By Linus Aleke
It was a rainy evening and the author just arrived from a press conference, organized by Africado Foundation to commemorate the 2022 International Youth Day, in Abuja.

But while, labouring to put together the news report, before the timeline for submission of stories for the day elapse, the two guys and a lady who sat at a table of three, opposite the writer, were sipping their wine and Arabian tea, and at the same time, consumed in an internecine argument.

One of the guys thundered in a blaring voice that attracted the attention of many, who are trying to purge selves of the stress of the day’s hustling.

He said, “Paradise Cruise is the most sophisticated, big, and the best entrainment outfit in the whole of this neighbourhood and beyond. Its influence extends to Asokoro, Gugbo, Nyanya, Karu, Jukowyi, Kurudu, Karishi Orozo, etc, in FCT, and Mararaba, Aso, One Man Village, Ado, New Nyanya, Masaka, and up to Keffi in Nasarawa state.

The pretty young ebony lady in their midst interjected, almost immediately, asking, “What of Monaco Extreme, Picasso, Frankvile, Ibiza, Zimbabwe, etc. Have you not gone to these places to hang out?

Where is the sophistication here? If not because I had known you for a very long time, I would have just concluded that you are a new entrant in this environment. Maybe you are not used to sitting out with friends after work”.

The above counter perspective was accompanied by mischievous laughter that greeted her brief but brisk interjection. The laughter, like palm oil, also spread like wide fire, amongst the fun seekers who had congregated to catch fun, on this rainy evening.

However, the thunderous laughter, which, drew the cutin on the debate, also signalled the birth of another argument. Interestingly, the new topic drew the attention of the writer, not just because it was political but because it captured the very essence of this topic under scrutiny.

With the story already sent, he gave rapt attention to the argument. The tall handsome young man whose name was not easily identified took the first savour in the argument that drew the attention of almost all the fun seekers and the staff of the relaxation spot.

He said, “Aside from the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), and former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, and his running mate, Sen. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, who had been consistent in telling Nigerian electorates, how they intend to rescue the country from the political precipice, economic downturn, death of infrastructure and worsening security threats, the rest are busy with a campaign of calumny, mudslinging, hate speech, incitement of violence, cyber tantrum and amplifying Nigeria’s fault lines.

“If it is not that Obi cannot win the election, as he lacks political structures across the federation that will help him garner the needed votes that will lead to victory at the poll, it will be that the candidate of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Sen. Bola Tinubu does not have verifiable credentials, amongst other scandals. How does this toxic campaign add value to the electioneering?

This is not the kind of things Nigeria needs now, as a country. Our economy has collapsed, and no place is safe any longer, including the seat of power, Abuja. The country is on the verge of collapse, and those jostling to succeed Buhari are not telling us how they intend to rescue the country from imminent collapse”.

In reply, “Will you shut up your mouth,” the person sitting next to him fired back almost immediately.

He averred, “You don’t understand politics very well, you are rooky in politics and that explains why you are thinking in this fashion. In political marketing, we don’t sell our strategies and vision for the country first, we try to de-market our opponents first.

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“That is what Atiku and Tinubu are doing to the Labour Party (LP), Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi. In any case, Obi is also doing the same subtly, using his army of unruly social media supporters in cyberspace.
“Obi’s supporters are second to none when it comes to the campaign of calumny, hate speech, threats, and mudslinging of any citizen who does not share in their ‘Obi-dient’ movement. A veteran journalist, Mr Sam Omatseye recently wrote a very toxic opinion titled, ‘Obituary,’ and published in the Nation newspaper.

“He got his hands burnt for expressing his opinion on Obi’s aspiration to govern Nigeria, as he cried out, almost immediately, that supporters of the Labour Party Candidate were threatening him. Earlier, the controversial Reno Omokri equally raised alarm over the threat to life, in the hands of Obi’s army of unruly supporters on social media, after criticising Obi in his writings.

Propaganda is not only a soft weapon of warfare but politics, as well. What else do you expect, after all, the campaign has not kicked off officially, therefore, what is happening is in order?”

The Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Okechukwu Isiguzoro said that the toxic campaign on social media, ahead of the 2023 elections, by supporters of candidates of major political parties has its advantages and disadvantages.

He, however, cautioned against comments that are capable of derailing the nation’s hard-earned democracy.

The Ohanaeze Scribe who spoke to ThisNigeria in a telephone interview said: “Candidates of all the major political parties should ensure that their campaign is issue-based, as the campaign begins on 28 according to INEC time table for 2023 campaign.

The use of uncouth and inciting language currently polluting the social media space in Nigeria is an evil wind that will do us no good if not urgently checked. The internet has temporarily turned into a battlefield for supporters of the Labour Party Candidate and others. When we evaluate some of the things they write on social media, it is not out of place, as the country is currently plagued with insecurity, poverty, unemployment, ASUU strike, the continued fall of Naira, and collapse of the economy amongst, several others.

