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Tag: campaign

  • 2019: Campaign spares a thought for the disabled

    2019: Campaign spares a thought for the disabled

    Through an advocacy campaign, dubbed ‘Access Nigeria: Disability Votes Matter’, a non-governmental organisation, Inclusive Friends Association (IFA), is making efforts to improve the participation of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the electoral processes. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI examines the campaign to remove the barriers that make it difficult for PWDs to exercise their voting right.

    VOTING during elections in Nigeria is fraught with challenges. In spite of the introduction of the Card Reader machines in the last general elections, the process of voting is still complex and cumbersome. Prospective voters usually spend the entire day trying to exercise their civic responsibility. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was widely applauded when it introduced simultaneous accreditation and voting during the Edo governorship election in 2016; because hitherto anyone intent on voting must report in the morning hours for accreditation and hang around the polling unit or return in the afternoon to vote. Even at that, voting is still dreaded, particularly by the elite, because of the inconveniences associated with it.

    For persons with disabilities (PWDs), the challenges are even more daunting. Experts say they encounter difficulties in their attempts to exercise their franchise, because polling units are not structured to make it easy for them to vote. The Executive Director of Inclusive Friends Association (IFA), a non-governmental organization that has been working tirelessly to remove the barriers for PWDs, Grace Jerry, summarises the challenges this way:

    “Polling units were not accessible for our brothers and sisters who use wheelchairs because of pavements and gutters; unavailability of sign language interpreters or written instructions to explain election day processes and procedures to our brothers and sisters who have visual impairments or cannot see; unavailability of Braille or Tactile ballots for our brothers and sisters who have visual impairments and hearing difficulties; and INEC has not been able to effectively plan for us, because they do not capture the disability status of PWDs, disaggregated by type of disability, during elections and Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) processes.”

    Jerry, who is wheelchair-bound, said the IFA and its international partners are tackling the above challenges through an advocacy campaign. The campaign, which is dubbed ‘Access Nigeria: Disability Votes Matter’, seeks to improve the participation of PWDs in the political and electoral processes through evidence-based advocacy to INEC, the National Assembly and other public institutions. The other strategies for achieving the goal include voter education targeted at PWDs and campaigns to mobilize them to go out and vote during elections.

    Under the aegis of the campaign, the IFA and its partners conducted Nigeria’s first and second polling unit accessibility audits for PWDs during the 2016 governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states. The findings of the audits suggest that 65 per cent of the polling units in Edo and 77 per cent of those in Ondo were located in places that were inaccessible to PWDs. The report also revealed that instructions on election days were not explained in sign language to PWDs, nor were Braille ballots provided for PWDs in the polling units observed as part of the study.

    Finally, such instructions were not posted for the benefit of hearing impaired voters in 90 per cent of the units in Edo, and 87 per cent of the units in Ondo State. The report recommends that INEC should implement PWDs-friendly provisions in its 2017–2021 strategic plans to facilitate increased PWDs participation in elections.

    IFA has recommended some milestones that INEC should gradually achieve before the 2019 elections. The year 2017 was for the commission to ensure that henceforth ballot boxes are not placed on high tables or platforms to enable PWDs independently cast their ballots. Another milestone for 2017 was that INEC should consult widely with disabled persons’ organisations (DPO) to accelerate the development of a disability policy that will eliminate the barriers that make it difficult for PWDs to vote during elections.

    With effect from 2018, IFA wants INEC to start locating polling units on flat surfaces, as opposed to corridors, to enable PWDs enter polling units without difficulty on the D-day. It also wants the commission to include PWD status and type of disability as part of the data capture for all continuous voter registration processes, to ensure that it has accurate and sufficient data to effectively plan for the participation of PWDs in all categories of elections.

