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Tag: Propaganda

Limits of propaganda
I had not been to my state after the controversial ruling of the Akwa Ibom State Governorship Election Tribunal that is sending both the petitioner and the defendant to the appeal court. A trip to the state last week afforded me the opportunity to get a sense of the reaction of the people to the ruling, with the hope of catching a glimpse of what to expect if the verdict of the tribunal should stand at the Supreme Court where it will likely end.

As is usual with a research of this nature, in which you need to keep your ears to the ground to get the true feelings of the people, the cab driver who took me from the Ibom Airport into Uyo town was my first source of information. How did people in the state react to the ruling of the election tribunal, and what would be the outcome of another election if it boiled down to that, I asked him.

The man, looking a 50-something, was quite honest in explaining that the answer to that question would depend on whom it was directed, meaning that whether it was condemned or applauded depended on where the sympathy of the respondent lay – between Umana Okon Umana, the petitioner and Udom Emmanuel, the governor whose victory at the April 11 election the former is challenging. But he made his own prediction.

In the event of another election, Umana would win, he told me matter-of-factly, in only a manner a seer would. Why did he think so? I asked. His response was quite interesting. He said judging from the size of the crowd that welcomed Umana from Abuja after the ruling, in comparison with a similar event on the day the incumbent governor returned, there was no doubt that the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate was more popular, and would therefore win.

It meant little to him that if the ruling of the tribunal as it stands today was upheld up to the apex court, Udom Emmanuel would need to win in just six more local government areas to remain in office.

The cab driver’s reason for believing that Umana would win a re-election, or even a fresh election, can only point to one fact – the high level of propaganda that trailed elections in Akwa Ibom State in recent years.

I have seen political parties win election on propaganda as was the case in the 2015 general elections.

The mindset exhibited by my temporary guide is reflective of what you hear in different circles of APC supporters in the state. You hardly hear any meaningful articulation of what the party’s candidate is bringing to the contest, other than the fact that he has been in government for as long as anybody can remember, from the military era when he was a civil servant. Ironically, this fact, which his supporters consider strength, is what most people think is one of his weaknesses – he has been part of the problems of the past, which the present is trying to correct.

The Akwa Ibom I know is not a place where election can be won with propaganda. The people may not have a long history of political sophistication, but they are certainly not so politically uninformed as not to differentiate between what they hear and what they see.

Before the election in April, the main campaign weapon of APC was the claim that a victory for Udom, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), would mean a continuation of the Godwsill Akpabio administration. But the party forgot that in the estimation of the people of the state, the former governor did so well, in terms of infrastructural development, that if Udom was going to continue from where he stopped, he would be the preferred candidate. That was reflected in the result of the election.

I heard the same propaganda during my short stay in the state last week. But I also found that the strategy, which did not work before the April election, stands even a far slimmer chance of working, this time around. This is because in just five months, the governor has been able to establish the indisputable fact that he is his own man. He has proved that he has something to offer.

Now the people believe they can rely on what they see from the governor’s performance since he assumed office; they can judge him by what he has done so far, not what they hear the opposition say about him. It is propaganda stuff that no longer appeals to the people – something of a broken record.

He may not have spent donkey years in government before taking up his present role, but with more than two years in the highest echelon of government, third in line only to the governor and deputy governor, he couldn’t have been better prepared for his current office. But beyond the fact that he cut his teeth in governance as secretary to the state government, Udom came into government with unarguably the richest credentials than any of the candidates in the April election.

He spent his entire working life not just in the private sector, but in a very sensitive and strategic sector where adherence to corporate governance and international best practices is an article of faith. It is the reason he is going about the art of governance with a touch of difference – with the dexterity of an expert craftsman – having assumed office with a clear vision for the state. He has concentrated on the economy, because that is what the state needs, to be able to attract the investors that would benefit from the structures that he is putting in place.

My candid assumption (not a prediction, certainly, nothing in line with the cab driver’s) is that another election – whether a re-run or fresh election – will change nothing, as far as the present occupant of the Government House in Uyo is concerned.
- Etim is a Lagos-based lawyer
November 5, 2015
‘Akwa Ibom governor won’t be distracted by propaganda‘

Former Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information Aniekan Umanah has been re-appointed by Governor Udom Emmanuel. He spoke with Kazeem Ibrahym on the challenges before the administration and other issues.

Would you shed light on the controversy surrounding the list of commissioner-nominees in Akwa Ibom State?

