The first part of the 2019 general elections held last week as
Nigerians trooped out to vote their presidential, senatorial and House
of Representatives candidates across the country. The second part of the
election, in which Nigerians are expected to vote their governorship
and states’ Houses of Assembly candidates, is scheduled for next week.
The next electoral contest scheduled for March 9 would bring to an
end several months of intrigues, name-calling, propaganda, networking
and alliance formation across party lines. Politicians on their part
adopted different slogans, slangs and street lingo to connect with the
people and canvass support. These electioneering activities have
informed as much as they have entertained Nigerians.
Many Nigerians would not forget in a hurry some of the powerful
imageries that characterised electioneering and party politics in this
election. PREMIUM TIMES highlights some of the dominant imageries:
1. “O to ge”
The “ O to ge” (meaning ‘Enough Is Enough’) campaign mantra is by
far the most potent political mantra in the 2019 general election.
Adopted by Kwara State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as
its campaign catchphrase, the slogan is largely believed to have
contributed to the fall of Senate President Bukola Saraki and his allies
in the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Although there are conflicting accounts of how the “O to ge” mantra
was birthed in Kwara, the dominant narrative is that it was coined by
Islamic gospel artiste, Ibrahim Labaeka. Mr Labaeka, a member of the
Islamic Musicians Association of Nigeria (ISMAN), is a popular Ilorin
artiste whose musical works was used to rally voters toward the
anti-Saraki cause in Kwara.
In Ilorin, the chant of “O to ge” is often followed by “Lilo le e
lo”, meaning “We will ensure you are chased away”. Aside that the
campaign slogan led to the fall of Mr Saraki, it also swept away all PDP
aspirants across Kwara State. It has since taken a life of its own
outside Kwara and now being adopted by people in other states, including
Lagos.
2. 4 plus 4 – “NextLevel”
While “O to ge” is a campaign slogan rendered by words of mouth,
the “4 plus 4” is a non-verbal use of sign language. It’s essentially
meant to convey the desire to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s
re-election bid in 2019. The sign is done by spreading one’s two hands
apart, with all of one’s fingers but the thumb raised while displaying
both hands. The two separate four fingers displayed conspicuously are
representative of each of the four-year periods of the two terms the
Nigerian constitution stipulates for the president.
Mr Buhari himself popularized the sign last year when he appeared
before the National Assembly to present the 2019 budget. The sign was
however trailed by controversies as some Nigerians, among them
opposition leaders, suggested that the sign was “occultic”, a charge
many pro-Buhari commentators promptly dismissed.
The “4 plus 4” campaign sign goes hand in hand with occasional
chant of “NextLevel” among Mr Buhari’s supporters. NextLevel is the
campaign roadmap of the ruling APC, launched in November 2018.
With the victory of Mr Buhari in penultimate Saturday’s election,
it is safe to consider the sign as one of the most potent of the
election season.
3. #TakeItBack
One election slogan that would not be forgotten easily by
Nigerians, especially those of the younger generation, is #TakeItBack.
It was popularised by publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore. Mr
Sowore contested for the presidency on the platform of the African
Action Congress (AAC) after he emerged the party’s candidate
unchallenged on October 6, 2018, at the AAC’s national convention.
Mr Sowore, a reknown activist, is the convener of #TakeItBack
movement, with the core philosophy of taking the nation back from those
who plunder its resources. Mr Sowore lost the presidential election to
APC’s Muhammadu Buhari.
4. Atikulated
Shortly after former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar emerged
candidate of the opposition PDP at its convention in PortHarcourt in
2018, the internet was awash with posts and comments expressing support
for his candidature. Across Cyber Nigeria, especially on Twitter, the
hashtag #Atikulate was projected to campaign for the PDP flagbearer and
wish him well.
A subtle campaign message was also launched to show that Mr
Abubakar was more articulate and has better grasp of the issues plaguing
Nigerian than his major challengers, especially Mr Buhari of the APC.
It was not surprising to hear Nigerians say that they are #Atiku-lated,
in reference to throwing their support for Mr Abubakar, widely known
among Nigerians as “Atiku”.
5. Obidiently
Used alongside the #Atikulated slogan is #Obi-diently. When paired
together, it was said as “Obidiently Atikulated”. It was a campaign
catchphrase coined with the name of Mr Abubakar’s running mate and
former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi.
With the uncertainty that clouded the security situation in the
South East, the slogan was also used to encourage voters in the region
to come out and cast their votes.
6. Ortomatic
Another campaign catchphrase that was popular in the 2019
electioneering is #Ortomatic, popularized by supporters of Benue State
Governor, Samuel Ortom. Mr Ortom defected from the ruling All
Progressives Congress into the PDP in 2018. This was at the height of
the herdsmen-farmers’ clash that claimed numerous lives in Benue and
other parts of the country.