    Other milestones for 2018 are: “INEC should immediately commence the process of collecting data on the disability status of the approximately 70 million registered voters whose disability status was not captured during the previous voter registration exercises; INEC should introduce Braille or Tactile ballots as a pilot scheme during the 2018 governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states and fully deploy it during the 2019 general elections; INEC should establish disability desks in its offices across the 774 local governments in the country, with trained personnel who will interact with PWDs and document the barriers they face, as well as their suggestions on how to improve PWD participation in elections.”

    From 2019 and beyond, the NGO wants INEC to develop a standard dimension for the internal layout of polling units and enforce this to ensure that they are spacious enough for PWDs, especially those with wheelchairs, to freely participate in accreditation and voting. Others are: “INEC should provide sign language interpreters at polling units for interpretation to voters with hearing impairments; and INEC should implement all PWD-friendly provisions in its 2017 to 2021 strategic plan, to facilitate increased PWD participation in elections.”

    INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said the commission “recognises the rights of persons with disabilities as fundamental to democracy.” He INEC has made some efforts to make elections more accessible, including the establishment of disability desks at its offices and disability-specific provisions in its 2017 to 2021 strategic plans.

    Nevertheless, he acknowledged that voters with disabilities are still disenfranchised by other challenges.

    Jerry indeed acknowledged that INEC has started implementing some of the recommendations. She enjoined other electoral stakeholders like the National Assembly, the state assemblies, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the executive at federal, state and local government levels to emulate INEC.

    The IFA Executive Director, who is also the Coordinator, Access Nigeria: Disability Votes Matter campaign, said: “For PWDs, voting is not just about casting ballots, it is about belonging to the human race. We don’t want pity; we want the joy of full participation in Nigeria’s political and electoral processes. As the 2019 elections approach, we call on INEC to implement all of the recommendations in our ‘Disability Votes Matter’ report.”

    The National Chairman of the Spinal Cord Injuries Association of Nigeria, Mr. Obioha Onanugbu, said persons with disabilities are usually discouraged from participating in the political and electoral processes by the negative attitude of the society towards them. Onanugbu, who became confined to the wheelchair after an auto accident, said each time he goes out to vote, a lot of people are usually baffled why he is taking the trouble to do so.

    He said: “It annoys me when people keep asking me why I’m stressing myself by voting. Indeed, persons with disabilities have the right not only to vote during elections, but also to be voted for, if they decide to contest for any elective position. But the comments they get from people always discourage them from seeking elective positions.

    “I started voting as far back as 1979 when I was still able-bodied. I also voted during Babangida’s aborted Third Republic, when I have become disabled. Being disabled does not stop one from discharging one’s civic responsibility.”

    Onanugbu said there is need for adequate voter education and enlightenment, because many persons with disabilities do not even know that they are supposed to vote.  He said: “It is an issue we have been advocating for years. Our association has been championing for the rights of people with disabilities in all aspects of life, particularly their voting rights. We’ve had series of interactions with INEC and political parties; they are always giving one excuse or the other.

    “But, the number of people with disabilities that voted during the last general elections appreciated considerably, because of the efforts we put in. It was not as much as we would like, because there is still a lot of barriers such as the location of polling booths. The challenges faced by people that are visually impaired is even worse, because they cannot read what is written on the ballot paper and have to go with a helper to the polling booth. In that case, the helper may influence his choice of political party and candidate and even if that does not happen, the blind person will not enjoy secret ballot, because he would have to rely on the assistance of his helper.

    “There are different types of disabilities and each group has its own peculiar challenges. It is not as if INEC is not aware of these challenges, because we have made several representations to the commission, but they’ve not been able to do much in this regard. INEC officials always give excuses that there is no money to implement some of our recommendations, but the truth is that it is not all the recommendations that entails additional cost.”

    The African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG), which was signed by Nigeria on July 2, 2007 and ratified on December 1, 2011, guarantees the right of political participation to persons living with disabilities. The charter states that all Africans, particularly the youth and people with disability, are entitled to systematic and comprehensive civic education and other measures to promote their full participation in democracy and development processes. All signatories to the ACDEG are expected to protect the rights of women, ethnic minorities, migrants, people with disabilities, refugees and displaced persons and other marginalised or social groups, through appropriate national legislature and administrative measures.