When former Governor Akpabio came on board in 2007, a large chunk of people who started with him were also people who worked together with him in the Attah administration. For instance, the deputy governor, Mr Patrick Ekpotu, was a commissioner in Attah’s administration; the SSG, Obong Umanah Okon Umanah, was the Commissioner for Finance in Attah’s administration; Dr Chris Ekong was a commissioner; Dr Ebebe Ukpong was a commissioner and many others. Government is a continuum; no matter how you look at it. The nominations, Governor Udom Emmanuel made are in order because, out of the 22 persons – normally, exco should be about 24 –about 10 were those he worked with when he was the Secretary to Government. These are people he had dealt with; worked with and understood their capacities. He needs to set up his administration and take off properly and also ensure that he runs sustainability plan towards broadening the economic fortunes of Akwa Ibom State. So, you don’t just call in green horns 100 per cent. It doesn’t happen that way; you can’t take off that way. You take off gradually and then you consolidate. So, I don’t know why the fury; there is nothing new. I can give examples even from other states; from 1999, there are people who served as commissioners from 1999 and today are secretary to government. So, you are talking of 16 years. You don’t fry experience and knowledge. And Dr Akpabio has always said that he would never sacrifice experience and knowledge on the altar of politics. So, Governor Udom Emmanuel is on the right track; he wants to succeed; so he has programmed his administration so that he takes off and consolidate properly, that is how I see it.

It is expected that the governing style of the Governor Emmanuel will be different from that of former Governor Akpabio. How will you manage the switch?

No two people are the same, even twins from the same womb. No two people are the same, in terms of the way they approach their own things. The question of switch or no switch is not even an issue; the issue there is pursuing set goals and objectives. If you have a job to do, you get the job done. For instance, if you need to clear a mess at Nwaniba street, the idea is to clear the mess. Whether you have to trek or run there, you have a deadline to clear the mess and that deadline, you want to make sure that that mess is cleared. I do not really see any issue here because clearly, it is about getting things done. Governor Udom Emmanuel also worked with the former governor and his style cannot be new to some of us that had the opportunity of working with him as the Secretary to the Government. We understand that he is a result-oriented man, a focused man, and he stays on target. Those are the same attributes that former Governor Godswill Akpabio also has because when he wants something, he makes sure he gets results. So, you see, Akwa Ibom will continue to progress. Governor Udom Emmanuel has started well.

The APC has said that he governor is recycling old commissioners to consolidate Akpabio’s regime…

No, they are not right. I totally disagree and fault the APC on this claim because the APC is one party that runs on a consolidation method. So, how can they blame governor Udom Emmanuel for nominating competent people, who also served in the previous administration? Such statement is inconsequential and makes no sense. It shows the ineptitude and the lack of knowledge or how bereft they are. If the APC wants to blame Governor Emmanuel for making nominations, they should completely blame the totality of the APC administration everywhere in Nigeria because we have people who served as commissioners since 1999 and today, they are Secretary to Government. They are people who moved from cabinet and became governors in some states. They are the ones who have moved from one cabinet to another and gone to the National Assembly and they continue to broaden and consolidate their coast. We will not allow the APC to thwart the PDP consolidation process in Akwa Ibom State. We will maintain our consolidation method, we will support Gov. Emmanuel to take off properly and consolidate, we will strengthen the political process and, of course, the administrative machineries to enable him succeed as a governor. For me, the statement by the APC is a rabble.

The state was also described by the APC 2as a ship without a captain. What is your take on this?

It is totally faulty. How can you say it is a ship without a captain? There is a governor in place and government is not about one person; you have an arrow head, but you have stakeholders, you have people who work around government to make things happen everywhere in the world. As far as I am concerned, the APC had thought that the PDP administration in Akwa Ibom will come with what they call neophytes so that they will begin the process of shredding the administration into pieces. No serious administration sacrifices experience because you must ride on it and continue to consolidate, expand, add and broaden. That is how it works.

We are not ready to allow the PDP wobble; we will hold it and hold it strong, irrespective of what anybody is saying. But, coming back to your issue, how can they blame Gov. Udom Emmanuel for pronouncing the stadium in honour of former Governor Akpabio? It was the Akwa Ibom state house of assembly that passed the resolution, naming that stadium so. What the governor did was a pronouncement of the resolution of the representative of the 4.9m people of Akwa Ibom State. The governor acted in order because he couldn’t have acted against the position of the 4.9m people of the state represented by their representatives in the house of assembly from the various state constituencies. So the statement of the APC holds no water. I think they should just sit down and lick the wounds election failures and allow the PDP government in Akwa Ibom State to consolidate and move forward.

