Edo 2020: Baselessness Of Campaign Of Calumny -By Isaac Asabor

There have always been expectations, with the commencement of every gubernatorial electioneering in Edo State. At the dawn of every campaign ahead of gubernatorial election in the State, the collective wish of the people has always been that it will be different from previous ones in past political dispensations. Worthy of mention in this context is that Edolites, by each passing political dispensation thought gubernatorial flag bearers will offer intelligent, practical solutions to the challenges beleaguering the State, and emphasize what they will do when elected to power. But alas! They never did. In ongoing electioneering campaign, only an ignoble few among the 14 candidates that would be contesting the September 19 election have told Edolites what they would be capable of doing when given the opportunity to realize their respective dream. Rather, they have mischievously been hammering on the peccadilloes of their opponents. And expectedly, Edolite; both at home and in diaspora are disappointed as they were wont to at every political dispensation. No matter how earnest and well-intentioned a gubernatorial campaign begins, by the time it approaches the finish line, it usually assumes an atmosphere of heated campaign of calumny where aspirants and their supporters resort to the use of gutter language. At the moment, Edolites are witnessing the stage where campaign billboards of an opponent are been pulled down by a somewhat threatened aspirant.

Worthy of mention in this context is the sustained campaign of falsehood and distortion of facts aimed at discrediting the person and competence of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the gubernatorial flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State, and who presently basks in the euphoria of populism and wide acceptability ahead of the September 19 gubernatorial election in the State.

Without any scintilla of hyperbole, the literarily machinery of the ongoing electioneering is unarguably been greased by “gutter language”, the kind of politicking that focuses on character assassination, which usually characterizes the State’s political campaigns to the detriment of issue-based politics.

For the sake of clarity, Ize-Iyamu’s no doubt became vulnerable to smear campaign when both those that can be reckoned with in the State and those that can be considered to be “political mosquitoes” literarily began to feast on the pool of footages of what the former governor of the State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole said against him in 2016 ahead of the gubernatorial election then while campaigning for the incumbent governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki. However, the former governor has apologized to the people of Edo State for supporting Obaseki to emerge as the state governor in 2016.

Like a macabre chess game, the battle for the soul of Edo State is no doubt becoming messier by each passing day as politicians opposed to Ize-Iyamu’s candidacy have been adopting every trick in the game of campaign of calumny to pull him down.

To the view of this writer and other Edolites, the kind of electioneering messages that the electorates need at the moment ahead of the upcoming gubernatorial election is a positive campaign in which aspirants primarily focus on relevant issues, their own views, their own experiences, and their own virtues, without attacking their opponent in an attempt to gain votes. It should be noted that, in contrast to positive campaigns, a negative campaign is one where a candidate uses attack ads and rhetoric to deliberately frame his opponent as foolish, inexperienced, irresponsible, disconnected, or evil as a means of presenting him or herself as a more desirable alternative to said opponent.

In as much as some vocal and tacit supporters of campaign of calumny may argue that there is nothing wrong with the mischievous mode of communication and that it is not new in politicking, this writer is highly disposed to massage their collective ego by telling them that negative campaigns started as far back as Cicero and the Roman Republic, and that in the United States, specifically, “smear campaigns have a long and dishonorable tradition, all the way back to the first contested American presidential election in 1800.

There is no denying the fact that the ongoing electioneering has been the worst in politicking in Edo State as the kind of smear campaign and mudslinging that are being splashed on aspirants, particularly Ize-Iyamu are unprecedented. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is the worst the State has ever experienced because of the harshness, fear appeals, lying and distortion in attack spots. At the moment, pulling down and consequent destructions of billboards appears to be in vogue.

At this juncture, it is germane to ask if the media team of the incumbent governor that has no doubt developed obsessive penchant for campaign of calumny has ever stopped to review their campaigns to determine whether or not such methods are civil and more or less effective than simply sticking to their own message and running a positive campaign. This is germane when logically reviewed as basic rules and trends in human psychology, anecdotal evidence, and the evidence amassed by social scientists regarding campaign of calumny or smear campaign will come to fore. Communication experts are of the view that a candidate will do better at the ballot box as a result of positive campaigning than they will if they continuously perforate their own campaigns with emphasis on their opponent’s flaws. The foregoing is an “Expo” to those that erroneously see campaign of calumny as communication strategy.

In fact, seeing through the former governor, Adams Oshiomhole’s apology that he made a mistake in 2016 by railroading the incumbent governor to Osadebey Avenue, the fact that campaign of calumny deprive the electorates the opportunity of being governed by the leader that shares their expectations cannot be denied.

There is no denying the fact that the electorates in this political dispensation naturally prefer positive aspirants like Ize-Iyamu to negative ones. The electorates will naturally respond better to an aspirant like Ize-Iyamu than the one whose trump card is merely smear campaign. Logically, then, the ideal strategy for any aspirant in the ongoing electioneering would be to make his campaign as positive and as cordial as possible. It is difficult to believe that our politicians in this age are totally unaware of these principles as so many campaigns in the State at the moment are built around rhetoric of smear campaign, yet it remains an indisputable fact that many politicians could employ a great deal more cordiality and professional courtesy in their campaigns.

At this juncture, it suffices to opine that smear campaign is not what Edolites need from the aspirants ahead of the September 19 gubernatorial election. What Edolites, who are invariably the electorates in this context need, is that political parties and their gubernatorial flag bearers should propagate issue-based campaign during this period, and eschew the resort to castigations or personalization in their campaign. They should not be mindless of the fact that electioneering period is the time for contesting candidates and political parties to freely sell themselves to the electorates. The 14 aspirants that will participate in the race in the State should begin to tell the electorates the substance of their respective manifesto and desist from focusing on castigations and hate speech.

Smear attacks cannot be said to have had a decisive influence on the course of political history, but they may blight the careers of individual politicians and inflict intangible injury on constituencies and electorates at large. Not only that, smearing is diametrically opposed to the principles of fair play, and to a large extent degrades the profession of politics and encourages popular contempt for politicians. Sometimes it generates political animosities of such intensity as to hamper the subsequent acceptability of an affected candidate.

To me, there is need for contestants in the September gubernatorial election to guard against resorting to smear campaign as it may lead to violence in due course. There was no reason to resort to anything negative that would eventually affect everybody. To those who understand the ethno-history of Edo State, they will agree with this writer that all of us are in one way or the other related. It’s therefore needless to engage in campaign of calumny or continue to spread fake news. Elections will come and go, but Edo will remain. At this juncture, it is expedient to ask, “Should we, as brothers and sisters, remain as one or should we watch our Edo degenerate to a State that is infested with hatred and distrust? This is certainly not what we should desire for our State that is abundantly endowed by God to make us prosper as brothers and sisters and our brothers keepers. How shall we see one another after an election campaign so richly built with hate, bitterness and indeed venom, all in the name of winning the election?