2011: Another Side Of The Story

By Chuks OLUIGBO

The 2011 general elections have come and gone (permit me to borrow that cliché), but the story will continue to be told for years to come, and it will continue to come in different hues and shades, as is already happening. I have chosen one aspect of that big story without which I believe the story will never be complete: the role of bulk SMS in the electioneering campaigns.

Bulk SMS! Yes, that’s what they call it, an internet-based technology which enables someone to send short messages to multiple phone numbers at a go. It may not be the latest technology in the GSM world but it has come to be quite ubiquitous. I could bet that whoever invented it would never have imagined to what use his innocent invention would be put by the ever-creative Nigerian society.

The bulk SMS has come to serve many purposes in Nigeria. Banks and other big corporations use it to send Christmas, New Year, Easter, Sallah and other seasonal greetings to their numerous customers in place of the paper greeting card. They also use it to invite potential employees for job tests and interviews. GSM operators like MTN, Glo, Etisalat, Airtel, etc use it to inform their numerous users of the latest in town as well as give them other vital information. Couples about to wed use it to send invitations to friends, relatives and associates, and it has come to replace the invitation card. Fraudsters have also found it very useful. The so-called ‘Yahoo boys’ use it to send fraudulent SMS to their would-be victims, the commonest being the one informing an innocent victim that he/she has won a lottery and that he/she should forward certain personal data so that vital documents that would assist him/her claim the prize money could be processed. Not a few Nigerians have been roundly duped via this means.

In the 2011 general elections in Nigeria, the bulk SMS technology assumed a new function: that of an apparatus for political campaign. And it seemed to have been more widespread than even the regular paper poster. From the ultra-conservative North to the slightly progressive South, and from the established parties to the ones that exist only on paper, text messages kept flooding unsolicited into people’s GSM phones. While some of these messages contained pure political campaign slogans, others made no pretensions that they were designed to denigrate opponents and confuse the electorate. For instance, one that circulated in Lagos and purportedly signed by Governor Tunde Fashola asked Lagos voters to ‘shame the evil Tinubu’ by voting Fashola for governor and Labour Party for House of Assembly, House of Reps and Senate. A counter-text, also supposedly originating Babatunde Raji Fashola, dissociated the governor from the earlier text whose intent, the text claimed, was to sour the relationship between Fashola and Tinubu, and explicitly stated that a vote for Labour Party was a vote for the opposition.

Another, which came from a certain Mayor Amuwo, took a religious tone. It was a combination of Easter message and political campaign. It said: “Rise up with Jesus to glory. ACN wishes you Happy Easter. To sustain good governance, vote BRF for governor and Sultan Peter Adeniji-Adele for Lagos State House of Assembly.”

But the most calumnious of all the Lagos texts was the one attributed to Dr Oluremi Tinubu, wife of former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who ran for the Senate under the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. The text simply said: “Many Lagosians accuse my husband of stealing from the chairmen of the 57 local government area councils in Lagos State, but it was my husband that put all of them there. My husband is a good man. Vote for me.”

At the national level, it was the same. Prior to the presidential polls of April 16, one such text invaded my phone, purportedly signed by Fola Adeola, the ACN vice presidential candidate. It read: “As you cast your votes on Saturday, ask yourself if your life has changed for the better in the last 12 years”, obviously suggesting that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which has ruled Nigeria since 1999, has done nothing significant to better the lot of Nigerians. The second from the ACN was very straightforward: “Vote for competence. Nuhu Ribadu built EFCC, Fola Adeola built GTB. Let them rebuild Nigeria. Vote ACN.”

But the funniest scenario presented itself in Imo State where political desperadoes struggled to outdo one another in what was pure politics of calumny. The hottest battle was between Governor Ikedi Ohakim, who sought re-election, and his opponent-in-chief, Owelle Rochas Okorocha. But truth be told, Ohakim’s camp was always in the offensive, always the first to shoot.

Earlier, Ohakim’s loyalists had thought it was going to be a smooth ride for their principal, but the moment they realised that Imo people were massively leaning towards Okorocha, they began to fire random shots. One of the very first was the one they sent in the name of Samuelson Iwuoha, which read: “Ndi Imo, now that Rochas Okorocha who claims to be a philanthropist and apostle of free education has been exposed. One then begins to wonder and imagine why some students who are beneficiaries of his free education die mysteriously. One also begins to wonder and imagine why nobody in the real sense of it has ever benefited from his so-called philanthropy without encountering problems. It is time to fast and pray for our state. May God save Imo State!” The message, evidently, was aimed first at discrediting the man, Rochas Okorocha, and secondly, putting Samuelson Iwuoha, an avowed critic of the Ohakim government, in the bad books of Okorocha supporters. But what came later proved that the above text was a mere child’s play.

When they responded, Okorocha’s men were not found wanting either. One such reactions came from a group that called itself Imo Youths. It said: “Ohakim is wasting N40billion Imo State money to force himself back to Government House. We’re tired of his 419 government. Take money from PDP, but DON’T vote PDP on 26th”.

I can go on and on without end. The question, however, is whether these campaign SMSs achieved their desired results. The readers may be in a better position to judge. But I can say for sure that in spite of the campaign of calumny, Oluremi Tinubu won the Senate seat in Lagos Central, Tunde Fashola was re-elected as governor of Lagos, Goodluck Jonathan won the presidency, and in our own dear Imo, Ikedi Ohakim lost to the more popular Owelle Rochas Okorocha. And so on and so forth. Meanwhile, bulk SMS operators had plenty food on their table.