People believe that Akpabio is still in control of the state…

As a former governor and a PDP stakeholder and stalwart in the country and a senator of the PDP, why should he should not be interested in the governance of his state that he just left and he should not also be interested in the success of the administration that succeeded him? It would be foolhardy for one to think that a former governor should not be interested in the success of his successor. So for me, the role Akpabio should be seen to be playing is supporting and ensuring the success and the consolidation of the PDP administration in Akwa Ibom State under Governor Udom Emmanuel. That is what I think is right. That is what he should do and that is what every stakeholder should do and so on. In 2007, even when there was no succession, and you all know that the former governor did not support him to become his successor but people from the cabinet of Obong Victor Attah were the same set of people that started the administration of Godswill Akpabio. Have we forgotten so soon; Akwa Ibom people, why have we forgotten so soon? This is how to move. You do not expect a government to get up and then, you get up from the blues. You have projects that you must pursue and complete, you have ideas that you must consolidate and continue to pursue.

July 2, 2015
INTELS to LADOL: Stop harmful propaganda

The management of the Integrated Logistics Limited (INTELS) has advised the management of Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics base (LADOL) to stop tarnishing its hard-earned reputation by engaging in propaganda.

LADOL allegedly accused INTELS of being behind the recent presidential directive to relocate its fabrication project for the Total’s Egina floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) to Bayelsa State from its Free Trade Zone in Lagos.

The Managing Director, LADOL Integrated Logistics Enterprise, Dr Amy Jadesmii, told reporters in Lagos a letter from the Presidency directed that the project be relocated to Agge in Bayelsa State or any designated oil and gas terminal located in ports in Onne (Rivers State) , Warri (Delta State) and Calabar (Cross River State).

But the management of INTELS (Onne port) during a tour of the facility by maritime correspondents urged LADOL to focus on its core area of business of managing its private jetty in line with extant laws and regulations instead of preoccupying itself with propaganda aimed at “undermining INTELS’ multi-billion dollar investments over the years built to serve Nigeria and the West African sub-region”.

INTELS management said: “While acknowledging the legitimate aspiration of LADOL to expand its business beyond private jetty, it will be counter-productive for it to predicate its business expansion on damaging the corporate reputation of INTELS built over decades of hard work and investments.

“Onne Free Trade Zone is one of the several concessions under our control and our core business is markedly different from that of LADOL and other concessionaires as approved by the Federal Government through the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

“As a concessionaire for Onne, Calabar and Warri ports, we handle exclusively ocean going vessels dedicated to oil and gas cargoes in line with the terms of our concession and the regulations of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). We do not handle rice, cement or sundry cargoes,” the General Manager, Legal and Corporate Affairs, Mike Epelle said.

Sources in the maritime sector also said that LADOL had in its quest to expand its scope of business, applied for permission through the NPA for integration of Egina deepwater FPSO at their private jetty but that the NPA Executive Committee after thoroughly examining the application technically and operationally said it is not possible for it to handle such operations at the jetty, which was duly communicated to LADOL. The NPA investigations showed that the width and draft of the Lagos channel cannot accommodate the facility (FPSO) because of limited room for safe maneuvering as the average depth and channels are 9.5 and 210 metres respectively, while the turning basin radius is less than the 600 metres required by global practice, which is the minimum radius for turning basin for FPSO.

LADOL was informed that in view of the high traffic of vessels in the channel, the integration and movement of FPSO being towed by more than five tugs could lead to a blockade of the channel for weeks or months in the event of any accident during navigation in the channel.

The sources stated that LADOL had approached directly the Ministry of Transport with a similar application which was also turned down. “But with no intent of giving up on the bid to expand the scope of its operations, LADOL resorted to engage directly with the Presidency. In a letter to the President, LADOL requested the approval for the handling of the FPSO at its facilities or in the alternative to be allowed to handle it or part of its operations at Agge Bayelsa State. The proposal requesting the President to approve the handling of the FPSO at its facilities at Agge is a clear indication that the company was interested in building such facility in Bayelsa,” the sources added.

After due consultation with the relevant authorities, the Presidency responded and directed that the operation based on technical/operational reasons as adduced by NPA, Federal Ministry of Transport, and Office of the Security Adviser to the President, the FPSO can be handled by LADOL at Agge Bayelsa if such facility area is available or in the alternative be appropriately handled at the designated oil and gas cargo terminals fully equipped with facilities to handle such operations. The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) in 2013 protested to the Presidency against approval that seeks to grant permission to LADOL to handle the integration of the FPSO at its facilities located in Lagos, even as further correspondence from LADOL to the Presidency on the same subject and referred to the Minister of Transport, did not receive approval, the sources said.

The Minister of Transport had recommended the FPSO integration be handled at Onne having the capacity to accommodate such a project and as spelt out in the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in a letter of 2008, to concessionaires.

To realise the full benefits and potential of the concessions, the House of Representatives in 2012 recommended that there is urgent need to enforce the ban on mid-stream discharge of cargoes as well as use of private jetties to discharge and load import and export cargo; that all oil & gas related cargoes are to be discharged only at appropriate designated terminals; that government should introduce incentives to the Eastern ports to make them more attractive to shipping companies, cargo owners thereby decongesting and reducing pressure to Western Ports; and that operators should be free to choose ports of discharging their cargoes within the designated ports of Onne, Calabar, Port Harcourt and Warri, among others, the sources added.

