AAAN Unveils Unity Campaign To Promote Healthy Conversation
Nigeria’s strength as a nation lied on her unique attributes of the population, ethnic groups, culture and language diversity. With over 250 ethnic nationalities and diversified languages and culture, our diversity is certainly one of our unique qualities. Several initiatives had been deployed in the past to emphasise and sustain our indivisibility as a nation and to promote and project the Nigerian brand in positive light amongst the comity of nations and among her citizens. Wazobia, ‘Good people, Great nation’ among others were deployed to encourage national unity.
However, during the last few years of our national history, the country has witnessed of the worst call for division ever in her 57 years of existence. Calls for secession, restructuring, referendum, true federalism have dominated our national life. The social media has provided a platform for Nigerians, both young and old, to vent their spleen against one another across the ethnic, religious and socio-cultural divide in their discourse of national issues. Hate speeches suddenly found its way in Nigeria’s modern-day lexicon. Rather than an improved development of infrastructures, employment opportunities, equitable distribution of our collective patrimony, among other national issues, Nigerians are confronted with clueless and directionless leadership, poverty, hunger, uneven distribution of national resources to the benefit of some and exclusion of others.
To vent their concern, Nigerians take up every available media platform to discuss national issues as it affects them. Conversations in the social media are most often than not heated. At no time has Nigerians been so polarized than now.
To calm the tensed nerves and give Nigerians something positive to talk about; to create an enabling environment for Nigerians to channel their energies towards discussing those issues that unite us more than those that divide us, the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) under the leadership of Kayode Oluwasona on October 1 being Nigerians 57th Independence Day Anniversary unveiled a “Unity Campaign” as a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative. While briefing the media about the essence of the campaign, Oluwasona who spoke on behalf of the Publicity Committee of the association explained that the campaign was born out of the need to emphasise a peaceful co-existence and unity among the citizens of Nigeria. Mindful of the discord and suspicion along the line of the ethnic and religious divide, he noted that AAAN desired to see improved political tolerance, national reconciliation, unity and social cohesion. “We believe a transformed political and economic system in Nigeria requires the full participation and commitment of citizens that put the principles of trust, relationship building, love for one another and unity, first and above everything else.”
Speaking further about the rationale for the campaign, Okuwasona informed that national co-existence and development can only be achieved through unity. He said the campaign reinforces and writes a new philosophy in the hearts of Nigerians that they are truly better together in spite of their differences and that there is no limit to what they can achieve if they lay aside their differences and reach out to one another.
The campaign which is deployed offline, online and through radio jingles reinforce Nigerians indivisibility. With copies of someone farting, coughing, laughing, sneezing and an open palm, the creators of the humorous copies expected that they would engender conversations online that would diffuse the already tensed atmosphere.
While unveiling the campaign, the Publicity Secretary of the association, Mr. Steve Babaeko said the aim of the campaign was to engender conversation online, calm tension a bit so that Nigerians can talk to themselves on how to move the country forward so as to become a better and bigger country that we all dream of. “It is about engagement, about having a conversation; it is about focusing less on things that divide us and more on things that unite us.”
The campaign is humorous, warm and engaging and there is no doubt that it would generate conversations online. As commendable as the campaign is being the first major initiative form the association to join voices and actions in shaping the Nigerian narrative, however, the campaign fell short of addressing those issues that tend to divide rather than unite us. Issues such as equity, merit, balance, religious tolerance among others are core to Nigerians existence. as long as these issues remain swept under the carpet, there is a doubt that the campaign would achieve its desired objectives.