While Mr Akpabio will serve as the special guest of honour
at the event scheduled for the main auditorium of the Communications and
Digital Economy Complex, Mbora District, Abuja, Mr Abbas will attend the
ceremony as the guest of honour.
Mr Nweke, the Enugu State governorship candidate of the All
Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the last elections, will chair the event.
The book’s author was Mr Nweke’s special assistant on media during his
ministerial term.
Among several other dignitaries expected at the event are
the immediate past Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo (rtd); the
Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman; the
founder of Agora Policy Think Tank and former Executive Secretary of the
Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Waziri Adio; the
Executive Director, Centre for Democracy and Development, Idayat Hassan; the
Chief Executive Officer, Premium Times Group, Dapo Olorunyomi; the Deputy Dean,
School of Postgraduate School, Baze University, Prof Abiodun Adeniyi; and the
Executive Director, CARE International, Dr Hussaini Abdu.
Published by Premium Times Books, the publishing arm of the
Premium Times Group, the book, “Cyber Politics: Social Media, Social Demography
and Voting Behaviour in Nigeria”, has been described as a classic offering with
significant implications for political communication scholarship and practice.
The book has been adjudged to have an interesting universe
that uses the Nigerian election to determine how social media communication
influences a cocktail of “five electoral totems: voting behaviour, the social
and demographic correlation, comparative social media network with respect to
the effectiveness of influences, motivation of social media influencers, and
stimulus-response likely to enhance the quality of electoral democracy.”
Umar Danbatta, a professor and executive vice chairman and
chief executive officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission, where the
author works, will present the book to the public. Azubuike Ishiekwene,
renowned journalist, writer and editor-in-chief of Leadership Newspaper, will
review the 460-page book, spread over 12 chapters.
The event will also feature a panel discussion to dissect
the interface of politics and social technology, how they shaped the last two
general elections in Nigeria, and the possible implications of cyber politics
in future elections.
The book has been available in hardback and softback
versions in bookstores across the country since 12 June 2023. The electronic
copies of the book can also be purchased on online platforms, including Amazon.