INTELS management appealed to the operators of the LADOL jetty to focus on finding solutions to their own problem because the issues are clearly matters that impinge on technical and security matters which are not under the control of the company.

May 25, 2015
Failure Of propaganda

his piece could have been titled the failure of money or the collapse of falsehood, or better still the battle of facts and fiction; any of the titles would best have described the running battle between public relations and raw propaganda in the run-up to the recently concluded elections in Nigeria. And I can bet many aspiring politicians not only in Nigeria or Africa but the world over have a lot of lessons to learn from the way and manner media was deployed to guarantee success or to guarantee failure.Most of the so-called media managers had no clue whatsoever about what media management was all about. In fact the simple rudiments of communication were lost on most of them. Quite a number of those who were paid huge sums of money to launder the image of their employers hardly understood what constituted image talk less of what constituted laundering.

Many people assumed, erroneously though, that once you can speak fluent English, or Hausa or Igbo or Yoruba you are home and dry with communication. There is a gulf of difference between a mastery of language and the art of communication. That one speaks good English does not mean that one knows the art and science of persuasion or that one knows what to say at appropriate times.

It should also be realised that pure mastery of language does not imply that whoever has that mastery is also adept at public and human relations. Yet human and media relations are very critical in the art and science of public relations practice.

What happened in several quarters in the build up to the elections was the false notion that a sharp cutlass is all that is needed to weed the grass without considering the state of the mind of the handler of the cutlass or his expertise in cutting grass.So many characters that have had the opportunity of being published once or twice in some newspapers started parading the corridors of politicians brandishing their so-called portfolio and because of the limited knowledge of their clients they cornered fat contracts. This was more so with clients that had more cash than sense, and were hell-bent to win elections by hook and crook.

It may not be necessary to mention which political party did what or which politician wasted dollars on propaganda, but attempt will be made to speak on the different approaches employed by different parties.

What was clear and what informed the title of this piece was that while a political parry employed public relations strategy and astute media management, another party relied heavily on propaganda, trouble shooting and outright falsehood. In electioneering, what matters most to the electorate is visibility. Your facts and claims must be visible and verifiable. Outright lies will achieve opposite result from what is intended.

There should also be consistency. A party hinged its claim to purposefulness on simple cardinal points. And as we do in Public Relations; the party remained consistent and focused harping on the cardinal points which in no time became a sing song. And where it attacked its major opponent, it chose only three or four of the opponent’s failings and harped on such failings to no end. As a result, its opponent was identified with only the failings it was branded with.

Party A also chose symbol, an arrow head. The symbol was well packaged, refined and corporately branded such that the symbol became a towering figure to be trusted and believed.

Party B spent the whole world oozing out raw propaganda, creating falsehoods and spent a hell of time not on what it could or would do if voted into power, but throwing punches like a blindfolded boxer. In the end, Party B became odious and nauseating simply on the strength of the stench coming out from the belly of its chief propagandists.

Insults do not win an argument. And throwing tantrums at one’s opponent is not the best way to win sympathy from observers. In a society where respect for elders is mandatory, any propagandist that disrespects the norm in the name of electioneering will only succeed in losing the love and affection of the generality of the society that upholds the norm of respect for elders.

It is also important to mention that media communicators for a political party must speak with same voice and in the same language. But where you have a cacophony of voices with unrhymed tunes, there is always the danger of confusing the listeners and the electorate.

All in all, it was a colossal waste of resources, especially money and materials because propaganda does not come cheap. Of all the forms of relevant communication genres; marketing, advertising, public relations, propaganda is the most expensive. And apart from in battle, propaganda does not actually achieve much. Those who therefore expended all their resources on cheap propaganda have now learnt to their chagrin that outright lies and mischief do not win elections.

For the purpose of those who may be seeking to learn a lesson or two from this piece, anyone wishing to handle media campaigns either for politicians or political parties must first and foremost recognise the symbol of his campaign and package the symbol properly before setting out to market the symbol or object/subject.

If the arrow head of the campaign especially in political matters is rotten, no amount of propaganda can wash it clean. The first thing to do in the circumstance is to use what is called silent persuasion to make the symbol a bit acceptable before you can market it with extensive public relations and defence.

Unfortunately, everybody thinks he or she is a communication expert or public relations guru, and many patrons do not know the difference. It is now hoped that with the recent experience as an eye opener, Nigerians and all those seeking g public office in the future will be more guided in their choice of who can best help them put their message across and who can win them friends as opposed to those whose tantrums will garner enemies in droves.

