For 40 years, the Saraki family was the mainstay of Kwara politics. The all-powerful dynasty determined the fate of the people; from politicians to traditional rulers, civil servants and entrepreneurs, everyone was beholden to the dynasty. Previous attempts to dislodge the dynasty at the polls were unsuccessful and opponents were treated as dissidents.
How might we position the little known, media shy and previously unsuccessful candidate, Abddulrazaq Abdulrahman as a credible alternative to the Saraki dynasty.
Boots on the ground. Over a period of 14 days, our team of sociologists, ethnographers, strategists and creatives traversed the length and breadth of Kwara state interacting with 100s prospective voters: young and old, male and female, employed and unemployed, local chiefs and religious leaders on the state of Kwara.
The prevailing sentiment was that the people were tired and craved a better life away from the dynasty but lacked the courage to make an alternative choice. Previous attempts at voting out the dynasty did not work out and heavy prices were paid for such misadventures.
We found an ally in the younger generation, especially first time voters. Unlike their parents, they are more pragmatic and eager to see a change in their lives. We distilled the people’s yearning for change into a simple yet powerful and compelling tagline, OTOGE, which means Enough is Enough, a battle cry for political revolution.
We recruited canvassers amongst the youths who organized town hall meetings and door to door awareness to mobilize Kwarans around the candidacy of the APC candidate. We also leveraged Facebook, Whatsapp and radio as the primary channels for mass mobilization and engagement.
The APC candidate, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq got elected as the governor of Kwara with over 75% of the total votes cast. The impact of the campaign is such that APC had a 100% sweep of the legislative seats during the 2019 election cycle, from federal to state’s house of assembly.
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