Upon his defection, some old-time PDP members ruled out possibility
of the party granting the governor automatic ticket. But supporters of
the governor dismissed the charge and drummed support for him. Mr later
would later emerge the party’s flagbearer and his campaign supporters
promptly adopted the Ortomatic mantra, perhaps to affirm that the
governor’s re-election bid would be seamless.
7. ‘O tun ya’
When the “O to ge” mantra began in Kwara, it was not given much
attention by the PDP. But when it got to its crescendo, with youths and
non-partisan adults willingly popularising it, the PDP promptly coined
its own slogan to dilute the popularity of the APC’s catchphrase. Since
they were canvasing for continuity, they adopted “O tun ya”, meaning
“Let’s do it once again”. But as events would show, the “O tun ya”
mantra did little to save the party from the impending tsunami as all of
its candidates in Kwara lost the election.
It however remains unknown whether the party would bounce back in the forthcoming governorship election on Saturday.
8. “O Penkele”
Adegoke Adelabu, the late Ibadan politician, popularized the
catchphrase “peculiar mess” which his supporters in Ibadan corrupted as
“Penkelemesi”. Decades after his death, Bayo Adelabu, a scion of the
Adelabu family, has resurrected the catchphrase, adopting it as campaign
slogan. “O Penkele” is the refrain of his supporters whenever issues of
electioneering and Oyo State 2019 governorship election are raised.
9. OtogeLagos
Shortly after the fall of Senate President Bukola Saraki in Kwara,
which signaled the success of the “O to ge” movement, some opposition
elements in Lagos politics adopted the slogan and launched what they
called “OtogeLagos”. The new ‘movement’ was apparently opposed to the
political dynasty of Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos and
National Leader of the All Progressives Congress. Mr Tinubu is believed
to wield enormous influence in the politics of who becomes Lagos
governor and he is instrumental to the ouster of incumbent governor
Akinwunmi Ambode and emergence of Babajide Sanwo-olu as APC flagbearer.
“OtogeLagos” has also been linked to the PDP candidate in Lagos,
Jimi Agbaje. It however has been criticised has being unoriginal and
untimely, apart from being championed mostly by people from a section of
the country. Since its birth, the politics of Lagos has once again
taken an ethnic dimension, resulting in name-calling, squabbles and
tension among Lagos residents of different ethnic identities, especially
on the internet.
10. Sanwo-Eko
Sanwo-Eko is the adopted campaign slogan of Mr Sanwo-Olu, APC
flagbearer in Lagos. It was popularised during the party primaries last
year and has since been adopted by his supporters and other party
chieftains. Sometimes, supporters of Mr Sanwo-Olu adopt an abridged
version of the slogan, “Sanwo-e!”
11. Omi Tuntun
PDP governorship flagbearer in Oyo State Seyi Makinde has been a
household name in Oyo politics. But he has tried to distinguish himself
by identifying as being of the new breed. Hence, the adoption of the
name “Omi Tuntun”––meaning a breath of fresh air. Although the campaign
slogan is not relatively new to Oyo people, it has generated
considerable interest in the last few months, placing Mr Makinde among
the major contenders for the governorship seat.
In 2015, when he contested on the platform of the Social Democratic
Party (SDP), Mr Makinde adopted same slogan. He is now widely
considered a major contender in the election.
12. “Ambo!”
Until his governorship ambition hit a brickwall, “Ambo” was the
campaign catchphrase of Akinwumi Ambode, the outgoing governor of Lagos
State. Mr Ambode met his waterloo when the APC members in Lagos adopted
Mr Sanwo-Olu as their flagbearer in the party primaries held last year.
Before then, the slogan had generated interest among supporters of Mr
Ambode in the party, especially in Epe, his hometown. “Ambo” is a Yoruba
word which means “We are coming”.
On occasions when the governors supporters had the luxury of time
or space, it was spelt in full as “Ambo lekan si”––meaning “We are
coming one more time”––to popularize the reelection bid of the governor.
It was however cut short by Lagos APC members who denied the governor a
return ticket.
13. #GrowNigeria
In the days before the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the PDP
presidential flagbearer, a campaign slogan popularized on Twitter was
#GrowNigeria. It was birthed by handlers of Senate President Bukola
Saraki. In his movements across Nigeria, Mr Saraki said at the time that
he was spreading the message of how to #GrowNigeria. Every campaign
message on the internet, especially Twitter, at the time contained the
#GrowNigeria hashtag. Mr Saraki would later lose the ticket to Mr
Abubakar and returned to pick the senatorial ticket in his native Kwara
State, where he lost penultimate Saturday.
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Source: PREMIUM TIMES
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