Nigeria Content Online

On November 3, 2008, an unknown Nigerian hid in a building on Muri Okunola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, and recorded an act of brutality perpetrated by officers of the Nigerian Navy. Within minutes, a disturbing video clip of a lady, Uzoma Okere, being beaten and stripped by naval ratings went viral on social network sites. Radio presenters quickly picked the ongoing assault and started calling on the authorities to intervene and stop the brutality. For many months after the incident, civil society organisations and activists continued to air that video, to the embarrassment of our military authorities. The video was also used as evidence in the judicial process that saw a Lagos High Court awarding N100 million in damages to Ms. Okere on January 27, 2010.

Perhaps more than any other, the Okere case illustrates the power of simple gadgets such as mobile phones in shaping events, and many Nigerians are now aware that the citizen is a key player in information dissemination. They are prepared to fully exercise this newly-found voice in the forthcoming general elections.

Across social network sites like Facebook and Twitter, many Nigerians have written of how they will arm themselves with mobile phones and cameras to monitor and report the elections wherever they are, in order to forestall election rigging. Those who have made this decision are certain there is no wrong in assisting authorities in the effort to hold credible elections.

It was, therefore, a shock when media reports indicated that the Inspector General of Police, Rafiz Ringim, had ordered the police to arrest anyone using camera phones at polling stations on election days. As expected, there was outrage at the decision from activists, civil societies and political parties. But more importantly, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission also expressed dissatisfaction with the order. “The position of INEC is very clear. INEC has said anyone can bring their phone or camera to the polling unit. Anything to the contrary is not the position of INEC,” Kayode Idowu, the spokesperson for Attahiru Jega, the commission’s chairman, said.

Perhaps owing to the outcry, Mr. Ringim has since denied ever giving such an order. A spokesperson for the police, Yemi Ajayi, said his principal was “quoted out of context”. Whatever the truth is, we at NEXT are happy that the ban on mobile phones is no longer an issue. We believe that the Nigerian voter anywhere should be free to monitor and report events during the elections.

Indeed, we urge all voters to become citizen journalists using their mobile phones, cameras and other gadgets to capture events in their areas during the polls. On our part, we will provide the platform for their stories to be told to the rest of the nation. For the purpose of citizen participation in the election, we have built a micro site http:// election.234next.com, where anyone can provide real-time updates of the elections.

We believe that every Nigerian has a role to play in the conduct of credible elections and invite you to tell us how elections are going wherever you are. This kind of coverage will not only help voters protect their votes; it will also help electoral officials make judgments concerning logistics in future elections as well as provide information useful for better policing of the process. Besides, as cases of malpractice become well documented, it will be almost impossible for votes not to count. Even those who have planned to rig will think again when they see large numbers of voters with tools to document their criminality. This time around, there is no reason why our judges should lack evidence of election irregularities where they occur.