Celebrity Endorsments and Politics

Some days back, a video titled "Nollywood for Johnathan" was released on YouTube, the video had what i'd like to consider our "National Jewels" Olu Jacobs, Genevieve Nnaji, Ramsey Noah, Stephanie Okereke, Desmond Elliott, Monalisa Chinda & Ini Edo. These people are the heavyweights of Nollywood, so much so that the video didn't need to introduce them. There has been some uproar regarding the ethics of public figures endorsing candidates in a campaign, i'd like to put out an opinion that i see lacking out there. So lets talk shall we... I'll talk you listen. Yeah!

A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. The core purpose of a political campaign is to influence decision making, notice the word influence, not actually make the decision for you. As i read the comments, tweets, and FB posts about this campaign i wonder if anyone is actually thinking critically about this... if there are people taking away all sentiment from this video and looking at the impact and sheer brilliance of this video actually. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but stay with me...


The video doesn't introduce any of the celebrities, the assumption they make is that these people are so popular that they need not be introduced. Goodluck Johnathan's picture is never shown, just his name, again the assumption that anyone who sees this video obviously knows who he is, and yeah that was a brilliant, albeit condescending assumption. Now lets look at who is in the video: Genevieve Nnaji, Stephanie Okereke, Monalisa Chinda, Ini Edo, Olu Jacobs, Ramsey Noah and Desmond Elliott. These are some of the biggest names in Nollywood, if you do not know all of them, you at least know some or one of them. Clearly the purpose of the video is to persuade people to vote for Goodluck Johnathan.

I don't get why people are angry at this... Every time, in every political campaign or even social movements people use public figures to gain access to a larger audience in order to persuade them to support their goals. They didnt use just any actor, these actors are people a large percentage of the Nigerian public trusts and respect. This is a smart campaign, you are using people with high credibility to make Goodluck more credible.

The general theme in all the comments i have read is; They were paid for it, they sold out etc... blah blah blah. I think it is fair to say that we dont know for sure if they were paid for this. 


Now lets talk ethics. I get that there is a question that needs to be asked, but lets leave all sentiments aside, this is NOT a crime, this is NOT unethical. All of the actors/actresses in that video are not only members of the electorate, they are NOT running for office, and as much as they are public figures, they are also private citizens as well. Politics is messy... it has always been since the beginning of time, it will always be messy.

 The only problem i had with this video was the title of the video. Really guys, i get that these people are some of the big names in Nollywood, but Nollywood is a huge, very huge industry, 7 people cannot possibly be a sample size of the 2nd largest film industry in the world. However, the title i think was supposed to give an illusion...but still that title was grossly misleading.


The problem i have with the people commenting on this video, is that they do not give the Nigerian public credit. Really angry people, you think that Nigerians are dumb, you think that the video will just make everyone go to vote for Goodluck, come on, give us some credit. Yes, there will always be the people who will vote for GEJ just because they saw that video, just like there will be in this country, Muslims who wont vote for a Christian candidate, and Christians who wont vote for a Muslim candidate. Let me Reiterate: THE PURPOSE OF THIS VIDEO IS TO PERSUADE PEOPLE TO VOTE FOR GOODLUCK

Unlike in the States where the political parties are defined by certain principles, in Nigeria, we have to rely on the candidates. For example, Gen. Atiku Abubakar has moved from one party to another in the last four years. In the states, for a Candidate to move from thr Democratic Party to the Republican Party, you will be making a huge leap from the left to the right, from liberal to conservative.  A Democrat is generally more liberal,  while a Republican is generally more conservative. We really can't name a Liberal or Conservative party in Nigeria. We rely on what we know about the candidate and what we hear, we see or the people that come out to endorse them. It is a tactic used for any sort of campaign or Social movement. Do you know how many people registered to vote because Banky W gave asked them to? I don't know but i bet it influenced people to vote. We love Banky W, we enjoy his music, we trust him, so we listen to what he has to say.

Ultimately, the truth, the truth that stares us in the face is this, the purpose of persuasion is to influence beliefs using both verbal and non verbal messages, prepared and presented to various individuals. A person can only be persuaded when they make the deicison to be persuaded. Regardless of the video or whatever campaigns we see, at the end of the day, when you walk in to that booth YOU make your decision on who to vote for all by yourself, in fact no one has to know who you voted for, that the beauty of it! But you do need to vote! You absolutely must vote. 

The celebrities who  publicly endorse candidates have strong convictions about that candidate, and when they do they realize the influence they have on people's thoughts and actions, however it is up to the person to decide what to to do with it. 

PS: This is not about the right candidate or the wrong candidate. This piece is about persuasion and the ethics of it. I am not endorsing any candidate.