Back in September 2014, I wrote an article titled ‘How not to campaign for Goodluck Jonathan’. It was a reaction to the offensive #BringBackGoodluck2015 slogan by a group of pro-President Jonathan campaigners. That parody of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign was roundly condemned by everybody with a conscience. Even the president called it “offensive and repugnant”. That however came after The Washington Post had written a stinging editorial, calling the campaign one of the most politically incorrect ever.
A few weeks to the presidential election of February 14, some people have come up with more bizarre campaign strategy for President Goodluck Jonathan. One had always suspected that the promise of issue-based campaign by all the parties involved in election was a ruse, but whoever thought it would get to a stage where death and disease will become campaign strategies?
Not to put too fine a point to it, the advert by Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, suggesting that the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, may die if elected president is an all-time low, even for a man with Fayose’s reputation. The offensive advert, published on Monday, January 19, had pictures of General Murtala Mohammed, General Sani Abacha and President Umaru Yar’Adua all of whom died in office as Nigerian leaders. There is also a picture of General Buhari with a question mark on his face with the message “enough of state burials”.
Nothing Fayose does shocks people anymore. He has since lost his shock value. The person who should be worried is President Jonathan who is flying the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag in the Valentine’s Day election. That death wish advertorial has not only won sympathy for Buhari, it has done incalculable damage to the president’s campaign. It is bad enough that the governor is a distinguished leader of the PDP to whom immense respect and affection is accorded, having him on the presidential campaign committee says a lot about the mindset of the party.
In the said advertorial, Fayose pointed out that all the Nigerian heads of state that died in office were from the North West. With Buhari also from that geo-political zone, there is a morbid suggestion that death stalks that part of the country. He didn’t stop at that. Quoting from the Bible (Deuteronomy), he said Nigerians have the choice of life and death. At 72, he reasoned that Buhari is living on borrowed time. The people should therefore vote wisely by electing Jonathan. It probably occurred to him that by quoting the Bible to illustrate the death of Muslims of a certain region, he was stoking both religious and ethnic violence; but Fayose is beyond care.
Predictably, there was collective outrage over the advertorial. Even those who were indifferent to Buhari were offended at what was clearly in extreme bad taste. But Fayose showed how sorry he was via a statement from his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, in which he said ‘’I wish to refer to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who former President Olusegun Obasanjo claimed was hale and hearty to lead this country and subsequently took ill and died”. While claiming not to have a death wish for Buhari, he accused APC of playing cheap politics by covering his alleged health issues.
Not bothered by the justifiably harsh criticism of the Monday advert, Fayose came out with another on Wednesday saying that at 72, Buhari was too old to lead Nigeria. Making reference to a statement by Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, that the PDP governorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje (57), can’t handle the rigours of office, Fayose insisted that the retired General is past his sell by date. You may be tempted to think there is no better way of spending Ekiti money. Of course, Fashola goofed with that statement on Agbaje. But if performance, respect and presence of mind are critical factors in leadership, Buhari is better qualified than some people in their 50s. He may not be able to jog around the National Stadium or do a photo-op on the treadmill, but he is more mentally agile and controlled than many half his age. Besides jumping from a moving bus and other activities that require physical strength, there is precious little that Fayose has over Buhari, a man who has spent his life pummelling and disciplining his body.
The person who should really be worried is Jonathan. Fayose has nothing to lose because people have learnt not to put anything past him. As it was with the #BringBackGoodluck2015 campaign, some are already saying the death wish advert is the hand of Fayose and voice of Aso Rock. The tepid denial of the advert is not helpful for a president preaching non-violence during elections. Coming a few days after Jonathan led other presidential candidate to sign the Abuja Peace Accord, that advert could not have been published a worse time.
With eggs in its face, the PDP had to issue a statement which reads in part: “If we wanted to say something like that, we will say it without any kind of apology; but of course we will never say that because we believe in the sanctity of life. Age is not a function of how long you will live. It is important that we recognise the fact that age is not an indication of how long somebody will live.”
APC sees it differently. According to the party, the denial is “merely a case of a master dissociating himself from the errand boy after the message had backfired”.
Fayose’s adverts and other inflammatory statements have become counter-productive. All the talk about death, cancer, foreign medical trip and certificate are winning unexpected support for Buhari. They have become propaganda tools for APC which itself does not smell of roses.
There should be a limit to campaign of calumny. The thing is that the Ekiti State governor has no problem crossing the line.
