With Rallies, Volunteers, TAN Raises Nigerians’ Interests In Jonathan - Part 1

 

BY IHEANACHO NWOSU, ABUJA

Whichever way the outcome of the March 28 and April 11 general election  goes, one thing that is likely to enjoy widespread  acceptance in the camps  of the opposition  and ruling party  is that Nigeria has never had such electioneering in recent history. Those who would think in such direction are, incontestably, right.

This is the reason: While the opposition arguably got its groove back by speaking with one voice, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) plied a path it never did in the past elections. It refused to take anything for granted in the push to retain the presidency and dominance of the political space.

Yes, several factors and forces are at play, but, unarguably,  if at the end, the electorate return President Goodluck Jonathan to the top office, the greater share of the glory would  go to the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN). 

Although the emergence of TAN, founded by Chief Ifeanyi Uba, a business mogul,  elicited varied reactions from Nigerians, the association has gone ahead to become  the spine of President Jonathan’s reelection campaign.

“TAN has given the campaign of President Goodluck Jonathan the spice and desirable direction it needed,” Chief Jasper Okorie , a lawyer and social commentator said.

Although the activities of TAN have, understandably, drawn some flaks from the camp of the opposition, there is eminent sense  in the argument of Okorie.   Take or leave it, most Nigerians regard TAN as the face of  the PDP presidential campaign. They are not wrong. The group erected the foothold upon which the campaign is currently standing on.

First, it started with the mobilisation of Nigerians in all the nooks and crannies to back the President. Many did not take the association serious at the beginning. “I was one of the people who dismissed the group as one of those associations that springs up during election. But it has proved to be different. I think even the president himself may not have taken TAN serious when it came on board newly,” Okorie argued .

The employment of unique musical display, commercials and lectures by TAN helped to spread the Jonathan’s reelection messages among Nigerians.

Head of Communication ad Director Diaspora, TAN, Mr. Chris Udechukwu, said: “We knew what we wanted; we were driven by patriotism and love for our dear country. We couched our message in a way that patriotic Nigerians bought into it.”

Apart from the unique commercials and musical outings in favour of Jonathan’s reelection, the greatest strategy adopted by TAN in selling Jonathan’s candidacy was the recruitment of volunteers. The volunteers, in their thousands, were handed a specific task to do: go to all the corners and spread the Jonathan’s reelection message.

The volunteers were trained on how to handle their assignment. They were asked to visit all the wards in the country and promote the candidature of President Jonathan to ensure victory at the polls.

“We enlisted millions of Nigerians as volunteers, trained them and sent them to all the wards, all the local governments and all the states to promote the message of TAN that our President  has done a lot and deserve to be reelected,” Udechukwu said.

Director General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO), Dr. Ahmadu Ali, at the inauguration of the volunteers, made up of young men and women, charged them to go out and campaign and convince the electorate on why they should cast their votes for the PDP, not just in the presidential election but also down the line.

He equally advised them to use what he described as the numerous achievements of the President in the last five years to campaign. He counselled: “Go all out and do the needful; don’t look for trouble and don’t allow yourselves to be intimidated by anybody. The important thing you must know is that people on the side of government cannot be intimidated. You should always be vigilant and relate with the police stations closest to you at your various locations and report any suspicious character so as to maintain peace.”

The Director General of TAN, Dr. Ifeanyi Uba, in his address to  the volunteers, admonished  them to see their assignment as that of marketers who have deadline to meet. He argued  that their task was made  easier by the fact that  they have a candidate that is easy to sell.

According to him. President Jonathan has done enough to deserve a second term in office, enjoining them  to be bold in highlighting the President’s achievements.

He said: “Your task is very easy because no matter what the opposition is doing, President Jonathan is still the candidate to beat in this election; so you must be cordial, confident and persuasive in the propagation of the transformation agenda of the president and the party so as to convince voters to vote for the PDP.

“We believe that with 100, 000 volunteers, the message of transformation, which the President has been delivering to the Nigerian people, will be spread to every part of this great country. Let me say it that we want to get more Nigerians to add to the 18 million people that endorsed the President during the TAN rallies because we have over 68 million voters registered for the election and if we work very diligently we will surely win the election.”

continued in Part 2