And if you were too busy doing more productive
stuff, and haven't follow some of these happenings, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a curated handy list of some of the
best social media hashtags, memes and gaffes that got Africans going crazy.
1. Mugabe Falls
We all take tumble every now and then, but when Robert Mugabe does
the whole world took notice.
When
the Zimbabwean president missed a step when visiting supporters in Harare,
someone helpfully took to Photoshop to start #MugabeFalls. The rest is history.
2. Kenyans Vs Zimbabweans
One thing we learnt this year is that you don’t mess with Kenya on
Twitter. Remember what happened when CNN called Kenya ‘a hotbed of terror’?
So when The Spectator (wrongly)
attributed a hateful rant to Uncle Bob Mugabe against Kenya, that included,
‘they qualify as the best thieves’ and ‘you can even think that there is a
subject in their universities called Bachelor of Stealing’, Kenyans
concentrated their finest talent on the hashtag #KenyansVsZimbabweans.
Zimbabwe wasn’t spared Kenya’s wrath. One tweet led to two, three,
then a furore of thousand others laced with obscenities and rage towards all
things Zim; from their currency to their women all under the hashtag
#SomeoneTellMugabe and #KenyansVsZimbabweans.
3. Obamania bruh! This mania cray!
Obama’s visit was nothing short of a media plague that spread
through Kenya.
In fact, the
mayor of Kenya, in last minute preparations of Obama’s visit to Kenya, gave the
grass an ultimatum of two days to grow.
It’s a known fact that US president has roots in Kenya and it was
a humbling moment for a son of the soil to return as a visiting president of
the greatest nation in the world.
Obama’s visit was documented by holders of flashing rectangles,
lights beaming in their eyes. Until next time!
4. SecShoolInNigeria
Nigerians had their fair share of shinning on social media, devoid
of Kenyan bullying. They reminisced about high school and the oddities that
made the experience worth a memory under the hashtag #SecShoolInNigeria.
If there was anything striking about these, was
the experiences in Nigerian high schools were proximate with those in other
African countries’. You be ready to laugh so hard and roll on the floor
5. BeingFemaleInNigeria
Talking of which, Nigeria’s celebrated writer Chimamanda Ngozi
Adiche broke Twitter with her banter. It has elevated her to international
stardom and has attracted a cult of ardent feminists.
The hashtag #BeingFemaleInNigeria burst stereotypes against
feminism and was also used to share challenges women face in their day to day
lives. Forget about cheeky eye sprays used to avert attackers, feminists this
time around went bare knuckles.
6. IfAfricaWasABar
I had never seen Africa as an entire continent so united on a
topic the way they were on #IfAfricaWasABar.
Africans
invited other Africans to give them views about their countries. And social
media erupted in puns. There is something special about bars and liquor that
creates a unification factor and eerily relaxes the patrons regardless of what
they have been going through.
Perhaps the next time,
African countries are baying for eachother’s blood, we should challenge them to
spell the name Jack Daniels, and hopefully by the time they finish, maybe ideas
of combat would also have effervesced.
7. WhatWouldMagufuliDo
John Pombe Magufuli, from the time he assumed office of president
in Tanzania on November 5, 2015, has been in the news for nothing but the right
reasons. It’s enviable.
His model is to
improve service delivery and cut out the redundancy that comes public offices.
He has cut apparent irrelevant spendings, fired incompetent leaders, and heck
he suspended the nation’s independence day celebrations in favour of a
nationwide cleaning fete.
It was a party for
with no ceremony or pomp but just cleaning and more cleaning of the nation’s
spaces and surroundings.
 |
| I wanted to take a taxi then I thought, " what will Magufuli do"? |
8. Pope In Africa or #Pope Bars
PopeInAfrica trended the world over as it covered the pope’s busy
itinerary in minutiae. Remarkably he prayed for a 24-year-old HIV-positive
student in Uganda (who apparently got healed); he prayed in the mosque with
imams in CAR; and rebuked corruption in Kenya.
But it was one hashtag, and one gangsta pose, that really got
social media talking:
9. TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou
No commentary needed for this one. This one’s sure to keep on
going and going.
10. FeesMustFall became ZumaMustFall
FeesMustFall was probably the most successful activist hashtag of
the year. Could #ZumaMustFall rule in 2016?
