How Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, and Minority Ethnic Groups Use Social Media And What You Can Learn From It
If you are Nigerian, get to understand social media, especially as it uniquely relates to Nigeria, before you use it to make wrong political postulations. I was the first SA New…
— Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) May 21, 2025
Reno Omokri analyzes how Nigeria’s major ethnic groups engage with media, revealing that Igbos have the highest social media usage per capita, Northerners rely heavily on radio—especially BBC Hausa—and Yorubas prefer private platforms like WhatsApp. He warns that without understanding these patterns, political predictions based on social media can be misleading.
How Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, and Minority Ethnic Groups Use Social Media And What You Can Learn From It
If you are Nigerian, get to understand social media, especially as it uniquely relates to Nigeria, before you use it to make wrong political postulations. I was the first SA New Media in Nigeria. As a matter of fact, I invented the term: President Jonathan basically asked me what I would like the position to be known as, and I chose that.
We did studies. They may annoy you if your emotional intelligence is low, but the facts remain the facts.
Social media usage per capita is highest in the Southeast and amongst persons of Igbo descent. There is a reason behind this, but I will keep it to myself to avoid contention.
I am not saying there are more Igbo users of social media. I am saying that according to studies we did, which I can share with academics, social media usage per capita is the highest among them.
Radio listening is way higher among people of Northern origin. In fact, the density increases the further North you go.
By this, I mean that people in the North Central and the areas colloquially referred to as the Middle Belt listen to the radio more than your typical Southerner but not as much as your typical core Northern Muslim.
Let me offer you some stats, which you can corroborate or fact-check yourself. There are more BBC Radio listeners in Nigeria than in Great Britain and the Uk (the two terms have different meanings).
While there are 5.6 million regular weekly listeners of the BBC in Nigeria, there are only 1.3 million in the UK. In total, 30% of Nigeria’s population rely on BBC Radio for their news. More than 70% of them are based in Northern Nigeria.
Of the about 30% in Southern Nigeria, I believe a huge chunk is Mutanen Arewa, who migrated Southwards, but I have no stats on that.
When you narrow it down to the BBC Hausa service, they have an astronomical number of listeners, totalling between 24 and 27 million.
According to Statista, the world’s number one statistical data firm based in Germany, the BBC Hausa service reaches more people every week than Channels, Arise TV, and AIT combined.
Let that sink in!
And here is where it gets more interesting.
People of Southwest origin have the highest mobile phone teledensity in Nigeria. However, they are more likely to use mobile phones on platforms like WhatsApp, where they can create fora in which they control who and how they communicate with.
They use other platforms but are more sophisticated in their interactions. By refusing to engage in a way that shows appropriation or reprobation, they are more likely to get informed and not leave a judgmental footprint.
If you are objective, you will take the above into account and realise the folly of making political decisions based solely on social media.
For example, you may see a social media post on X with 1000 reposts but only viewed by 50,000 people.
The reason is down to the dynamics I explained above. Some Nigerians are more likely to publicly indicate their affirmation than others. However, this does not give the post more reach—only more activity. Big difference!
Another post may have 47 reposts and a reach of half a million. This is also indicative of either the type of person making or reacting to the post.
But when you are not even attempting to break through on the radio, you will only experience tunnel vision, keep preaching to the choir of your geopolitical region, and think you are communicating with all Nigerians.
In Nigeria, because of the differences in how the major ethnic nationalities relate to the country and whether or not their culture contains sufficient emotional intelligence, you can read social media like tea leaves and know the political direction the nation is headed.
But if you lack that ability, you will be carried away by the loudest and after Election Day, you will be the saddest.