While we don’t encourage supporters to hit up the polity, we should also not close our eyes to the positives. Our major concern should centre on the premise that the outburst by these armies of supporters on social media should not derail our hard-earned democracy. Everybody should abide by the rules and ensure that their comments are issue-based and not hate speech, incitement of violence and mudslinging, weaved in religious and ethnic sentiments”.

Isiguzoro further posited, “The electoral umpire must, first of all, assert itself as an independent umpire. This is so because when the head is rotten, the body will be nothing to write home about. INEC must consistently remind the political parties and their supporters of the dos and don’ts of electioneering campaigns, by calling their attention to the provisions of the law through consistent advocacy. Secondly, religious leaders are very influential.
“So, INEC must partner with them to push for the campaign of peace instead of a campaign of calumny. And finally, the civil society organizations also have a huge role to play in ensuring that our democracy is not derailed”.

Giving credence to the thought that electioneering is synonymous with the de-marketing of products in the marketing world, a retired Professor of Political Science at the University of Ibadan, Femi Otubanjo said one objective of a campaign is to make an opponent worthless and less appealing to the electorate.

Otubanjo who is currently, a Professor of International Politics at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos, told our correspondent in an exclusive chat that the only thing that is unacceptable in a political campaign is a fabrication of lies against an opponent.

He said, “Campaign is trying to discredit your opponent. In a political democratic setting, a campaign is de-marketing, the word used in the marketing sector is to de-market your opponent. To make him worthless before those who want to elect him. So, if people are talking about one candidate or the other, the idea is to de-market.

“You cannot go into a democratic election and begin to appreciate the fact that your opponent is a degree holder or that he is experienced in governance, no, your job is to undermine anything that looks like an advantage to your opponent.

“We have an example in the United States, a country we have copied copiously in our democracy. We saw what happened during the campaign between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, although it was unacceptable, Trump elevated the campaign to the level of abusing the opponents directly.

“He did it during the primary elections and later on, at the national level when he was insulting Hilary Clinton openly and he did that with Biden too. Unfortunately, it is the nature of competitive elections. People say all kinds of things about themselves. In the past, it use to be taboo to use personal abuse or even to be vulgar but gradually, society has become a little more liberal about the kind of things we can say about our opponents.

“So, I don’t envisage that any negative thing, like crisis or war in the extreme scenario, will come out of it. The peak of the campaign will come and even families will argue with each other, but will not fall apart, they will come back, settle and enjoy themselves together. A campaign is a campaign and it will come with ugly statements and ugly revelations.

“What they do in other places is to continue to dig and look for a secret that you are hiding, either your illegitimate child or your registered business that people are not aware of or somebody that you may have killed in the past. It is legitimate to bring them out, what you don’t do is fabricate lies against your opponent.”

When asked about the dangers of the above on a fragile democracy like ours, as well as how this toxic campaign can help the electorate make an informed decision on the best candidate that will move the country forward.

Otubanjo averred, “But the campaigns have not started, it is when it starts that they will begin to tell us how they are going to lead us out of the wood. The campaign starts officially on the 28, or there about.

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“So, those things that we are reading now are from supporters on social media particularly. They are not from the candidates, the candidates have been a little bit careful with the way they are talking about themselves. When you see the candidate being quoted, you find that it is one of the close aid that is talking, I had not heard of abuses from the candidates themselves. Mr Peter Obi has not said anything nasty about Tinubu or Atiku or vice versa but the debate is raging.

“The abuses are being exchanged at the social media level. One of the great differences in this election is the massive mobilisation of the internet. The internet has become a critical element in our elections, which was not there before. In the past, you have to go to the campaign ground to abuse your opponent and your opponent will also mobilize his supporters at the other end and abuse you. But now, the abuse is un-abating because people are writing every minute and hour, and the internet is there for them nonstop. Those abuses will go on, the people who are abusing themselves don’t even know each other, they don’t live in the same place.

“So, the chances of those abuses metamorphosing into the physical exchange is not high. I don’t think people should attach too much importance to what you had described as a campaign of calumny. It is only when people start mobilizing for violence on the internet, such as mobilizing people against the forth coming election, that we would have cause to worry, but that has not happened yet”.

In a brief chat with ThisNigeria in Abuja, the National Coordinator, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA), Mr. Emmanuel Onwubiko, also expanded the debate by condemning PDP and APC for hiring those whose stock in trade is the use of indecent language, as campaign spokespersons.

He specifically, called out the junior minister of Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo, former Minister of Aviation, Fani Kayode, and former lawmaker, Senator Dino Melaye.

He expressed disappointment in the way the security agencies handled the reckless and irresponsible allegations of attempted self-assassination on the LP candidate, Obi, which was credited to Keyamo.

According to him, “I think the most offending party in the use of hate speech to de-market other candidates is the ruling APC, the party in power. They started by appointing a junior minister as a campaign spokesperson for the APC candidate.

“The cabinet-level appointees are paid with taxpayers’ money. How can such a person who is paid by the public be speaking for the candidate of the ruling party, in a contest that has no fewer than 18 presidential candidates? This kind of aberration is quite pathetic.”