@FshawKingFisher: A Mystery Satirist Teaches Twitter 101

“You are an excellent communicator; you are special. Good luck for the future and thank you for your service @FshawKingFisher, ‘The Handler’”.

– @officialEFCC

When late Monday afternoon, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nigeria’s foremost anti-graft agency, tweeted the above quote in appreciation of its outgoing but exemplary social media manager, the agency uncannily revealed the long sought after identity of the person behind its beloved Twitter handle.

Always one to communicate the activities of the EFCC with polite, unambiguous and well-crafted tweets, Olufemi Olukayode Adeyemi or @FshawKingFisher as his personal Twitter handle reads, passionately discharged his duties whilst he held sway at the helms of affairs of the agency’s Twitter page.

Not one to shy away from controversial comments either, his witty and sardonic posts to somewhat insulting or provocative comments delight netizens across cybersphere and earned the agency a massive fan base worldwide.

Trailblazing a new and successful course in corporate communication for a rigid and somewhat loathed governmental agency is not a piece of cake. The felicity at which @FshawKingFisher evolved the EFCC social media frontier from a cold and uninspiring presence to a humane and jovial personality is nothing short of absolute creativity and pure genius.

As he walks away from the job that catapulted him to the limelight, Adeyemi is graceful enough to bequeath us the following lessons in Twitter 101.

Humour Works

Law enforcement agencies don’t get invited to Valentine dates, at least not in Nigeria. But when Twitter user, @Tha_Surgeon, made the audacious move on the EFCC, the anti-graft agency was quick to turn down the request with its trademark sarcastic response “Sorry we’re taken. We have a date. Court date.” The humorous response saw the tweet retweeted more than 1,700 times and liked almost 500 times in less than 24 hours. Such is the satirical prowess that has endeared the agency’s account to the hearts of its followers. Not only does ‘The Handler’ uses humour to reply somewhat stupid questions without hurting the feelings of the poster, @FshawKingFisher, was able to douse and swing the ‘tough, no-nonsense’ brand image of @officialEFCC to an amiable and jovial brand personality. Indeed, his use of humour has influenced not a few brands’ Twitter accounts in the country.

Stay relevant

When not fighting graft or chasing cyber fraudsters across the nation, @officialEFCC regularly doles out inspirational nuggets to its followers. Always admonishing them to shun crime, keep off the fast lane and embrace good values, ‘The Handler’ was able to engage and motivate his audience into becoming better citizens. These consistent posts undoubtedly went down well with the page’s followers as seen in their appreciation:

Know your onions

There are a lot of misconceptions about the activities and powers of Nigeria’s foremost anti-graft agency. Most times, the Twitter followers of the ‘The Eagle’ (an affectionate alias of the EFCC), either out of ignorance or mischief seek clarity on the functions and roles of the agency.

Whenever this happens, ‘The Handler’ takes out not just his time but his not so rare courtesy to inform his teeming followers.

Also, it is not unusual at times to see ‘The Eagle’ painstakingly educating its followers on step by step processes of carrying out some tasks as long as it relates to what the agency stands for.

Platform is king (not Content)

The times are evolving, so is the medium. This ‘The Handler’ understands. To ensure that Nigerians, especially its youthful demographic, are carried along in the activities of the EFCC, the crime buster targets a platform that is highly engaging and already popular with them.

While all the content are disseminated via print, radio and television, it was on social media (Twitter) that the agency’s communication gained the most traction.

According to a study conducted by Portland Communications in 2015 and titled ‘How Africa Tweets’, Nigeria has the second largest geo-located tweets (360 million) in the continent. This is only surpassed by Egypt with 500 million tweets. Third is South Africa 325 million tweets.

With these statistics probably in mind, @officialEFCC Twitter handle found a fertile playground to engage, inform and educate netizens. With the younger generation following the trend and drifting towards the New Media, it is only natural that a smart social media manager seeks them out where they congregate.

Find what works for you

Go invincible if the need be. Though this advice may not hold true for all brands or individuals, it certainly works extremely well for the Economic and Financial Crime official Twitter page and will perhaps work just fine for others in similar niche.

Even when ‘The Handler’ was tempted, baited and threatened severally to reveal his identity, he chooses to wear the cloak of invincibility. This strategy, coupled with the lively posts on the Twitter page no doubt fuel the curiosity of netizens and in turn convert to a huge fan base.

All brands, be it personal, corporate or governmental have their peculiarities. The onus now lies for a smart social media manager to find and leverage on rather than being copycats. Being unique paves the way to authenticity which subsequently will foster brand credibility.