With four days left for Nigerians to decide who gets their votes in the presidential poll, one would expect local Internet searches to shift to President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party, and his All Progressives Congress counterpart, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd).
But analysis of last week’s Google searches showed that Nigerians, who will be voting at the crucial election, are more interested in issues that affect the Chairman of the National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega. The INEC chief emerged the fourth most sought after on Google search engine last week.
Last Monday, members of the O’odua People’s Congress and supporters of the PDP’s presidential candidate, staged a protest that impeded traffic on some major roads in Lagos, demanding the sacking of Jega.
Jega, last week, also made critical remarks with respect to the general elections. Among others, he warned both local and international observers against overreaching their limits during the polls, saying they were not in the position to exercise oversight function.
“In their conduct, observers are also expected to declare any conflict of interest, be impartial and unobtrusive, ensure that their reports and conclusions are evidence-based, eschew prejudgment, always carry proper identification, be careful about comments in the media, be prudent in receiving gifts and favours and avoid involvement in dispute,” he said.
Google said the Lagos protest by the OPC, particularly, was responsible for the surge of Jega’s popularity on its search engine.
But like the preceding week, an international issue – the Mother’s Day – topped the table obtained by our correspondent from Google Nigeria’s office. The report explained that the international event has become very popular among Nigerians, with the Internet and telephone experiencing heavy traffic during the commemoration.
“People take the day as an opportunity to pay tribute to their mothers and thank them for the love and support they show them. The day has become hugely popular in Nigeria with phone lines witnessing maximum traffic,” said Google.
The Mother’s Day was followed by the Lekki robbery while the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Examination came third on the list.
Justifying the renewed interest in the Lekki robbery, an incident that caused the death of four, Google said the claim by Governor Babatunde Fashola that over 2,000 police officers were mobilised to secure Jonathan raised concern among the Internet enthusiasts.
Responding to the commando-like attack on a Lekki branch of a commercial bank, Fashola said, “It was sad to have seen all our security personnel and all our security vehicles deployed to protect one man. All the vehicles we bought for the police were stationed to receive the President while the citizens were left vulnerable.”
The Presidency’s reply to Fashola, whose utterance it described as irresponsible, might have also heightened public interest in the robbery. Amid the politicisation of the incident, enquiries into what actually transpired and the issues it generated continued to hit the cyberspace.
On the JAMB, Google said, “The 24-hour result seems to be going like clockwork and the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination results are coming out in torrents. So, to avoid getting itself in a jam, the JAMB has reactivated its result portal, which is free.”
Dudu Evans, an on air personality with Radio Sapientia, an Onitsha, Anambra State-based FM, who passed on two weeks ago, also commanded interest on the cyberspace. The late presenter emerged fifth last week.
Until his death, Evans was a Pidgin English presenter on the station’s morning flagshipSapientia Express. The self-named “Akpako Prophetess” died on March 10 after a brief illness.
Chika Ike, a popular actress, also made her way into the top-searched individuals and events after posting a photograph of her shopping at a grocery shop, claiming, “My chef is on leave, I had to do the grocery shopping. I am making dinner now. Who wants to help?”
The statement, which was to amuse her fans turned controversial, as her critics lambasted for her hiring a chef when she remained unmarried.
