat of the state but lost after several legal tussles to seek alleged redress at the election tribunal.
4
Jide Omoworare @jideomoworare
Twitter Followers – 22,800
Senator Omoworare was a senator for Osun East for 8years. He is from Ile-Ife, the source of Yoruba Race. He was House of Assembly member in Lagos state between 1999-2007 representing Ifako-Ijaiye. He has 22 thousand and eight hundred followers
5
Isaac Adewole @ IsaacFAdewole
Twitter Followers – 21,000
Professor Isaac Adewole was the Minister of Health in the first term of President Muhammadu Buhari. He was also a one time Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan. He is an indigene of Ilesha, Osun State.
6
Semiu Okanlawon @sokanlawon
Twitter Followers – 12,000
Okanlawon was one time Chief Press Secretary to Governor Rauf Aregbesola. He is a communication specialist with over thirty years of experience in the field of journalism. He is from Iwo and now a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
7
Ajibola Basiru @DrSRJ_
Twitter Followers – 10,000
Senator Ajibola Basiru is the current senator for Osun Central Senatorial District. He was Commissioner for Duties and Regional Integration for Rauf Aregbesola during his first tenure while he served as Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of Osun State in his second tenure. Within the political environment, he is known as SRJ. He a legal practitioner, law teacher, and publisher.
8
Gboyega Oyetola @GboyegaOyetola
Twitter Followers – 8,800
He is the Executive Governor of Osun State. He joined Twitter immediately he became the flag bearer of APC in the last year gubernatorial election in the State. Oyetola’s twitter activity increased after he was sworn in as the Governor of the State.
9
Najeem Salam @NajeemFSalam
Twitter Followers – 5,700
Rt. Hon. Najeem Salami is the immediate past Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly. He is from Ejigbo Local Government Area of the State. He came third in the last year Gubernatorial Primary Election of APC and work assiduously for the emergence of Governor Gboyega Oyetola. Curiously, he was a Bachelor of Science holder when he got to the state parliament but left with Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Political Science all from Obafemi Awolowo University.
10
Ayo Omidiran @ayomidiran
Twitter Followers – 5,400
Ayo Omidiran is from Ikire and she succeeded Hon. Olubunmi Etteh, as House of Rep member for Ayedaade/Irewole/Isokan. He was in the green chamber for eight years and an inlaw to Rauf Aregbesola whose the first son married her daughter until recently that estranged couple separated as a result of irreconcilable differences. She has 5 thousand four hundred followers on Twitter
In a brief remark by Mr. Joseph Akanbi, an ICT Analyst and Editor of osun.life, he said Osun is still backward in terms of open governance and digital engagement. Akanbi opined that Twitter gives more room for robust intellectual engagement and it is imperative that Osun key into it.
“While it is understandable that Facebook is more local in Osun, it’s still not enough argument for the poor showing Osun has on Twitter. While Osun has over 300,000 natives on Facebook, it has about one-third of that on Twitter, that’s a whopping 100,000 citizens left without engagement.”
He later gave a charge to the opposition party in Osun to strengthen it’s a digital presence, saying it is a shame that the PDP can only boast of one person on the top 10 list while the APC has nine.