Language and control in the campaigns for 2015 elections

Political aspirants, at various stages of candidacy, try to surpass one another in persuading the electorate (delegates or common voters ) to accept their candidacies. Whereas variables like largesse, recounting past achievements, projecting attractive goals and appealing to socio-cultural or regional sentiments play major roles in such political campaigns, the only and adequate vehicle for […]

Political aspirants, at various stages of candidacy, try to surpass one another in persuading the electorate (delegates or common voters ) to accept their candidacies. Whereas variables like largesse, recounting past achievements, projecting attractive goals and appealing to socio-cultural or regional sentiments play major roles in such political campaigns, the only and adequate vehicle for conveying these variables to the electorate is language.
Language is identified as the most potent tool with which one individual influences and controls the behaviour of another. In the broadest sense, the term language may range from verbal communication to expressive attitudes, appearances and gestures (body language). In that sense, language comes into powerful operation when an aspirant verbally addresses (in person or by proxy) an electorate. The variables mentioned above then serve as attractive lading in the voyage of language to the electorate.
The political campaign of a candidate or a party in the 2015 race tries to latch on to individual or mass psyche; to influence individual and public opinion, and ultimately to mould and cast individual and mass convictions and beliefs. These are achieved via multifarious factors, such as the candidate advertised as a personality (consequent to which are his outlook, charisma, achievements, socio-cultural status and so on); the proposals projected under his/her candidacy or campaign; how language is used to influence the electorate. Whether the candidate has truly achieved much or not; whether the promises are true or false, what finally counts in the race to the polling day and booth is the conviction of the electorate as to the veracity of a candidature and particular promises or proposals. Accordingly, a campaign team of a strong candidate and lofty promises, but of weak language usage, is like a locked warehouse of diamonds with its key and transportation missing. The common voter in the street would always prefer to be enlightened in the plain language he understands; in the short, simple phrases he speaks; in the colourful imagery of his dreams. In turn, the educated elite may be convinced only via factually lucid and technically enlightened projections of candidature.
It is no wonder then that, as the polling days draw nearer, our various contesting political parties, especially the two main gladiators (PDP and APC), keep on springing fresher communication skills in their race to win more electoral minds. Apart from English, vernaculars of the various communities and regions in Nigeria have suddenly come into intensive and lucrative operation. Vernacular singers and jingles producers have taken over the air waves. No English campaign, however well composed, can be more attractive to the ordinary un-educated voter than a campaign in his own vernacular. In most cases, one observes that such vernacular songs or jingles rely more on the target electorate’s tribal sentiments than on the veracity of issues at stake. In such vernacular jingles, hyperbole and euphemism play prominent roles. A candidate is likened to a lion, thunder, sun, storm and other similarly powerful forces. In some cases, a relationship will be ‘established’ between a candidate and another great social or historical figure, in persuading the target electorate to believe that the two characters are the same. Also, in this respect, some fault in one’s candidate is played down but a similar one in an opponent is given prominence, if not exaggerated. Conversely, a merit in one’s candidate is heightened but a similar one in an opponent is omitted or transposed.
Religious diction also constitutes a considerable language input of campaigns at communal, if not national, levels. A candidate’s aspirations and projections are fortified with phrases implying Divine sanctions or interventions; Qur’anic or Biblical quotations or allusions, and so on. This technique facilitates some hallowed perception of a candidate or candidature by the collective religious sentiment of an electorate. It is, however, significant that, at the national level, such religious linguistic resources are less prominently utilized in the various campaigns of our political parties. This shows the strong connection between campaign compositions and the target audiences. The national audience is hereby perceived as a cosmopolitan one by the composers, and may thus not be amenable to any religious bias.
It is instructive that Nigeria 2015 campaigns have broadened their communicative scope in the internet social media to an unprecedented degree. Various sites are awash with flicking adverts of candidates; with articles and analyses for or against a candidate; with readers’ comments on such analyses. All these continuously placed online compositions gradually help to mould or re-direct or re-affirm the thinking of an ‘internet-oriented’ electorate, especially among young Nigerians.
Language is thus the most powerful tool of control in these campaigns. As stated above, via effective use of language, the electorate is guided towards a particular polling day, a particular polling booth, a particular party slot, and a particular candidate slot. Adequate oral or written political campaigns in Nigeria, like in any other developed or developing democracy in the world, involve flawless, fluent and flowery use of language. Costly mistakes or contradictions in campaign speeches or writings could convey to the electorate: lack of knowledge of both the language and party issues; falsity of points stated; lack of seriousness. Hence, one observes that, even when such mistakes are made in oral campaigns, which are spontaneous, they are rectified with timely re-phrasal or re-interpretations by the speaker.
Therefore, in language use, such campaign periods display a grand fair where leaders become the ‘vendors’ trying to sell their ideals to the led. In turn, the led become the ‘consumers’ of the leaders’ adverts. Let us hope that, after the elections, our leaders would continue to be as compassionate in their deeds to us the led as they currently are in their campaign diction.
Dr Ahmed Umar, Department of English, Federal University, Dutse<[email protected]>;