It can be said without fear of contradiction that the recent electoral battle was fought, won and lost as media management dictated.

It was not all about money. As a two-term chairman of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, I should know.his piece could have been titled the failure of money or the collapse of falsehood, or better still the battle of facts and fiction; any of the titles would best have described the running battle between public relations and raw propaganda in the run-up to the recently concluded elections in Nigeria. And I can bet many aspiring politicians not only in Nigeria or Africa but the world over have a lot of lessons to learn from the way and manner media was deployed to guarantee success or to guarantee failure.Most of the so-called media managers had no clue whatsoever about what media management was all about. In fact the simple rudiments of communication were lost on most of them. Quite a number of those who were paid huge sums of money to launder the image of their employers hardly understood what constituted image talk less of what constituted laundering.

Many people assumed, erroneously though, that once you can speak fluent English, or Hausa or Igbo or Yoruba you are home and dry with communication. There is a gulf of difference between a mastery of language and the art of communication. That one speaks good English does not mean that one knows the art and science of persuasion or that one knows what to say at appropriate times.

It should also be realised that pure mastery of language does not imply that whoever has that mastery is also adept at public and human relations. Yet human and media relations are very critical in the art and science of public relations practice.

What happened in several quarters in the build up to the elections was the false notion that a sharp cutlass is all that is needed to weed the grass without considering the state of the mind of the handler of the cutlass or his expertise in cutting grass.So many characters that have had the opportunity of being published once or twice in some newspapers started parading the corridors of politicians brandishing their so-called portfolio and because of the limited knowledge of their clients they cornered fat contracts. This was more so with clients that had more cash than sense, and were hell-bent to win elections by hook and crook.

It may not be necessary to mention which political party did what or which politician wasted dollars on propaganda, but attempt will be made to speak on the different approaches employed by different parties.

What was clear and what informed the title of this piece was that while a political parry employed public relations strategy and astute media management, another party relied heavily on propaganda, trouble shooting and outright falsehood. In electioneering, what matters most to the electorate is visibility. Your facts and claims must be visible and verifiable. Outright lies will achieve opposite result from what is intended.

There should also be consistency. A party hinged its claim to purposefulness on simple cardinal points. And as we do in Public Relations; the party remained consistent and focused harping on the cardinal points which in no time became a sing song. And where it attacked its major opponent, it chose only three or four of the opponent’s failings and harped on such failings to no end. As a result, its opponent was identified with only the failings it was branded with.

Party A also chose symbol, an arrow head. The symbol was well packaged, refined and corporately branded such that the symbol became a towering figure to be trusted and believed.

Party B spent the whole world oozing out raw propaganda, creating falsehoods and spent a hell of time not on what it could or would do if voted into power, but throwing punches like a blindfolded boxer. In the end, Party B became odious and nauseating simply on the strength of the stench coming out from the belly of its chief propagandists.

Insults do not win an argument. And throwing tantrums at one’s opponent is not the best way to win sympathy from observers. In a society where respect for elders is mandatory, any propagandist that disrespects the norm in the name of electioneering will only succeed in losing the love and affection of the generality of the society that upholds the norm of respect for elders.

It is also important to mention that media communicators for a political party must speak with same voice and in the same language. But where you have a cacophony of voices with unrhymed tunes, there is always the danger of confusing the listeners and the electorate.

All in all, it was a colossal waste of resources, especially money and materials because propaganda does not come cheap. Of all the forms of relevant communication genres; marketing, advertising, public relations, propaganda is the most expensive. And apart from in battle, propaganda does not actually achieve much. Those who therefore expended all their resources on cheap propaganda have now learnt to their chagrin that outright lies and mischief do not win elections.

For the purpose of those who may be seeking to learn a lesson or two from this piece, anyone wishing to handle media campaigns either for politicians or political parties must first and foremost recognise the symbol of his campaign and package the symbol properly before setting out to market the symbol or object/subject.

If the arrow head of the campaign especially in political matters is rotten, no amount of propaganda can wash it clean. The first thing to do in the circumstance is to use what is called silent persuasion to make the symbol a bit acceptable before you can market it with extensive public relations and defence.

Unfortunately, everybody thinks he or she is a communication expert or public relations guru, and many patrons do not know the difference. It is now hoped that with the recent experience as an eye opener, Nigerians and all those seeking g public office in the future will be more guided in their choice of who can best help them put their message across and who can win them friends as opposed to those whose tantrums will garner enemies in droves.

It can be said without fear of contradiction that the recent electoral battle was fought, won and lost as media management dictated.

It was not all about money. As a two-term chairman of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, I should know.

