LAGOS, July 8 (Reuters) - Facing censure at home and overseas for a perceived failure to protect civilians from violent Islamists, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has launched an international media offensive to try to turn the tide of public opinion in his favour.

But those efforts have backfired abroad, where many greet his defence with scepticism, and at home, where he was slated for hiring U.S. public relations (PR) firm Levick for $1.2 million, in what critics called a waste of money.

Jonathan, and Nigeria as a whole, have suffered a worsening image problem since Islamist militant group Boko Haram kidnapped more than 276 school girls from the northeast village of Chibok, Borno state, in mid-April. Over 200 remain in captivity.

The attack overshadowed Nigeria becoming Africa's biggest economy after a GDP rebasing in April, and its hosting of the World Economic Forum in May. Security is a major headache ahead of national elections in February that are likely to be the closest-fought since democracy returned in 1999.

An opinion piece by Jonathan in the Washington Post last month - in which the president wrote "nothing is more important than bringing home Nigeria's missing girls," but added that he had to "remain quiet" for their safety - drew open scorn.

Soon after, the Washington Post's Karen Attiah published a satirical send-up of Jonathan's op-ed. Her piece included lines such as: "Nothing is more important than stopping the machinations of Boko Haram, except maybe my desire to keep up appearances and show the international community that Nigeria was winning the war against the group."

Analyst Bismarck Rewane, CEO of Lagos-based consultancy Financial Derivatives, thinks the president's timing was wrong.

"That op-ed backfired partly because the negative narrative was still so strong," he told Reuters. "But often the PR guys advising want the upfront fees and don't care about the result."

Jonathan's media team declined to comment on their PR strategy. A presidency source confirmed Levick's contract but said such PR initiatives were standard practice for governments.

"All over the world governments engage PR firms and lobbyists to achieve certain objectives within a particular time frame," the source, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

In this case those objectives involve reversing months of damaging publicity over the Chibok girls' abduction, magnified by a #BringBackOurGirls Twitter campaign that drew in celebrities including Michelle Obama and Angelina Jolie.

In the past week Jonathan's articulate and Washington-savvy Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has toured the world doing press interviews, for example with CNN's Christine Amanpour.

These often include earnest assertions that the Nigerian president is "doing his best" to get the girls back.

Ultimately, the bad publicity is unlikely to doom Jonathan's 2015 re-election chances. In Nigeria, patronage can produce a ballot win more reliably than perceived performance, analysts say, as was proved in last month's governorship poll in southwestern Ekiti state.

There, incumbent Kayode Fayemi, a well-spoken reformer with a track record of improving services was ousted by a populist former governor from the ruling party whose team gave out tens of thousands of bags of rice to voters ahead of the poll.

"BATTERED IMAGE"

Jonathan's supporters and the army - the defense spokesman did not respond to a request for comment - see PR as a key part of the war against Boko Haram. They view each negative report on the security forces or president as a psychological victory to the "terrorists". And there have been a lot of them.

First the military was pilloried for not protecting the Chibok school or responding quickly enough to a distress call. Then the absence of information on the girls' whereabouts - and a bungled statement from the military briefly claiming to have rescued them from which it later edged away - worsened things.

Footage circulating showing Jonathan dancing at a political rally in the northern city of Kano shortly after the mass abduction didn't help, neither did comments from Jonathan's wife Patience, in which she publicly told the protesting parents of the abducted girls in the capital Abuja to "go back to Borno."

"No PR firm can save Jonathan's battered image," Jibrin Ibrahim, director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), a Nigerian NGO, wrote in the local Premium Times website. "Forget the public relations firm and concentrate on the task ... The government did nothing for over three weeks."

Jonathan's administration says that is unfair, arguing it faces an enemy that is mobile over a wide, remote area and with a track record of wanton killing of civilians, so any rushed rescue could end up in a bloodbath. But few are convinced.

"Best wishes to Levick, merely the latest in a long line of Western image consultants that Nigerian governments have been known to routinely engage for miracle-working purposes," popular blogger Tolu Ogunlesi wrote in local daily The Punch last week.

Ogunlesi told Reuters that "this time the stakes are so much higher. You're dealing with a major national embarrassment."

