In her characteristic fashion, she plunged every fibre of her being into the campaign. She mobilised every resource to push the mantra. And in a jiffy, the airwaves, social mediaย andย the conventionalย media, especially print,ย wereย on fireย with their newsย with theย slogan.ย It was powerful; it was forceful. Ironically, theย more people heard and listenedย to it, the moreย disenchantedย they appeared to be.
A few years later, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) under Mike Omeri launched a fresh campaign anchored on the slogan: Do The Right Thing. Yet the effort met with similar indifference by Nigerians whose attention it was meant to catch. Indeed Omeri NOA initiative fell flat on its face as he failed ย to correctly judge the mood of Nigerians with the poor reflexes they seemed to be getting from the government of the day on economy and their general well- being. This forced the question; Why?
The answer was not too far to locate. Thereย was an apparent disconnect in the campaign between the people and those in government. It failed to psyche up the masses andย they could not see or feelย why they should feel good orย key intoย the slogan. No sooner that the initiative was launched than it went into oblivion. It went with the enormous resources invested in it. Everything went down the drain.
The questions begging for answers; Whatย did weย learn fromย these moribund rebranding campaigns? What lessons have we brought to the table toย guide our policy makersย in their latestย attitudinalย change campaign?ย Theย initiative, launched in Abuja on Thursday 8 September 2016 ย has theme;ย Change Begins With Me.
It is good to galvanize the populace to be on the same page with the government in its various initiatives towards making Nigeria an utopianย stateย (if there is any such thing)ย in all its ramifications,ย be it political, social and economic. But from my observation,ย the people that should have been mobilized to buy into these projects have always beenย inadvertently left out. Hence they are oftenย deadย on arrival. The reasonย is not difficult to locate:ย our policy makersย loveย putting the cart before the horse.
Change must not be about mere slogans. As they say, talk is cheap. So, the architects of this mantra must show leadership by example. They must walk the talk. Thisย must be expressed throughย someย variations, including:
* Showingย strong leadership sensibility.
Even before President Buhari got to power,ย he hadย foreseen the enormity of the problems facing Nigeria and the Herculean task of changing the culture of governance. He mirrored this in anย interviewย he grantedย ThisDayย newspapersย in 2014ย during his electioneeringย campaigns, he said:
“The priority will have to put the country in order first.In attempting to put the country in order, it is going to be a terrible situation for whoever wins and I pity whoever succeeds President Jonathan, even if it were to be myself. But this is what we can do; the practical way to tackle corruption is to draw a line, because institutions have been compromised. We cannot go on the way we did in the military in 1983 to fight corruption. This time around, you cannot do it that way because most of the institutions have been compromised. The person you will dependย on as the auditor to go and check the CBN, maybe he has got some substantial part of the deal. These are facts on the ground. So,ย what you do is to persuade them to help toย amend it. ย And that part ofย the amendment is for the people to have attitudinal change to the ills of this country.”
However, no matter how hard he tries,ย President Buhari cannot do it alone. For the campaign to succeed, all hands must be on deck. Those charged with theย implementation of his initiatives must put on their thinking caps, and endeavour to march his paceย inย his efforts at pulling the country out of the current recession.ย This is one battle we must win for our country.
Olamiti a Media Consultant wrote from Abuja.