April 21, 2015
Of propaganda, issues and candidates

It was Abraham Lincoln, former President of the United States, who famously said: “Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”

The first time I read an advertorial in a newspaper, ‘advising’ the electorate not to vote for a particular presidential candidate, I was appalled at the extent to which some Nigerians had gone just to ‘sell’ their choice candidate in any political party they support.

Many groups have sprung up to publicly support their preferred candidates and convince people to vote for them. They have been spending large amount of money daily to place adverts in national newspapers, all with the aim of ‘bringing down’ the opponent of their candidates. In the words of Dennis Adonis, voting is a method used to determine which politician was able to brainwash you the most.

It is popularly said that desperate times require desperate measure. Some Nigerians are literally taking desperate actions in the bid to stop ‘unwanted’ candidates. Notable among these actions is a recently-published advertorial sponsored by Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose, which has been described by Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) top official, Lolu Akinwunmi, as “unconventional, shocking, and controversial”. According to the National Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, the advert “reflected the desperation of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”

Leadership is about service. Every candidate should banish thoughts of personal gain, pride and desire to stop opponents and begin to focus on the main issue of delivering the dividends of democracy and proffering solutions to the myriads of challenges plaguing the nation.

Talking about dividends of democracy, necessity is upon politicians to provide them because the electorate they claim to represent is so desperately for the reward of voting in them party of their choice. Politicians must not resort to mudslinging; this insults the sensibilities of the people.

So far, prominent issues being reported in the media are propaganda messages and insulting adverts against candidates vying for public offices. We hear such irrelevant words, such as stomach infrastructure, fake certificate, age and suchlike. But in the wake of all of these events and scandals that have trailed the electoral campaign period, the major thrust of the forthcoming elections remains that the welfare of Nigeria and its citizens in the next four years should not be relegated to the background, because it is the most important issue that must be brought to the fore.

Nigeria is faced with challenges of insecurity, unemployment, corruption and mismanagement, among others things that need to be addressed. Whoever emerges leader should go into office with the interest of Nigerians at heart.

Candidates and their supporters should desist from the bad attitude of casting aspersions on their opponents. They should start to reflect deeply on the battered state of the country and maybe when they have done that, they can begin to think up ways in which they can help to heal this already bruised nation.

The electorate must also be careful in order not to be swayed by bogus campaign adverts and empty promises some politicians have employed to get their votes. The fate of the country in the next four years lies in the hands of the electorate. We should insist on voting the candidate that possesses the capability to deliver on his electoral promises. The best man in our opinion regardless of party or who is more powerful to churn out mendacities against another in campaigning, should win the race.

If we elect a wrong leader, we will be left with no choice but to sit on our blisters.

May the best man win!

Joanna Olisa, 400-Level Mass Comm., UNILAG

February 5, 2015
‘Zoning is propaganda tool in Plateau’

Senator Gyang Shom Pwajok is the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s), governorship candidate in Plateau State. He spoke with reporters in Lagos on zoning, succession battle between ruling and opposition parties and his chances at the polls. EMMANUEL OLADESU was there.

There is the allegation that your emergence as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Plateau State violated zoning. How are you resolving it?

I have reached out to quite a number of those that we stood election with. I have also reached out to even those that lost election that I was not involved in. That is, those who lost House of Assembly elections, those who lost House of Representatives election and those who lost Senate election. I have called quite a number of them and a number of them said that, that was the first time that somebody was reaching out to them, especially for those who had contested in the past and lost. Even the deputy governor, I have had cause to sit down with him in the process. I find it clear that in the course of a contest there are bound to be those who win and those who lose elections or those who don’t win because it is not really losing per se.

The bottom line is that when people begin to throw up issues in the course of a competition, definitely people will look for sentiments and variables that will be conducive to them. For me, zoning was actually a campaign tool by those who contested. The simple answer to the issue was that we had aspirants from all the zones. So, apparently, there was no debate about zoning. If there was actually an issue about zoning it would have been very much settled that some would not have even emerged at all.

Apart from that, when I was canvassing for votes, I went to all the zones, all the 17 local governments of Plateau State and I can tell you that I had a complete feeling of what the outcome would look like because I was very much accepted in all the zones. In fact, I was shocked by the response. Instead of going to see 10, 20 or 30 delegates, I was actually in a rally because most of the people who came to see me in other zones did it in a manner that was difficult to believe. So, while some were busy shouting zoning, the voters were prepared to choose who they wanted because they were quite prepared that what they needed was development and not zoning for the sake of zoning. At any rate we have not had a history of documented direction in that order.

No doubt, the sentiments for zoning which was quite strong among some candidates, however, did not reflect in the primaries. So, it was just argument for the sake of argument. My slogan in the course of the campaign was that we can only be greater if we work together.