    Under the law, all Nigerians are entitled to participate equally and effectively in all forms of political participation, as well as economic and social governance. In most nations, citizens are only disqualified from voting based on mental incapacity

  • Fed Govt urged to review rebranding campaign

    The Lead Consultant, Above Media, has advised the Federal Government to review its rebranding campaign.

    Yusuf, author of Appraisal of the Rebranding campaign of the Federal Government of Nigeria stated this ahead of the launch of his book.

    The book examines the image crisis in Nigeria and the attempts at branding and rebranding the nation. Also analysed are the kind of reactions that the rebranding elicited and a prognosis on what could be done.

    According to Yusuf, a doctoral student of Public Affairs and Administration, Walden University, the image crisis between 1993 and 1999 was attributed to the country’s lack of democratic progress.

    While arguing that the rebranding campaign seemed to be more of a cosmetic remedy, the author recommends, among other panaceas, that beyond sloganeering, the government should address the issues that led to the image crisis.

    In the 123-page book,  Yusuf, traces back the crisis of the country to after independence.

    The book will be launched in Lagos next January.

  • On the anti-SARS campaign

    On the anti-SARS campaign

    Sir, The recent #ENDSARSNOW campaign which has been trending on social media was triggered by an online video showing the aftermath of the killing of an alleged “yahoo boy”(Internet fraudster) by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in the Yaba area of Lagos State. This led to a petition submitted to the National Assembly for the scrapping of SARS by Segun Awosanya signed by over 10,000 people. The social media campaign and the petition elicited reactions from the police authorities with the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris announcing the immediate restructuring of SARS. The restructuring of SARS as announced by the IGP includes, the “federalization” of SARS with a Commissioner of Police in the Force Headquarters becoming the overall head of SARS under the Department of Operations, the setting up of an X-squad mandated to investigate compliance and abuse by SARS outfits, training of SARS members in police duties and human rights, and the release of police mobile hotlines for members of the public to lodge complaints whenever necessary.

    This is not the first time in our history that Nigerians have complained about the ineffectiveness or human rights abuses by SARS. We experienced a similar situation in Lagos in the 90’s during the tenure of Colonel Mohammed Buba Marwa as Military Administrator of Lagos. However, it did not lead to the scrapping of SARS. It is unfortunate that politicians who should know better have also joined the bandwagon of those calling for the abolition of SARS. Some like the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike have gone ahead to make outlandish and unsubstantiated claims by saying SARS will be used by the APC-led federal government to rig the 2019 elections.

    I commend the proposals put forward by the IGP for the restructuring of SARS. Those who say that SARS is biased against the youths easily forget that we have a high rate of criminality among the youths especially in the area of internet fraud popularly called yahoo or yahoo plus. Also, in the event that SARS is abolished, is that not tantamount to giving free reign to armed robbers and criminals of all sorts to freely operate in the society? What is the alternative to SARS considering the fact that a huge chunk of our policemen are currently engaged in VIP protection duty?

    Are we going to replace SARS with ethnic militias and vigilantes who are not only poorly trained but also engage in extra-judicial killings? We cannot afford to throw away the baby with the bath water just because of the excesses of a few SARS operatives and commanders. Restructuring of SARS is the way to go.

     

    • Peter Ovie Akus,

    Ifo, Ogun State.

  • Let our campaign be issue-based, says Secondus

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairmanship aspirant Chief Uche Secondus has urged fellow aspirants to shun politics of blackmail and embrace issue-oriented campaigns.

    In a statement by his campaign organisation, Secondus said the plot to dent his image will fail.

    Read also: PDP to work with any chairman elected at Dec. 9 convention

    He said: “We have resolved never to raise a finger against fellow aspirants, but to run an issue- based campaign that dwells on our agenda for the party. We are resisting temptations to retaliate against savage attacks and falsehood, but instead concentrate our energies on wooing delegates and convincing them that we are the best for the leadership at this material time.