A weak response is to always deflect blame for Nigeria's problems onto foreign elements, Ogunlesi added, such as Jonathan describing Boko Haram as al Qaeda in West Africa.

REVERSED PERCEPTIONS

Ironically, many of the characteristics for which Jonathan is now being publicly vilified - a perceived indecisiveness and weakness in the face of a determined foe - were what initially attracted voters fatigued with decades of bullying strongmen.

His initial humility, quiet demeanor, apparent openness to listening and an unpolished manner of speaking may at first have won Nigerians over. Now they cringe when he mumbles on international TV.

"He was something refreshing at the beginning," Nigerian columnist Cheta Nwanze told Reuters. "But the office of the president is supposed to carry a lot of weight. Damage has been done by his being exposed to ridicule." (Additional reporting by Felix Onuah in Abuja; Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Anna Willard)

The reason I am commenting is the damage here is the ekitis seem to have done to their brand.One thing for sure, it is definitely going to be the last place in the SW where investor will ever choose to put their money .

I noticed that they mentioned Ekiti election as a basis for hope for JEG if he decide to go for second term and I think they are right. Elections are too damn unpredictable in Nigeria at this stage.

I believe the world will know if JEG decide to genuinely fight this terrorism scorch, let him start by letting the world know the sponsors if he is privy to who they are which I'm sure he is. Let the soldiers be treated right and their salaries/ allowances should be paid on time.

All we want is a peaceful country, the political/religious violence is just too much, everything has an elastic limit, let us not get to ours before the right thing is done.

I can't believe people are buying this Fayemi crap APC sold as an excuse to their failure.
The truth is that Fayemi did nothing both in terms of stomach infrastructure and real infrastructure, I don't believe Ekiti people are fools to vote out a performing governor.
Take Rivers for an example, when Odili was governor, he was moving from place to place giving widows rice, money, giving traditional rulers new cars every year, giving youths hefty cash to share amongst themselves, he did little in terms of infrastructure but at least he was distributing money around and his people loved him for that and voted him in for a second tenure.
Amaechi came in and stopped the distribution of money and food, the traditional rulers wanted to complain when they saw that they were no longer being given cars every year but they quickly noticed that the roads to their kingdoms were getting better and better and they no longer needed to change their cars every year, the widows wanted to complain of not receiving cahs and foodstuffs anymore but they observed that they were sending their children to standard government schools with world class facilities free of charge, with even uniforms and books paid for by the government, they realised that they could take their kids to a nearby government clinic and get proper health care free of charge, so they shut up. The youths wanted to complain about lack of cash handouts but they noticed that they were getting jobs because of the improved security and infrastructure in the state which attracted more investments and they could fend for themselves. They all ended up voting Amaechi overwhemingly for a second tenure.
Those are cases of the 2 type of infrastructures we have in Nigeria today, the people responded positively to both.
Fayemi did NOTHING in Ekiti, I dare anyone to prove me wrong!

@ the article

A spoon of sewage in a cup of wine and a cup of sewage mixed with a spoon of wine are both sewage!

Yoritshekiri: I can't believe people are buying this Fayemi crap APC sold as an excuse to their failure.
The truth is that Fayemi did nothing both in terms of stomach infrastructure and real infrastructure, I don't believe Ekiti people are fools to vote out a performing governor.
Take Rivers for an example, when Odili was governor, he was moving from place to place giving widows rice, money, giving traditional rulers new cars every year, giving youths hefty cash to share amongst themselves, he did little in terms of infrastructure but at least he was distributing money around and his people loved him for that and voted him in for a second tenure.
Amaechi came in and stopped the distribution of money and food, the traditional rulers wanted to complain when they saw that they were no longer being given cars every year but they quickly noticed that the roads to their kingdoms were getting better and better and they no longer needed to change their cars every year, the widows wanted to complain of not receiving cahs and foodstuffs anymore but they observed that they were sending their children to standard government schools with world class facilities free of charge, with even uniforms and books paid for by the government, they realised that they could take their kids to a nearby government clinic and get proper health care free of charge, so they shut up. The youths wanted to complain about lack of cash handouts but they noticed that they were getting jobs because of the improved security and infrastructure in the state which attracted more investments and they could fend for themselves. They all ended up voting Amaechi overwhemingly for a second tenure.
Those are cases of the 2 type of infrastructures we have in Nigeria today, the people responded positively to both.
Fayemi did NOTHING in Ekiti, I dare anyone to prove me wrong!

