The Executive Vice Chairman of of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Aminu Maida, has applauded the academic prowess of one of its staff, Dr Omoniyi Ibietan, Head, Media Relations Management saying that its recent book, Cyber Politics: Social Media, Social Demography, and Voting Behaviour in Nigeria is laced with capacity to reshape Nigeria’s political landscape through the revelations on social media impact.
Maida said during the Book’s Reading in a paper, Cyberpolitics and the Re-engineering of Political Communication in Africa that the book broaches a radical new territory in bridging psephology (i.e. the study of elections) and communications scholarship through an examination of the interface between social media networks and voting behaviour in the country.
According to him, it draws its insights from a deeply methodical study of Nigeria’s 2015 presidential election, unearthing the intersections of social and demographic factors, digital social mediation and the remarkable impact of these variables on the voting behaviour of the electorate.
Maida noted that Ibietan’s book speaks to the reality of how the demographics of voting is now in favour of digital natives, whose engagements are set to upend the traditional media approaches, hence the great value in seeking an understanding of the growing interface across cyber politics, social media networks and social demography. Specifically, the author utilises tested theoretical models and research methods to scrutinise the impact of social media on contemporary politics.
He described the book as an absorbing and persuasive book that adds huge insightful value to an understanding of the interactions between politics, social media networks and other variables that influence the behaviour of voters in a democracy.
President, Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN); and Vice Chancellor, Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State, Prof Umaru A. Pate in a goodwill message said, Our political tacticians and gladiators and other scholars of the interface between society and information and communication technologies will find the text appropriate and generously useful in helping them to deeply understand the strategies and impact of the social media in Nigerian politics.
He added: A cursory reading of the book indicates that the author has been able to achieve the objectives of contributing to the conceptual and empirical dimensions of the subject in the context of political communication.
And Dean, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, University of Uyo, Prof. Peter Esuh, said: While the internet and, by extension, communication platforms have provided the foundation for most of these possibilities, it is essential to be conscious of the potential impact of other emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Internet of Things (IoT), Robotics, Big Data, Block Chain and Advanced Analytics on societal trends. Important foundational lessons can be learned from the impact of social media on societal outcomes, as demonstrated by Dr. Ibietan’s book.
According to him, the book clarifies the role of changing population dynamics in the developed and developing world and its implications for social media utilization in bringing about political change