    “We have also watched with concern the trends among fellow contestants who appear to have abandoned their campaigns and instead adopted attacks on Prince Secondus as their main focus.”

     

     

     

  • Dakore unveils ‘Now I See’ campaign

    Dakore unveils ‘Now I See’ campaign

    Famous Actress, Dakore Egbuson-Akande has called on Nigerians to pledge their Corneas after their demise. The actress, who was recently named Brand Ambassador of Eye Bank of Nigeria, said Nigerians should have imbibe an attitude of donating organs such as corneas because it is a pure myth that such organs are for rituals.

    She stated this at the unveiling of the ‘Now I see’ campaign held in Lagos.

    Dakore said: “Now that I am officially unveiled as the Ambassador for the Eye Bank of Nigeria (EBN) with the aim of sensitising the public about the need for cornea donors to help those with reversible blindness. I pledged my cornea and what that means is when I leave this earth I have willingly donated my cornea to help give the gift of sight especially as I would no longer be needing it.”

    Dakore said by becoming a voluntary cornea donor, part of the goodness of the donor continues, and that deed outlives the dead.

    She said Cornea is the delicate tissue responsible for the control and focus of light into the eyes.

    “Now I see that I can live for something greater than myself. I see that I can contribute positively to humanity and make the world better than I left it,” explained Dakore.

    Medical Director, Eye Bank, Dr Faderin Omotosho said the Cornea is among the first set of organs that melt in a corpse, and thereafter useless in the grave.

    “That’s why we as professional ophthalmologists are encouraging Nigerians to donate their Cornea freely, so people that need same can be assisted to live, seeing beautifully well with those Corneas, after the transplant. Most Nigerians do not donate organs voluntarily but I can assure you that there is no ritual involved in Cornea donation, storage in the eye bank or its transplant.

  • Keystone Bank to satisfy customers with new campaign

    Keystone Bank to satisfy customers with new campaign

    Keystone Bank said  it is committed to delivering unparalleled products and services to its customers, with the recent launch of its new brand campaign, tagged: ‘I Bank with Keystone Bank.’

    The lender said in a statement that the campaign is geared towards creating awareness for the corporate brand and positioning Keystone Bank as a partner and enabler that supports customers to achieve their goals through opportunities made available by the bank.

    The bank’s Group Managing Director/CEO, Obeahon Ohiwerei, while speaking at start of the campaign, said with the new focus and drive within the bank, “we believe it is imperative for us to re-affirm our commitment to our stakeholders and to highlight the positive strides that we are taking in order to inspire confidence in our customers.

    “Every business requires a steady hand that lends the right kind of support and every year, Keystone Bank helps thousands of business people achieve their goals, with consistent commitment to quality service. This is one major factor we wish to showcase with this campaign.”

    Ohiwerei said Keystone Bank is a technology and service-driven commercial bank, offering tailor-made convenient and reliable solutions to customers’ needs.

  • HIV awareness campaign at Seme border

    Inter-state and border drivers have been urged to ensure proper use of condom to prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDS).

    This was during the HIV awareness programme by the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA) for members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Seme border Motor Park. It was in collaboration with Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR).

    The event was the second to the last among the 10 selected clusters in Lagos for LSACA  officials to counsel participants on the possible risks of HIV and how it could be prevented and managed if contracted.

    The principal investigator for the project, Dr Zaidat Musa,  said part of the rationale behind the programme was to study HIV prevalent among road transport workers in Lagos State and the associated factors that dispose them to HIV.

    Dr Musa asked those who are positive what  they did that made them positive, their life style and the risk factors. To him, ‘that’s what the study is about and it is an initiative by the LSACA in collaboration with NIMR’.

