10 Things I Have Learned from #NigeriaDecides

It's been an intense and educative couple of days for me on Twitter, following the presidential elections events. I have never been so concerned about politics as much as I have been in the past four days. I have never stuck to Twitter as much as I have in the past four days. A lot has happened during this #NigeriaDecides period. Here are some things I have learned about Nigeria and Nigerians:

1. There is such a thing as unity in Nigeria. Nigerians can unite for a worthy cause.

This is the most important lesson I have learned in the past few days. Yesterday night, Nigerians on Twitter came together to get a guy's account suspended because he made some seriously infuriating and violence-instigating comments about Igbo people.

See pictures below:

2. We have many comedians in Nigeria

Despite all the wahala, the alleged rigging and all the challenges facing us as Nigerians, we still find a way to make jokes. See examples of some great memes created by Nigerians on social media:

3. Nigerians know how to make fun of any situation.

This follows after the preceding point, apart from having many funny people, Nigerians in general are skilled at making fun of any situation. Despite our circumstances, we still have that special talent of making ourselves happy through the pain.

4. Tribalism is still rife, even in this new generation.

As much as I am happy we can unite, it is still obvious tribalism is rife in Nigeria. This is evident in the presidential elexctions results. President Jonathan looks to get his strongest numbers from the southern region of Nigeria, from where he originates, while contestant Rtd. General Buhari has his strengths in the north where he comes from. Also, on Saturday, several tweets with hints of tribalism in them were flying around, as well as some Twitfights too. Tribalism is still an issue and it hurts me deeply. I hope we can find a way around it soon enough.

5. Our country could be better off than it is now if we were more serious and committed to making it so.

The way Nigerians have united to make this elections relatively successful is encouraging. Even though we could have done without the violence and the malpractices being reported, I still believe that we fared better this time than we would have if we were not this united to make the 2015 elections work.

Thus, we must build on this momentum we have created and help move our nation forward. We have been serious about this elections because our future as a nation depends on it, let us now be more serious than ever to ensure the post-election years are more fruitful.

6. We dey form hard guys, but we love our country!

See, the way even some 'politically uninterested' people have followed this election is really encouraging. As much as we Nigerians like to form that we are hard guys (Nigerian slang for 'tough guys'), we love our country and we want to see it move forward. I'm happy about that.

7. Attahiru Jega is the coolest man in the world. Ahn ahn!

There's nothing much I can say about this. Prof. Jega na cool man abeg! If he is/was under pressure, he hasn't cracked once. He hasn't given a slight glimpse that things are out of control. Abeg, tiri gbosa for Jegzy: GBOSA! GBOSA!! GBOSA!!!

8. CNN Don't Like Us. I Doubt They Want Our Progress.

As of Saturday evening, there were only very minor incidences of violence reported, but our dear CNN (who love bad news and obviously aren't hoping any good comes out of Africa) decided to report that 'Violence mars Nigerians Presidential Elections'. Let me not say God will punish them, but God will...nvm.

9. Femi Fani Kayode is a Nut Job

Need I say more? The man who opens his mouth to say APC's results being announced on Twitter are fake and then goes ahead in the same breath to say PDP will win by 2 million votes, on live TV, is called a what, biko?

10. If You Ever Want to Become President in the Future, Start your campaign now!

This is a word of advice to any political aspirant reading this. No matter the amount of years between you and your political dreams, start your campaign today. Obama started his campaign from university (he probably didn't know all those things he did would help him in future). If you be youth corper, start community development project now. If you're a student in university, run for some offices now. Build a track record for yourself so that in future, you won't be misusing words like 'Transformation' and 'Change'. Your leadership will be unquestioned.

So, how has the #NigeriaDecides season been for you? How has been your experience? Share them with us.

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