In a quite strange and alarming manner, the Ondo State governorship election did not trend on X for several hours on election night.
When it finally made it into the Trends Table, some other events pushed it to number three or four.
Usually in Nigeria, social media platforms are abuzz on election days, brimming with discussions on candidates, their chances of winning election and other related matters.
Some users post updates live from their polling units, making social media platforms look like some collation centre.
While some users share election updates from their locations on different platforms, others engage with posts from online conventional media handles.
With election results and analysis on ditto everywhere on the space, winners are even determined before the final and official announcement from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
But in a surprising turn of events, Nigerians, especially on X and Facebook, chose to discuss Miss Universe over Ondo governorship election.
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Chidimma Adetshina, a model and law student who represented Nigeria at the 73rd Miss Universe pageant in Mexico, made history by becoming the first runner-up at the grand finale of the pageantry.
Earlier in August, Daily Trust had reported how Chidimma came to Nigeria and emerged winner of Miss Universe Nigeria 2024 after her controversial withdrawal in the pageantry competition in South Africa due to xenophobic backlash over her nationality.
Chidimma’s recent victory in Mexico trended on the night of Ondo governorship election, dominating discussions on the poll.
A check by Daily Trust showed Chidimma among the first leading trending topics on X on Saturday night.
Meanwhile on Facebook, among the topics that trended on Saturday was that of the wedding of the daughter of the leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement in Nigeria, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.
The wedding, which attracted personalities of high standing across the country and beyond, got the reactions of many Facebook users, especially in the north.
A video of a prominent Islamic cleric, Sheikh Kabiru Haruna Gombe, at the wedding dinner of the couple added lustre to the discussions, with many faulting the scholar for attending such event, arguing that clergymen should maintain some level of detachment from politicians and mundane celebrations as it may compromise their authority to speak the truth.
While the Edo governorship election held in September this year had received some media attention, Ondo’s, however, seemed to have flown under the radar.
But is this a pointer that Nigerians are tired and becoming less interested in discussing the country’s politics?
Some tweets by some X users suggested that Nigerians’ loss of interest in following election events is not unconnected to the lack of confidence they have in the country’s electoral body.
Some X users who responded to a tweet by SportsDokita (Odugwu) @Sports_Doctor2 asking netizens to retweet his post if they were not aware of the Ondo governorship election said they were simply not interested in following election events under the present administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, citing lack of confidence in the electoral body.
Anazodo Godwin Eche @Anazodoeche: “I knew….But I wasn’t just interested…We are tilting towards a one party system in this nation…”
METAFORCE @METAFORCE1000: “The fact is that Nigerians have lost interest on election under Tinubu. The drug lord have successfully destroyed Nigeria democracy and we saw it coming.”
Foundational Senior Man Omolúàbí1✝️✡️: “This is the very first time I’ve remained silent on election matters in Nigeria 🇳🇬. Since Tinubu is in power, apc has already won all the elections including the one of 2027. Nobody dares Tinubu and win according to nuhu ribadu. Buhari is even more merciful”
Kelvin Testimony Agho @angho_testy: “For real, I didn’t know there was an election in Ondo State today.”
Fulfilled King @Promzyj: “I knew but didn’t expect any good thing from INEC and the very unfortunate Mahmoud Yakubu”
Kadri Akeem @akeem_kadri: “The votes recorded so far seems higher than Edo State or close to it.”
Shinistar @Papashini1_: “I don’t think there’s a Governorship election rather a selection”
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