    She added: “We did a health talk about HIV; how you can prevent it; how you can live positively and where you can access treatment. We also administered questionnaires to them on what are the things you need to do? Proper/correct use of condom are demonstrated, because at times people use condoms wrongly. So,  the demonstration was to show them how correctly they have to wear a condom. The nature of the transport work tend to expose the drivers to sexual diseases because some may have multiple sexual partners

    “Because they move around a lot, they have multiple sexual partners. From the study, no one can prevent them from  having multiple sexual partners, but we can only tell them to reduce the number of sexual partners they have. Per adventure they do not listen to that advice, the best we can tell them is to use condoms because change is a very difficult thing. Although we said it during the health talk that one must maintain a stable sexual partner, but in their own case because they move from one location to another they can’t do that, then the best we can tell them is to use condoms regularly.”

    Representative of LSACA Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Oluseyi Temowo, Olushina Olumide Nataniel, said Lagos State is concerned with eradicating the virus by the year 2030 and it is on that premise that  the agency was moving around the nooks and crannies of the state to do free testing and counselling the people. “We want to look at the NURTW members and formed an evidence base programme. It was on that premise that we actually arranged with them free counseling and screening for the Seme Border axis and we are forming our data from here.

    “We’ve gone to other branches in Lagos. We want to focus on the NURTW first, although we move from one population to the other; we are hoping to do for the market women later. We have done for the motorcyclists. The law is in existence to take its course on anyone, who stigmatises people living with HIV. Lagos State House of Assembly has done that for the agency in the past and anyone caught would face the music,”he said.

    The NURTW chairman, Seme Branch, Alhaji Mustapha Dauda Awopeju, thanked the state government for the initiative, stating that it was a welcomed idea, but not the first time such programme would be brought to the park. “I am happy when I did the test and was cleared negative. I implore other people to come out and check their status, if you’re positive it isn’t the end of the world as they’ve told us, several people live with HIV and they still go about their businesses normally,”he said.

  • Abia makes N1.3b from Made-in-Aba campaign, says Ikpeazu

    Over N1.3b has been injected into Abia State’s economy since the campaign for purchase of made-in-Aba products, commenced, Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has said.

    Ikpeazu, while speaking yesterday at the investiture of Rtn. Andy U. Obasi, as the 15th President of the Aba Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, said the money came from both direct order and expenditure into Aba economy.

    He said that his government was not relenting on its oars as efforts were already on ground to ensure that Aba made produce gain the international recognition and as well put food on the tables of Aba artisans who toiled to all day to make the wares.

    According to the Abia State Governor “Having served for at least, 24 months as the chief servant of Abia State, I will say that I have been able to change the timidity of the Aba business person from spending 18 hours and preparing shoes only to wake up and acknowledge somebody in Japan who did not do anything by just stamping on that shoes made in Japan.

    “It is for this reason that I took to begin to market from my first day all products that are made in Aba. And I thank God that that effort which many people didn’t see as a wise and worthwhile one has brought Mr. Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo twice to Aba in particular.

  • B2B marketing: Content marketing not a campaign

    Widely-read scholar and Vice President of Global Marketing Adele Sweetwood once wrote: “Content has become an especially critical component of the modern approach to marketing. Everything we do as marketers now involves some kind of content that has to be designed as channel-appropriate.”

    According to a survey carried out by Content Marketing Institute (CMI), 89 per cent of Business-to-business (B2B) marketers now use content marketing to generate leads and convert prospects. It is more interesting that “73 per cent of B2B marketers include a plan to operate content marketing as a business process and not a campaign”.

    This information is contained in the 2017 Report on B2B Content Marketing published by the US-based institute. The report also highlighted that only 41 per cent of organisations are “clear on what an effective or successful content marketing program looks like”.

    B2B Content Marketing is not as pedestrian as social media marketing for small businesses. Success factors include quality and efficiency of content; strategy development and adjustment; targeting the right people and at the right time; managerial decisions such as new content marketing roles; and content measurement.