And of course these zones are really administrative boundaries which further divide people rather than what unite people and were mostly drawn for convenience. Senatorial zone is for senatorial election, governorship is for the entire state in the true sense of it. The House of Representatives has its own constituency. My constituency as far as my aspiration for governorship was to cover the entire state and the support came from the entire state and is a nail on the coffin of the argument for zoning and the voting itself showed that the people were departing from that argument.

How do you expect to manage the governor, who is your godfather, if you wins the election?

The truth of the matter is that God is our godfather including those who have influenced our lives in one sense or the other. It is all about human relations and I truly believe that because the current governor has not just goodwill, but he has good intentions in terms of governance, he would be a supporter of any genuine efforts towards further development of the state. That is his dream and we are keying in into that dream because we believe strongly that he is also a genuine, patriotic statesman that has played his role within the space of time.

But you must also realise that the legacy that has been brought to bear from the past needs to be properly harnessed so that you can move for a better tomorrow. Not necessarily look at things from the negative perspective. We intend to cash in on a very positive note to take stock.

What are your chances in the election?

I always go by the dictum that the future is as bright as the promises of God. The truth of the matter is that I couldn’t have been where I am today but for God taking me through where I am today. From being a lecturer in the polytechnic, to DG research and chief of staff to the governor and then senator within a short span of my life means that I am a living testimony of God’s work in progress. What will take me to victory is God Himself because He has a way of influencing the hearts and minds of people to support an aspiration and I believe that this is also God’s agenda to impact on the challenges that we are facing on the plateau which also have a repercussion on the rest of Nigeria.

What is your position on the security challenges in your state?

We are very realistic we know that security is a global challenge, it is no longer a Nigerian problem per se. Each time you turn on the television, the first thing you hear is the breakdown of law and order in one place or the other and the increasing trend of terror is also very global. The forces that tend to unite and the forces that tend to divide are actually at play at the same time and that is the challenge that we are facing in Nigeria. For me, security is top on our agenda. Even for Plateau and most parts of Northern Nigeria it is a challenge.

How is the issue being resolved?

For us on the Plateau, we have actually gotten to the point where some peaceful resolutions and peace building efforts were carried out and we have reached a point where people were resolving to forget their differences and live peacefully. However, the externalised dimension of the attacks raises a fundamental question. You know in the past we used to talk about our porous borders. This is a state that is in the hinterland, the middle of Nigeria, yet sometimes you find foreign elements involved in the attacks and we have raised this issue in the past. But nobody seemed to have cared, people thought it was sheer propaganda, that we often find Nigeriens, Chadians involved. People at that early stage of the crisis said it was sheer propaganda, but today the dimension we are seeing the crisis in Northern Nigeria shows clearly that there is a serious push in that order.

You are all aware of the climatic challenges that we are having and of the desertification that is going on and the need for greener pastures even for those who are cattle herders and they come from across border situations outside Nigeria and some of them are actually looking for better lands to occupy. Unfortunately, the way and manner the boundaries of this country were carved out, you find that Kanuris can be found in the Borno axis and on the other side. Fulanis can be found in other parts of West Africa and this tendency allows for easy infiltration by non-Nigerians into areas of conflict. So, there is a serious collaboration that is going on. There are people who are particularly interested in maintaining the peace and there are forces that are interested in moving towards greater harmony and they come from both sides of the divide and gradually realising that this challenge may even be external to them and as such there is the need for collaboration. You would have noticed that there has been some relative peace.

For me there is the need to work further on enriching this understanding among the communities so that they can also be protective of themselves collectively so that rather than assume that each time there is attack, you just assume that it is this my neighbour that is directly responsible. It could be somebody else outside his immediate domain.

January 29, 2015
‘PDP’s propaganda against Oshiomhole ‘ll fail’

Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s media aide Prince Kasim Afegbua, in this interview with OSAGIE OTABOR, speaks on the giant strides of the administration and other issues.

The PDP has said that Governor Adams Oshiomhole will not be able to complete many projects before the expiration of his second term. What is your view?

The opposition will express worry because they do not understand the mechanics of governance. They don’t have what it takes to provoke some initiatives that could have well-meaning impact on the people of the state. They presided over the state for 10 good years and their record of performance showed an abysmal failure in all areas and sectors of Edo State. It is expected that they will continue to raise worry and doubts over the monumental achievements that we have recorded because that has put an end to their claim that Edo State is not worth investing in. They said the state was poor, had no money but they were lining their pockets while the state was dripping away. Comrade Oshiomhole has been able to inject new life into the main stream of Edo politics, economy and social well-being.

outing from pillar to pillar about projects that will not be completed.

Did they build one when they held sway? We have built several hospitals across the state. To run criticism is very easy but to be an author you have to dig deep into the mold. The authentic Edo people know for too well that the Comrade Governor is better equip to manage the affairs of the state in a prudent manner than all the pretenders that we have seen in recent years.

