Nigerians mobilise for Mikel, Moses on Twitter

BCC African Footballer of the Year are doing online

The battle for the BBC African Footballer of the Year award is heating up for all the five contenders – Gabon’s Pierre- Aubumeyang, Nigeria’s Victor Moses and Mikel Obi, Burkina Faso’s, Jonathan Pitroipa and Ivory Coast’s Yaya Toure.

Although the winner will be announced on Monday, December 2, 2013, on BBC’s Focus on Africa radio and television programme, fans of these football stars are not resting on their oars at all.  All that matters to them, for now, is for their favourite to clinch the title.

On Twitter, where the bulk of the voting and ‘campaign’  is taking  place, Nigerians appear to be leading the pack,  taking  advantage of their huge population.

For contenders like Pitroipa and Aubameyang, being listed is a big deal, as they are the first time nominees from their respective countries.

It is also interesting to note that none of the five candidates nominated for this year’s award has ever won it. Even as Toure made the shortlist for the fifth consecutive year in a row, the organisers say the list is drawn up from votes by 44 journalists across Africa.

At the moment, nominees who enjoy a large following on Twitter and Facebook, appear to be having the upper hand and receiving the most attention. While it has been established that almost all the five nominees have various parody accounts on Twitter, a cursory look at the verified account of Moses, Toure and another  believed to be that of Ob i- who is said to have closed his Twitter account a while back – rule the day.

For instance, on Obi’s unverified Twitter account, @Mike12_Official,  which currently boasts  12, 656 , he appears to be ‘king’ already, with fan after fan regularly tweeting their support by the second.

A certain Ifeoluwa recently tweeted at him, saying, “You are just the best we have in our great country. So rule your world.”

Another fan, Brian Musekiwa,  lent his voice to the campaign,  saying, “Sure brother. I have voted you for 2013 BBC African Footballer of the Year award. You deserve it this time.”

Although the player who recently floated a record label, MMM Records, may not be the only contender, he is enjoying the most attention, as his fellow country man, Moses, seems not to be very aggressive in his campaign, at least, on Twitter.

On the latter’s verified Twitter account which currently has 550,260 followers, the Liverpool  player only tweeted, “Wow being nominated for BBC African Player of the Year really honoured”, and then provided a link to the voting page.

Among the other three contenders, Toure is the most active on Twitter. His handle @Toure_yaya42 is also verified and currently has 136,095, followers. He tweets majorly in English and occasionally in French languages. His most recent post read, “Vote for me! BBC African Footballer of the Year -  Manchester City FC.”

 He also doesn’t appear to have many fans from his home country tweeting at him.

Despite having a verified Twitter handle @Aubameyang7 and 125, 207 followers, Gabonese contender, Aubumeyang, appears pre-occupied with other things as none of his tweets have little or nothing to do with the competition. He hasn’t been interacting so much with his fans either.

But Pitroipa is the least active on Twitter;  his last tweet was posted in 2009.

At the moment the battle appears to be between Nigeria’s Obi and Moses while the competition’s Twitter hashtag, #BBCAfoty, is being dominated by Nigerians, who are seriously canvassing for votes for two of their own.

For instance, one Churchill Ebhodaghe retweeted, “Let’s mobilise to have 9ja vote for Mikel.”  Then LoudMouthedNigerian lent his voice to the cause, saying, “Nigerians, please let us use our massive numbers to help Victor Moses and Mikel Obi win the award.”

The campaign is not being left in the hands of fans alone, as sportscasters and journalists have joined in the frenzy.

 TV sports analyst Kayode Tijani has, for instance, already shown his bias for Obi in several tweets.

One of such read, “Simply put, I don’t see how anyone can tell me Mikel Obi will not be named the next African Footballer of The Year. “

BBC sports broadcaster, Oluwashina Okeleji, on the other hand, is throwing his weight behind both players.

 In one of his tweets, he wrote, “Mikel and Moses are both heavily involved as Nigeria won the AFCON Cup for the first time in 19 years. The duo also won the Europa League. No airtime? You can also vote online and vote for free.”