You are comparing ekiti to river state.A state with a monthly allocation less than amaechi's jet. River state has the pleasure of deciding what she wants to spend money on, Ekiti doesn't .you either do last century's programs or you tailor your economy toward the Economy of the future.
For instance , stomach infrastructure has turned delta state into a place that river state is totally owning.port harcourt used to be a village when compared to warri. In fact , Sapele used to be a boom town.you can be sure it will be totally found out once the oil runs out.Lagos would have totally lost out to Accra or even Cotonou if not for the revenue drive of tinubu /fashola.

oduastates:
You are comparing ekiti to river state.A state with a monthly allocation less than amaechi's jet. River state has the pleasure of deciding what she has to spend money on, Ekiti doesn't .you either do the last century programs or you tailor your economy toward the Economy of the future.
For instance , stomach infrastructure has turned delta state into a place that river state is totally owning.port harcourt used to be a village when compared to warri. In fact , Sapele used to be a boom town.Lagos would have totally lost out to Accra or even Cotonou if not for the revenue drive of tinubu /fashola.

So what did Fayemi do for his people apart from building a government lodge for himself?
Name them.
Remember all the talk was about how Fayemi concenterated on real infrastructure?
We want names now.
Ekiti people are not fools, I believe.

IN SUMMARY: JONATHAN IS A DAMAGED BRAND THAT IS BEYOND REPAIRS!

" In Nigeria, patronage can produce a ballot win more reliably than perceived performance..."

The above quote from the article says a lot about Nigerians; so unfortunate! The West is aware of our squalid nature like some of us had known before now. The outcome of Ekiti election, which some people think is victory for the people, is never a victory. The Ekiti people had really failed posterity and I dare say, time will vindicate those of us that believed this.

IdiatFF: " In Nigeria, patronage can produce a ballot win more reliably than perceived performance..."

The above quote from the article says a lot about Nigerians; so unfortunate! The West is aware of our unusual nature like some of us had known before now. The outcome of Ekiti election which some people think is victory for the people is real not. The Ekiti people had really failed posterity and I dare say, time will vindicate those of that believe this.

Jonathan can give people rice and build roads. he is the winner hands down. Do you know how much rice Adeshina's policies will make available for GEJ campaing next year.

Surely you already know its GEJ till 2019.

Forget all this Reuters story. Na APC dey sponsor these ones.

1United1: IN SUMMARY: JONATHAN IS A DAMAGED BRAND THAT IS BEYOND REPAIRS!

Not only that, that article actually indicts Nigerians as backwards, myopic, poorly educated and illogical when deciding their future.

2015 will be an election of conscience, as much as PDP have tried, they have failed in playing the religion card. Already, most people (even here on nairaland) see the PDP religious bandwagon as mad people, and thus do not respond to them.
For 6 years, GEJ failed to do anything tangible to curtail Boko Haram. He still doesnt have a clue on how to deal with it. I wonder how the clue will come with another 4 year mandate.Flogging a dead horse...

Yoritshekiri:
So what did Fayemi do for his people apart from building a government lodge for himself?
Name them.
Remember all the talk was about how Fayemi concenterated on real infrastructure?
We want names now.
Ekiti people are not fools, I believe.

Man I know this town more than even many ekitis who have never even step into that state in their life. Ado ekiti was like a farming settlement. In fact ikere would have made better capital cities at that time. From Ajilosun to poly junction, goats ,pigs chicken and ram used to with human being for right of way. The road (federal ) leading to ako ekiti turned from being a bad road to a gully erosion in those days. I am not from ekiti but I have been going to that town since I was a kid .The best part of town used to be on the road leading to state university. This was essentially a dead place.nothing to do but shag poly and Uni girls in their rented untainted room me , I room you.
Now , ado is beginning to look a place of power and administration with some of the conveniences of modern life. Also, the road leading into the hinterlands are no more dirt roads . This is what brings development.
Now , you are asking me what he did?
There used to be a thread on ekiti before nairaland crashed but I will not dwell on that.