4th October, 2010
The greatest salesman is not the “expert†who sells a good and high quality product to his clientele but he who re-brands and repackages a bad product and gives it an attractive exterior for (at least) a temporary admiration and patronage of the consumers. But when you have a bad product and a bad salesman, it is undoubtedly a double tragedy.
The foregoing aptly describes the ridiculous pair of Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and the Director-General of his 2011 Presidential Campaign Orgnisation – Dr. Raymond Dokpesi. By choosing Dokpesi as the DG of his campaign organization, IBB has ab-initio lost the race for the presidency. I am not querying IBB for not procuring the services of David Axelrod – President Barack Obama’s campaign strategist and miracle-man or even our home grown Senator Joseph Zwingina who was Director of MKO Abiola’s campaign organization in 1993. But Dr. Raymond Dokpesi is a billion miles off what a campaign strategist should be. Apart from the pecuniary attraction in billions of the people’s naira, there is no reason in the world why Dr. Dokpesi should even accept this highly professional job meant for political analysts and strategists. I am aware that Raymond Dokpesi got a masters degree in shipping in communist Poland and came home to take command of the African Ocean Line which he ran aground. I do not know how financially buoyant DAAR Communications is, but I know Dr. Raymond Dokpesi’s greatest attraction for the job is based strictly on the financial package and remunerations.
And so the “great salesman†stands on the podium and with a microphone to his mouth, blares “President Goodluck Jonathan is after my life, he wants to kill me. A vote for Jonathan is a vote for anarchy. It is a call for (the) disintegration of Nigeria….†For the “Master strategist†and the DG of the IBB 2011 Presidential Campaign organization, what a bizarre and counter-productive strategy to flag off a campaign of such presidential magnitude!
Dr. Raymond Dokpesi should return to the drawing board, abandon his 18th century strategies and embrace modern political campaign strategies. The American Electoral process is a beauty to behold. With energy sapping party primaries spanning over 18 months including pre-primary campaigns, the American Democratic process is but one step short from perfection, and that is just the human factor.
The 1st televised Presidential debate between Senators Barack Obama and John McCain of America took place on 26 September 2008, and was enormously impressive with McCain taking the lead in International Affairs and Obama making his opponent look like a rooky on matters like National Security, Iraq and Afghanistan- areas hitherto referred to as John McCain’s strongholds.
While McCain vilified and demonised Obama even calling the later “naïveâ€, Obama on the other hand showed so much discipline and respect to John McCain. Obama’s courteous reverence to John McCain proved very effective while McCain’s aggressive insolence towards Obama only showed a deep internal frustration in himself and the entire Republican Party Campaign Organization. The post-debate polls showed 53% for Barack Obama and 46% for McCain.
It was very clear from the foregoing that Senator John McCain and his team used a wrong strategy. The 2nd presidential debate on 8 October 2008 at Belmont University Campus in Nashville-Tennessee, finally decided the American Presidential Election in favour of the eventual winner- Barack Obama who had a wide CNN poll lead of 54% to McCain’s 30%.
Senator John McCain lost the 2008 American election to bad strategy and even lost votes in the traditional Republican states of Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, West Virginia, etc.
Dr. Raymond Dokpesi should know that such speculation and conjecturally fabricated fable-oriented fantasies are a figment of a self imposed schizophrenic mind. It is the symptom of a deep seated frustration and fear of impending defeat and disaster. To say that President Goodluck Jonathan wants to kill him, I think is the height of frustration and wild propaganda to hoodwink the peace loving Nigerian populace. Even Sigmund Freud, the world’s greatest Austrian psychologist/psychoanalyst would not have been able to glean a strain of violence from the genes of the gentle president, let alone less of a murderous instinct in the President.