Will there be new projects before the end of Oshiomhole’s tenure?

Certainly there will be new projects. The storm water project will be completed because that is getting a blessing of the World bank. We took a bond to service that. People don’t understand the project. We are not only doing the drainages, we are building on top of it. You need to go round to see the quality of the work. Only when you are affected by flooding that you will know the impact of what we are trying to do. Collecting water from several flooding areas into the Ogba river and other rivers is not a mean feat. They can sit back because they will not go round to do inspection. It is not enough to sit back and be arm chair critic because they want to be heard in the media. The leadership of the PDP in this state don’t have the intellectual understanding to be able to explain how government work because when they were here, they were sharing money.

Is it true that the governor has spent much on private jets?

The governor does not charter flight to foreign trips. He takes public transportation that is the truth. Most times he gets friends who bring jets to him to take him to where he wants to go. Didn’t forget he was a former president of the NLC. He has friends across the states of the federation. He got people who appreciated him. Some people funded his election, friends and associates. He is got enormous goodwill that you can’t quantify. When people see him taking jets, they think that it was chartered. He is the only governor that travels alone without ADC or CSO outside the country. Mention any PDP governor that travels outside this country alone. It is only Oshiomhole that does that. Go to the Airport and find out. Oshiomhole travels alone. If there is an urgent issues on matters of state and there are no flights, he can charter flight and that is not out of place.

What is the priority of this government in the next two years.

We have a developmental agenda factored into economic blueprint which we have been pursuing and in the second term attention is purely focus on job creation. By now if we were able to sell the Edo House for example, we would have invested the money here to build a five star hotel. We are going to find another route to ensure that we build the hotel. Other areas of employment will also be looked into and that is why the Shoprite project is still on-going. They have resolve the issue in the land. The Presco Oil Company is recruiting over 1000 persons. They are doing expansion because of the land we have accorded them. Our priority is generally to create employment but you cannot do that without having platforms. We have been able to build on infrastructure in the first term and we are continuing with that and to consolidated and complete those ones that we have done. It is the responsibility of government to now leverage on the economic value of those infrastructure so that we can gain from it. If you are producing banana and you can take them to the city where the demands are high, we are going to remain at that subsistence level. We have open up roads in the rural areas and people are now bringing their goods to the cities. We will complete roads under construction. We are going to do more schools and build more hospitals. We expect that the government that will take over from Oshiomhole will continue from where we stop because government is continuos.

Do you see the APC winning next year’s election, despite the defection of Ikimi and others?

Ikimi’s electoral fortune is not formidable enough to sway voters. I think Ikimi is over celebrated. It is understandable that Ikimi is a paper tiger but he does not have electoral value. The advantage of APC has going for it is that Oshiomhole can point to things he has done. He can campaign of issues and tell the people what he has done. The PDP will only be saying what they intend to do. Edo people know the PDP history of performance. This state will remain an APC state for many years. Whoever the PDP fielded cannot whip up the kind of endorsement that will be require to upstage the APC. We have done so much. We won’t miss Ikimi.

Oshiomhole supported some lawmakers to get elected in 2011. Is he regretting his actions?

Regret on one side, but he is going to do it again.

What kind of regret?

Some persons who pretentiously appear good and electable, the governor put all his credentials and political capital into their campaigns, they got elected and midway into the stream, they bolted away in terms of retirement benefits from the PDP. You know the PDP has so much to dispense away in terms of patronages. In 2015, the governor will be so much involve because APC is like a movement. People must get to understand that this party is pro development and when you are going to get into the APC platform to contest election, that has to be ringing on the aspirants head.

October 16, 2014
Propaganda will not save APGA, says Ubah

Anambra State Labour Party (LP) candidate Dr. Infeanyi Ubah has said that falsehood and propaganda will not save the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the proposed governorship election.

He said the people will reject APGA at the poll because the governor, Mr. Peter Obi, failed to generate employment and boost human capital debvelopment.

“This election will be defined by issues, not by empty boasts about achievements. It will not be won by the invocation of the revered name of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu., who would be turning in his grave at the great rape carried out inthe state”, his campaign office said in a statement.

Ubah objected to the campaign of calmuny against him by the agents of the government. He said the misinformation and propaganda will will because the eyes of the people are open.

He lamented that political and business illeterates were smearing his name becaue of the Capital Oil controversy, which they have used to to maximum advantage by twisting the facts.

“We expect the aide of the governor, Valentine Obienyem, to challenge Ifeanyi Ubah’s plans for the state, rather than make up stories to support his attack on Ifeanyi Ubah. It is lamentable that, in all the years of Peter Obi as governor, human capital development and job creation took a back seat. It was deemed unimportant”, Ubah said.

October 22, 2013