14 DAY TRIAL // Goodluck Jonathan, interim president of Nigeria, announced his candidacy for the presidential elections to be held in early 2011 in the country. There's nothing unusual or terribly interesting about that, except for the fact that he did it on Facebook, quite possibly the first presidential candidate to do that.
"Today, I confirm that after wide and thorough consultations spanning the six geo-political zones that make up Nigeria... I Goodluck Ebele Jonathan by the grace of God hereby offer myself and my services to the Nigerian people as a candidate for the office of President in the forth coming 2011 elections," he said in a status update.
"In presenting myself for service, I make no pretense that I have a magic wand that will solve all of Nigeria’s problems or that I am the most intelligent Nigerian. Far from it," he said.
It is a very interesting move, though a bit unexpected from a country where Internet usage is still low. Yet, Jonathan has been a very active Facebook user since creating his page a few months ago.
He updates almost daily and engages with his followers who comment frequently. His page has almost 240,000 fans, a rather impressive number. Nigeria is Africa's most populated country and is the eight in the world with close to 160 million citizens.
Even if a minority of those has internet access or use Facebook, that still adds up to a lot of people which would explain the interest in his Facebook page.
Still, some commentators say that the move may have been more of a publicity stunt. He has now officially announced his candidacy, a few days after the Facebook message.
Jonathan became president earlier this year after the active president died. He has been filling the role ever since and has now announce his intentions to continue, ending months of speculation.