    B2B organisations that are successful with content marketing operate it as an ongoing business process and not a campaign. It is a continuous business process of aggregating analytics about prospects and analysing trends. Strategy is involved, and it is more about promoting the contents to generate leads. No focus on fluffy metrics such as likes, shares and new followers.

    B2B marketing tactics rely depends on the same 4Ps of marketing: product, place, price and promotion. Unlike consumer marketing, B2B marketing is executed in a unique way, as the target makes buying decision based on imperative needs, cost-effectiveness, and profit potential. The customers here aren’t emotional.

    Big corporations such as General Electric are said to be spending an estimated N21 billion a day on products and logistics, which aid operations of the business. At this level, a lot of analysis goes into buying decisions. However, social media provides an opportunity for businesses to connect with businesses. IT companies with large portfolio of B2B products, such as Accenture and Cisco are using content marketing to build trust and generate corporate leads.

    Of the organisations surveyed by CMI, 24% has centralised content marketing team that works with multiple brands within their organisations. 5 per cent of the organisations has content marketing teams focusing on specific brands. Even as organisations are now employing content marketers, some of these personnel have complained that they have not been given enough time to focus on content marketing.

    In most cases, social media personnel are being given extra responsibilities to justify their enumeration instead of appraising their performance against some certain key performance indicators (KPIs). According to the 2017 B2B Content Marketing report, 52 per cent of B2B Marketers attributed stagnant success to “not enough time devoted to content marketing”. Fifty-seven per cent of them attributed decreased success to the same reason.

  • I’ve delievered on my campaign promises, says Benson

    I’ve delievered on my campaign promises, says Benson

    The lawmaker representing Ikorodu Constituency in the House of Representatives, Babajimi Benson, said he has delivered on all his campaign promises within two and half years in office.

    Benson told a large crowd of coordinators, supporters and other people from the constituency that he has implemented all the programmes he listed in his manifesto, which he presented to the people of the constituency during his campaign for their votes.

    The occasion was at the presentation of “iCare Apo Anu”, (a bag containing different kind of food) to 500 aged women and other persons to commemorate the one year anniversary of the iCare Foodbank  and the World Food Day.

    The iCare Foodbank is an initiative of Babajimi Benson’s iCare Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on the improvement of the quality of lives of every resident within Ikorodu Fedrral Constituency.

    Benson said not less than 3,800 residents have so far benefitted from the “Apo Anu” programme through the foundation within the last one year at an average of 300 beneficiaries each month. He added: “The idea was to fill the stomach first and thereafter, teach the beneficiaries how to fish.”

    The lawmaker, who served on the Constitution Review Committee of the House of Representatives, also claimed to have ensured amendments of different sections of the constitution as requested and in a way that would be beneficial to the people.

    He said there are 65,000 and 2,000 Foodbanks   spread across the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom respectively, which are being funded by their governments to help the needy.

    Benson said that the idea of establishing iCare Foodbank, which was part of the programmes listed in his manifesto, was an initiative mooted by his wife, Olajumoke, and tailored along the line of the Foodbanks in USA and the UK, to help the needy within the constituency.

    He said that he has no hand in nominating beneficiaries, explaining that the selection process of the  beneficiaries is long and that it is  being done mostly by the churches, mosques with little input from leaders within the constituency.

    He added: “When you look at the beneficiaries, you will agree with me that they merited it and really need it. It will uplift them. It will strengthen and give them hope.”

    The Director-General of iCare Foundation, Mr Deen Sanwoola, disclosed that the foundation has been consistent in doling out the iCare food bag to beneficiaries every month within the last one year.

    Sanwoola said the programme is not that of the federal or state governments,  but that it is being funded by Benson and his wife from their personal savings with support from some philanthropic minded individuals and organisations.

    The Director-General explained that the content of each food bag can feed a family of four for two weeks. He listed the contents to include:  gari, spaghetti, indomie, beans, rice, groundnut oil, palm oil, salt, sugar, milk, tea among others.