Role of Slogan in Political Mobilisation in Nigeria

A Study on 'O To Ge'

Abstract

One of the tasks of political parties in the modern democracy is political mobilization. In a competitive democracy political mobilization requires good strategy which demands exploitation of all the tools of mobilization. Political mobilization in Nigeria is simply reduce to election, hence, politicians increasingly tend to rely on bribe and intimidation of people to woe them into voting a particular party. Moreover, through institutionalization of poverty and manipulation of religion, traditional values and generosity, neopatrimonialism becomes a salient feature of Nigeria’s politics. However, the deep divide between the elite and the people provides an opportunity to exploit in order to defeat neopatrimonialism and win an election in a fair and peaceful manner. In this regard, slogan is a powerful mobilization tool that politicians and political parties should pay attention to. Using secondary data analysis, the paper exposes the power of political slogan as shown by O To Ge in Kwara State. The paper shows how slogan can be developed by careful study of the socio-economic condition of the people and the attitude of the ruling party to break the neopatrimonial politics and achieve an electoral victory.