This piece is not an endorsement of incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari in any form, whatsoever. By extension, it is not aimed at belittling the potentials of Brand Buhari at this all-important electioneering period.

Rather, it is an end product of observations of happenings and developments in relation to Buhari’s time in office so far and the forthcoming general elections.

When elections beckon here, we are besieged by myriads of issues from bad politics to disregard for our reputational standing in the comity of nations. We saw what happened in Osun and Ekiti. The remnants have spilled into party primaries held this week. If you offer that bad politics has an overbearing influence on our democracy, I wouldn’t pick an argument.

Daily, citizens are treated to mendacity, sham and mudslinging ferried around by politicians in desperate attempts to score cheap political points and amass relevance through the ballot. This is the status quo in my Nigeria, your Nigeria where fake news is sought after to deal with political adversaries and win elections. Where is issues-based politics in all of these?

The country’s political climate is susceptible to the dictates of violence. If you are in doubt, check what transpired in Imo last Saturday at the governorship primaries of saint All Progressives Congress. The party got it all wrong too in Ogun. Gunshots, hoodlums frustrated efforts to conduct hitch-free governorship primaries. Perhaps violence is a feature of democracy.

Biko, I am not in the mood to argue; you can do that with your device or the paper you are reading. Let me add that the APC produced two governorship candidates in Delta – Prof. Pat Utomi and Chief Great Ogboru before it settled for the latter. Interesting!

Parallelism took centre stage at the governorship primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kano. Prodigal Rabiu Kwankwaso oversaw one, another group held another. This is one party that has managed to survive after it almost sunk in 2015. These political formations expect Nigerians to believe in their capacity to lead and govern. Jokers! That is what they are.

They expect the electorates to bequeath them with the instrument of power while they expect citizens to sit back and watch them do wonders in the life of the country. That is exactly what Buhari wants too. Power dey sweet belle. Power dey shak person.

Ask Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos. Dem do am strong thing on Tuesday.
Buhari wouldn’t mind another four years in office. He is flying the flag of the APC in the 2019 presidential elections. But his actions from leadership style to communication strategy state otherwise.

Mr. President has not been quite successful in projecting the achievements of his administration appropriately. In the midst of these, Buhari seems to have lost the qualities that gave him electoral victory in 2015.
PMB has been very discreet on feats recorded with his three point agenda – Security, Corruption and Economy. His media and publicity team have aggravated the situation. We don’t get to have him address us often with compassion and assurance. There is a fillable lacuna in the relationship between his government and citizens.

For a government that has been backlashed for its inability to live up to its billing, secrecy in terms of communicating policies and programmes is not the best of strategies. Settling for secrecy to address national issues is a major drawback of the APC-led Federal Government that has spent three years and five months out of its four-year mandate.
Let’s examine some of the setbacks in the communication strategy adopted by the Buhari administration.

Recently, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola was a guest on Your View, one of the flagship programmes of Lagos based Television Continental. But for that exclusive chat with Morayo Afolabi-Brown and co-hosts, one may not have been able to have a first-hand feel of what the FG is doing in terms of boosting the economic fortunes of the country through fitting road networks and infrastructure.

The Minister spoke about road projects and rehabilitation works in some states. These are ministries that are critical to our viability and existence- from individual to group progressions. But the pertinent question to ask at this point is: how often do this government come out to offer account of stewardship?

At a time the country needs empathy against the backdrop of distressing developments, Buhari lost another opportunity in his address on the commemoration of our 58th independence anniversary. The speech he delivered only reinforced the opaque administrative style adopted by his government.

That said, Mr. President is surrounded by people giving him problems. This is a function of his preference to accommodate them. But PMB must be duly informed that these people are threats to his re-election bid. Coupled with his efforts, governance has sloped further into suspicion, drama and malfeasances.

Citizens hold divergent views of this administration. Indifference and disconnection don make matters worse.

He admitted that his government is finding it difficult to get citizens to understand him when General Superintendent of the Deeper Bible Church, Pastor William Kumuyi paid him a courtesy visit at the Aso Villa on Monday. When you are surrounded by people who do not mean well for the collective good of the country, then it would be more difficult to bond with citizens.

Citizens want proofs of work done by this administration. Alas! Secrecy is what they get. Premising government and governance on the principles of fraternity is not helpful for democracy. This perhaps explains the decline in his acceptance and popularity in regions beyond his strongholds.

Brand Buhari is starved of reception from people who will sing his praises with honest tongues and beat drums on his side with sincere palms. I do not speak of some fellows in his circle. The mass of people in that circle are fair-weather fellows. They are insincere, uncommitted and corrupt.

Why wouldn’t he find it cumbersome to make people understand him and his government?

Needless delay that comes with Buhari’s response to matters of interest has done much damage to his brand personality. If he is acting on advice from certain quarters, then he needs to drop those advices. It is not a good strategy whatsoever.

The situation, yet again, underscores the need for political office holders to bring on board public relations execs to handle strategic communications on their behalf. Journalists can’t do this effectively; particularly those with no background in reputation management.

Buhari has a fantastic support base. Accepted. But he could bolster his support structure by substituting opaqueness with an open approach to governance.

PMB seriously needs to open up his government. Perhaps he could fare better in the South East come 2019 through this approach. This is one region that gave Buhari meagre votes in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 when he became Nigeria’s President at the fourth attempt.
Influencing citizens with information on plans and programmes, as and when due, may perhaps earn Buhari re-election in 2019.

It is a surefire strategy. His media and publicity team would do better and connect with citizens if they factor effective communication into their work plan.

You would have observed that the Ministry of Information and Culture superintended by Lai Mohammed and Voice of Nigeria (VON) have become so very engrossed in politics that they neglect their primary responsibility of informing the citizenry and the international community. The ineffectiveness of these organs has equally given impetus to the rise in disparaging comments about the government, the country and her people.

Fake news may continue to downplay the efforts of this administration when the organs of government that should push out information look the other way. People want to be informed jare.

When you are surrounded by people that add no value and bring your personality into disrepute, you let them go. This is what Buhari should do. His government has been hit adversely by bad elements. He needs sincere minds. Cabinet overhaul is not out of place to convince the electorates that he is worthy of a second term in office.

Refraining from running a government erected on secrecy will help his cause. Will he view governance from this perspective? Will he align with this trusty strategy to land a fresh mandate? Questions.


Read more: https://thenovita.com/2019-issues-and-buharis-chances/