With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility – Atedo Peterside Slams Social Media Influencers

The founder of the Stanbic IBTC bank and Chairman of the Non-Profit Organisation Anap Foundation, Atedo Peterside, on while on Arise TV took time to advice young social media Influencers in the country to be more cautious with their engagements online and with their followers. 

The wise elder statesman, Sir Atedo Peterside made this comments in reaction to the #EndSARS protests which was directed against police brutality which was the bane of all disscussions in the country over the last two weeks which later turned sour and rather leading to more deaths, horror and pain for the nation.
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Sir Atedo Peterside accused the social media influencers who were the ones championing the movements of lacking political knowledge and mentoring to lead and guide the followers aright.

Sir Atedo Peterside, 65, did later charged the youths not lose the energy used to push the #EndSARS campaign rather they should keep it and use it to mobilise for political powers within the confines of democracy and take back Nigeria in 2023.

Sir Atedo Peterside said,

“They keep on saying they don’t have leaders but you must have influencers. I’ll give you an example. These things are scientific.

“Nowadays you can go to Instagram and somebody has five million followers. He is an influencer. You go to Twitter, somebody has eight million followers, he is an influencer.

“Now, those influencers should be careful. People followed you originally for music or for something else or for films. If they (social media influencers) want to become politically active, they must be responsible because a wrong tweet from them can prove violence. I hope they have understood that now.

“That large followership comes with a responsibility. “So, if there is anything that they can do to respect the lives of the departed is for them to understand that they will use this power they have very responsibly.
“And I keep on begging them, please, engage, not just the government, go and look for mentors. For men as an investment banker historically, If I wanted to get involved in a sector, I went to find those in that sector who had more experience than me in that sector.
“Don’t confuse that you have 10,000 followers that you know everything because you don’t.
“They have power but they must now apply control because power without control is dangerous.”

Photo Credit: Getty