Presidential aspirants and their associates in the 2011 elections have been entertaining Nigerians with campaigns laced with abuses, innuendoes and blackmail—leaving slim chances for them to address the issues troubling the country, writes Assistant Editor OLUKOREDE YISHAU


Until last week, former military President Ibrahim Babangida, Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki and former National Security Adviser Gen. Aliyu Gusau were presidential aspirants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The trio have, however, dropped out of the race following the decision of the Adamu Ciroma-led Northern Political Leaders’ Forum (NPLF) to adopt former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as the North’s consensus candidate.

Babangida, Saraki and Gusau last Tuesday accepted the choice of Atiku and pledged to work for his emergence as the PDP presidential torch-bearer. He is to slug it out with President Goodluck Jonathan for the party’s ticket.

Before Babangida and others dropped out of the race, they mounted media campaigns to sell their candidature. Their associates and unknown organisations also launched media campaigns for them. The bulk of the campaigns, said a political scientist and lawyer, Obiora Akabogu, were long on abuses and short on addressing issues of poverty, epileptic power supply and hunger which afflict average Nigerians.

The campaigns, said retired Supreme Court Justice Kayode Eso, lacks depth. He lamented that aspirants were not running issue-based campaigns.

Babangida, who ruled the country from 1986 to 1993, seems to be the worst hit. In three of those media campaigns, Nigerians were reminded that Babangida was harsh on the media while he was military president, among other foibles of the retired general.

Supposedly sponsored by African Democratic Development Initiatives (ADDI), it reads: This man ordered the closure of Concord, The Guardian, The News, Newswatch and other media houses for their crucial news report. Let us forgive him; but must we forget?”

In another advertorial by ADDI, the group placed the pictures of Babangida and Dele Giwa together and wrote these words: “This man refused to prove the innocence of his regime over the assassination of Dele Giwa and other alleged human rights abuses at the Justice Oputa Panel. Let us forgive him; but must we forget?”

And there is yet another from the same group, with Babangida and the late MKO Abiola’s pictures and with the inscription: “This man stood against the will of the entire Nigerian nation when he annulled the victory of Chief Moshood Abiola at the June 12, 1993 presidential elections. Let us forgive him; but must we forget?”

Perhaps to counter all these, another group placed another advertorial with the picture of the Third Mainland Bridge and Babangida, with the inscription: “Imagine Lagos without the Third Mainland Bridge? He foresaw the Lagos traffic logjam and gave it a 3rd Mainland Bridge thought. Great leaders see opportunities in the future and they exploit it for the greater good. Today, Lagosians say Thank you IBB.”

But there are some interesting ones, which target more than one aspirant in one single campaign. One of such is sponsored by a group which goes by the name New Nigeria Initiative, Abuja. Entitled “2011: We Shall Reject”, the group asked Nigerians to reject aspirants they describe as dictators, serial betrayer, failed bank operators, 53 suite cases connection, those who annulled elections and friends of fugitives.

The advertorial did not mention names, but through the descriptions, an avid watcher of the political terrain can tell the three aspirants targeted for attacks in the campaign.

There is another of such non-direct attack sponsored by a group which goes by the name New Nigeria Agenda, Port Harcourt. It reads: “They have asked the question: Who would you vote for? A serial betrayer of his bosses? … A man who ungodly worked to supplant his boss even when the boss was on death bed? An Obasanjo stooge whose tenure will be Obasanjo’s third term? A man who inherited billions of Naira as state governor but squandered everything and ran the state into Nbillions in debt?, A man whose wife is under investigation for $17 million money laundering?, ”

This advertorial was a response to another one entitled who would you vote for, in which Nigerians were asked not to vote for someone who annulled election, who was unfair to the media and whose democratic credentials are suspect.

Cartoons have also been employed in these mud-slinging campaigns. An example of the one entitled “Baba and the son” in which a bespectacled father, who looks every inch like former President Olusegun Obasanjo had a grown man, who unmistakeably is Jonathan strapped to his back, with a baby feeder in the father’s hand. It was signed by one Luqman Adesina, the Organising Secretary of an organisation that was not named.

Akabogu told The Nation that the campaigns should be based more on issues. He said: “Even though some of the issues raised about the characters and past of some of the aspirants are also important, Nigerians deserve to know more about how they will solve the problems of the country. We need less of personality attack.”

A governorship aspirant in Abia State Chief Ikechi Emenike also said smear campaigns add no value to its sponsors. He told this reporter that the best form of campaigns are the ones that address issues rather than individual flaws of fellow contestants.

Eso said: “For the truth is, many in the present generation know elections as a battle to be waged with money, cudgels and thuggery. They have never known what electioneering campaign is. Electioneering is now by posters. Poster business becomes flourishing during elections. Funny captions are the only manifestos. And so, the citizen votes for the faces, which stare at him from poster boards and not for what the candidate would do if he gets elected.

“Some in the younger generation never know what it is to write manifestos. What obtains is the boast made by contestants of the amount of their property they have to sell to be able to get into the elections. When a candidate has to sell properties, just to be able to be elected, the question is - upon what is he supposed to spend the money? Will that process be to serve the country or one of an investment, upon which he would not only have to recover the principal but also profits? What further evidence does one need if such candidate after election fills his pockets with ill-gotten gains? Is the seed of corruption not already sown? My answer is - res ipsa loquitur.”

A Senior Special Assistant to Lagos State Governor on Public Affairs, Mr. Idowu Ajanaku, said no aspirant has rolled out any promising blue-print. He said United States President Barrack Obama’s clout was traceable to the blue prints he rolled out on how to solve the challenges in that country at that time.

“I have observed it that at a time like this, when Nigeria is at a cross road in terms of poverty in the land, lack of power supply, qualitative education and the like, presidential aspirants have not been able to come out with blue prints. This is because of PDP’s dominance in the country. It is believed that whoever gets the PDP’s presidential ticket is the next president. Obama gave a clear cut idea of what he would do on the meltdown in the United States. Even though he might not have achieved it all, he came up with a clear cut blue print.”

A group known as Forum for Purposeful Governance and Democratic Ethos has also expressed concern about the trend of the campaigns. The group’s leader, Mr. Femi Akomolede said nothing gives any hope of positive change in the next tenure.

Akomolede said: “People are not expecting anything different from the aspirants because they believe that whether they vote or not, some people will just announce themselves as president. So, we are organizing this event for them to know that people of this country are relevant. People are saying we have had enough.”

But in the midst of these mud-slinging campaigns, Nigerians have also been treated to some meaningful ones, which attempted to address germane issues. Atiku has done some through his campaign organisation addressing issues such as health, agriculture and so on.

Atiku, for instance, has said he will use primary and community-based initiatives to address the scourges of HIV/AIDS, malaria and infant mortality, among other measures to make the healthcare sector the best available.

Saraki, before dropping out of the race, also did some issues-based campaigns. But in all, Nigerians have been treated to more of the abuses, muck-racking and outright character assassination—leaving the real issues for the back bench.

Will the language of campaigns change soon? It does not seem so, especially now that the time table for the polls is out.

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