High on the list of the Nigerian ICT minister’s 2014 resolutions is to start tweeting. From an account that is more than a year old, Omobola Johnson sent her very first tweet on the 15th of January. Not a Dangote moment, but no less momentous, for Nigerian ICT at least.
Happy new year to you all. Looking forward to engaging with you this year especially as regards all things concerning ICT in Nigeria.
— Omobola Johnson (@OmobolaJohnson) January 15, 2014
This should be interesting. Her next tweet, over a week later, doesn’t look canned and actual provides useful information. Now we know that the ministry is involved in an Africa edition of the World Economic Forum scheduled for May.
After making it through the last federal cabinet purge unscathed, Johnson has become increasingly visible in her pursuit of her ministry’s objectives. Towards the end of 2013, the minister along with other technology entrepreneurs embarked on a tour of San Francisco, to learn about the legend of Silicon Valley and perhaps bring some seeds of innovation back to cultivate back home.
Perhaps some of that energy is looking to find an outlet online. Perhaps 2014 will see Nigeria’s ICT minister take to Twitter like her former Kenyan counterpart, Dr. Bitange Ndemo who at just under 2k tweets since 2009 isn’t the most prolific but was undoubtedly one of the most visible government stakeholders engaged with the Kenyan and African technology issues.
Omobola Johnson’s follower count is still pretty anemic at the moment — 320 as of this write-up. That is sure to change though, providing the minister doesn’t lose her new found resolve to tweet. Today is not Friday, but it is as good a day as any for Nigerian techies to follow the most powerful person in Nigeria’s technology sector. Omobola Johnson tweets as @OmobolaJohnson.
