By Ikeugonna Eleke
A group, SMFest, has stated that despite the low unemployment rate and the harsh economic condition of Nigeria, the social media is today the highest employer of Nigerian youths.
The coordinator of the group, Mr Ifeanyi Ochije, who briefed journalists in Awka said it planned to hold a seminar for youths in the South East in May on how to leverage the social media to make money.
Speaking on Monday, during the first meeting of volunteers for the planning of the event tagged, ”Awka SMFest”, Ochije said the social media was the new money spinner in town.
He said the number of youths making money from social media today, made it the highest employer of labour, which was not only paying well, but in hard currency.
Ochije said: ‘Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter) are paying millions to many creators and many people do not know how to cash into this to make good money.
‘We are bringing together youths in what we call Awka SMFest (Social Media Festival). We have had it in Owerri, and now we are bringing it to Anambra.
‘During the Awka SMFest, we will be taking youths of the South East through some of the ways they can use social media to grow themselves.
‘Every day, narratives are pushed out there, but the hope is that besides teaching the youths how to make money through social media, they also learn to push out positive narratives about Anambra, about the South East on social media.
‘Most of the people who will be speaking to the youths have already confirmed their attendance in the seminar.
‘Anambra State governor will be here; our revered elder brother, Osita Chidoka, will be around to speak to the youths and take them through social media usage.
‘We are also bringing top content creators to come and talk to the youths. Take PalmTech for example, he is a mechanic who took advantage of his knowledge of automobiles to create contents around vehicles, and today he has over 60 staff members, and all of them draw salaries from the social media pages they manage. So you can see that this is a big deal,’ Ochije said.
He listed other speakers lined up for the event to include renowned social media content creators such as; Emeka Nobis, Chioma Ifeanyi Eze, John Obi, Chinwe Okoli and many others.