President Goodluck Jonathan has an impeccable record of untainted humility, a sound and balanced mind not easily ruffled and agitated by even a tumultuous environment. He is not cast of a violent mould. His unique methods of handling Gov. Depreye Alamieyeseigha’s case in Bayelsa State and the late President Umaru Yar’Adua are too recent to gloss over. Most Nigerians wanted the Vice President to edge out his boss by the various constitutional means available but Goodluck Jonathan was too full of the milk of human kindness to do so. Even when it was so obvious that the Chief of Army Staff was taking direct orders from the late President’s wife, Jonathan refused to fire him. And Nigerians know that Jonathan was hewed from the finest of human stock.
Dr. Raymond Dokpesi has so much explanation to make to Nigerians as Babangida’s salesman. He has to justify all the high profile assassinations that spanned Babangida’s eight years of military misadventure. Dokpesi has to explain to 152.7 million Nigerians the whereabouts of the $12.4 billion Gulf war oil windfall that accrued to Nigeria. He has to explain to Nigerians why Babangida was the sole signatory to that dedicated account that wasted the money. Nigerians want to know why we embarked on the structural adjustment programme when Nigerian crude oil was selling at premium price in the world market.
Nigerians want to know why our naira became a pariah in the world financial market when the naira had more value than the dollar before Babangida’s arrival. Nigerians want to know why a brand new peugeot selling for six thousand naira went for N2 million immediately on Babangida’s arrival.
Nigerians want to know why Babangida starved Nigerian universities of vital funds which led to a rot in the university system. This led to so many university dons relocating abroad for greener pastures.
Babangida’s snub of education led to the very low level of educational infrastructure development especially in Northern Nigeria which is now the stronghold of Boko Haram-enemies of Western education. Babangida’s refusal to commence an educational revolution in the North is to maintain the status quo, to justify the continuation of the master-servant relationship.
Threats of Nigeria’s disintegration will not solve Dokpesi’s problems, it will only add to his burden because Nigerians are now wiser than they were ten years ago. Electioneering campaign is not by how powerful you are or how tough you are. It is a matter of intellectual depth and diplomacy.
But ultimately the winner will be the candidate with a better strategy. Dokpesi has chosen the wrong strategy of blackmail, deceit and anger. A war commander must be unperturbed by the enemy’s tantrums. Once the general loses his temper he loses the war. The war General must have a larger picture of the war situation. In fact, he must be on the mountain top and capture the whole scenario to be in complete command and control of his environment.
But our dear salesman is already threatening fire and brimstone even before the commencement of battle. To be very frank with you, Dokpesi, you have already lost the battle. But since you need Babangida’s billions to revive your ailing businesses, please do not quit yet. Like I earlier mentioned, the American electioneering system is almost perfect. The tax dodger cannot play American politics. Even the slightest act of misdemeanor will disqualify a candidate in the American system. Senator Ted Kennedy could not become an American President because of the Mary Jo Kopechne incident on the Chappaquiddick bridge on July 18 1969. Ted Kennedy swam to safety but his female partner was not so lucky. But in Nigeria a man can murder as many as a million people and if he was a former general and Head of State, he was exempted by law from prosecution and so could re-contest the Presidency after stepping aside for 17 years.
The Nigerian political system could take a cue from the American example. Political parties should be able to scrutinise and do extensive security and social checks on their candidates before presenting them for election.
The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) should take up from thence and do a double check on all party nominees before finally giving the nod for them to contest. All kinds of crooks and defaulters including tax dodgers will surely be caught in this web. However, I did not know that Raymond Dokpesi was afraid of the taxman.
Dokpesi should advise his boss to call off this mad ambition to avoid the consequences of a massive bottled-up anger being unleashed by the Nigerian people on Babangida. Babangida is a poisonous material; bottled and marketed for sale. Nigerians should avoid Babangida like the dreaded bubonic plague. Can Nigerians trust a maradona, an evil genius and a master dribbler?
Nigeria will surely remain one whether the evil genius and his salesman wish the contrary. Nigeria will surely survive. A word is enough for the wise.
•Ben Nanaghan writes from Lagos