By Idris Katib
No Nigerian has so been recently disparaged as Asiwaju Bola Tinubu especially since he declared his intention to contest for the coveted seat of Nigerian president.
However, I have observed in amazement that the more his opposition disparage the man, the stronger his presidential ambition becomes.
In Advertising, if a target audience hisses or pokes their nose at your message, they have already seen your message and this doesn’t prevent the brand from moving forward . Exactly what the opposition is doing to Tinubu. He is gaining more ground by these disparagements.
As an image practitioner, I recommend that the opposition should provide a viable alternative to Tinubu rather than disparage him. Disparagement will not win election.Only strategy will.
The opposition should look away from Tinubu and concentrate on their own strategy.
A good example readily comes to mind. Ayinde Barrister and Ayinla Kollington were competitors in Fuji music. They had their followers and fans. But the difference was that Kollington would always wait for Barrister to release his album before he released his own to disparage what Barrister sang in his album.Without knowing, Kollington was further popularising Barrister’s music as he would usually make indirect or direct reference to the contents of Barrister’s music.
It didn’t come as a surprise to analysts that when Barrister passed on, Kollington’s music went extinct with the former as he (Kollington) had no competitor to disparage any more.
While Barrister’s music remains evergreen till date.This is a lesson in history.
To many, Bola Tinubu is a towering billboard the targeted and untargeted audiences cannot afford to look away from, although they have a choice to do so. Millions of hisses and nosepoking will not change the message in the minds of prospective targets.
Bola Tinubu is well aware that contesting for Nigeria’s presidency is like contesting for Olympics which will take an athlete who knows their onions at least eight years of consistent preparation and training to get a medal.
Jagaban has done his homework, preparing, toiling, training, jogging, planning and strategising from the grassroots to the national while he is never distracted from putting his eyes on ball.
On the contrary those opposiing his ambition are busy following his progression while the competition is less than 12 months
_Idris Katib is a public affairs expert and can be reached via [email protected]_
