If Campaign Billboards and Posters could win Elections

I saw this article and found it interesting. so, i decided to share it. It's written by Henry A. Angulu the chief Editor at TungaMediaNG.com.
Read it below:

The 2015 General elections in Nigeria have come and gone. The winners are basking in the euphoria of victory and planning ahead for the next four years while the losers are licking their wounds, counting their losses and strategizing ahead of another chance. But what are the lessons learnt from this hotly contested elections, particularly as it concerns the two giant parties - APC and PDP?

There is no gainsaying that Nigeria has never witnessed the kind of rigmarole and bad blood in the campaigns leading to this election. The spokespersons and Campaign Directors of the contending parties threw all kinds of bullets, made spurious allegations, charged the atmosphere in each other's camp and held the electorate spell bound with speculations of whether their candidates could turn the table and win the election squarely. One factor which was quite clear was the role money played in trying to sway the voters. A lot of money, in dollars and Naira were brazenly distributed and I can clearly discern that this scenario created a lot of bad blood even among close relatives as many pocketed Hugh amounts which were supposed to be distributed round. An interesting issue which caught my attention was the proliferation of campaign billboards, posters and various types of campaign materials deployed prior to the elections. It crossed my mind that if these materials could make a contestant win elections, then it could have been outright win for many. Let us examine this issue to analyse how this has impacted on voters in this elections.

Who are the actors concerned about assaulting our vision in selling their candidates willy-nilly? They are the various Party Campaign Publicity Committees set up at Federal and State levels, Corporate organisations, private business concerns, top businessmen and social networks with peculiar concerns, Transformation Agenda of Nigeria (TAN) and the contestants themselves.

The modes of the campaign materials range from billboards of various types and sizes, posters, handbills, stickers, lamp-post boards, banners, balloons, lapel pins and notepads. Other modes are vehicles of various types carrying painted photos of contestants, complete buildings painted with party colours or photos, cloths, shirts, wrappers, face caps, wristbands, phones, wristwatches electro-mechanical hand fans, key-holders and even packaged Rice of various sizes.

These materials are deployed in Abuja FCT, State Capitals and all towns, villages and hamlets all over the country. on roads, bridges, culverts and any available space such as constitute environmental nuisance. I recall that one contestant in Niger State where I live posted his materials on all roads leading in and out of the State and took over all the lamp-posts in Minna, the State Capital. I assume the same scenario would have played out in all the other State. This brings to mind the role of the relevant Regulatory Authority which in this case is the Advertising Practitioners Council Of Nigeria (APCON), which was supposed to have wielded the big stick and applied the rules governing incessant and uncontrolled deployment of election materials all over the country. The Lagos State Signage Authority which tried to apply the rules encountered opposition from the rival Party in the elections.

Viewing all of the above, one can imagine the large cost involved in this deployment. One news report indicated that prior to March 28 election, political parties had spent over N4.9 billion on advertising costs alone, giving no breakdowns. According to data gathered from different advert agencies and reports from regulatory bodies, the Print media raked in about N1.382 billion, showing that APC spent N332.503 million while PDP spent N1.049 billion for its Presidential elections. These figures may not be true reflection of actual amounts spent by the parties, but whatever is the case, it is clear that such amounts can provide water through boreholes to many villages in the country that presently suffer from lack of water.

One thing is quite clear here. Elections are won not through billboards and posters but through performance, well thought out programmes and manifestoes, through acceptance and ability to provide necessary infrastructure that will lift the ordinary Nigerian from pangs of insecurity, poverty and lack of employment. We have come a long way and need to put an end to wastage of money on posters and billboards and desecration of our environment. This should be a lesson for political actors in the 2019 Nigerian Elections.