Grounding of key handlers in issue selection, the pragmatics involved and the craft of campaign messages cannot be over-emphasised in the epoch of campaigning in general and ahead of the 2023 electioneering in particular. This is the task the Pan-African Institute of Paralegal Studies is taking up in putting together a certificate program for Professional Campaign Managers in and around Nigeria.
The month-long training program scheduled for September 19th to October 24th, 2022 will see Chairmen and Public Relations Officers of political parties, appointed Campaign Managers/personnel of political parties/flag bearers, career professional election campaign managers and PRO of corporate institutions think through key themes in that realm. They will be n the hands of established names in the unpacking of concepts, theories and practices in the field.
According to the resume of the training program made available to Intervention by Prof Sylvester Odion-Akhaine of the Department of Political Science at the Lagos State University, some of the big names to handle the training includes Prof. Adefemi Isumonah of the Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan; Mr. Emeka Eluem Izeze, former Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian Newspapers, Lagos; Prof. Sat Obiyan of the Department of Political Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife and Hon. Kehinde Bamigbetan, former Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Lagos State.
Others are Comrade Abiodun Sowunmi, labour activist and communication expert; Prof. Sylvester Odion Akhaine of the Department of Political Science at the Lagos State University, Ojo; Dr. Tobi Oshodi of the same Lagos State University, Ojo; Bonaventure Chizea, Adjunct lecturer at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma in Edo State of Nigeria; Dr. Sam Amadi, former Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, (NERC) as well as Mr. Adagbo Onoja, formerly of the Department of Political Science at Veritas University, Abuja.
Specifically, the training sessions are devoted to unpacking contextual issues in the Nigerian electoral ecology; universal issues in campaign management; basic concepts in political psychology as it relates to campaigning; strategies of information and communication management, the media dimension and recent case studies in (electioneering) campaigns around the world.
The key aim the Pan-African Institute of Paralegal Studies hopes to achieve with the training program is “bringing refinement and civility into the electoral field in ways that are winnable for aspirants for elective offices” through conceptual engagement that should aid civilised approach to election campaigns; mastery of empirical data in the structure of election campaigns; general election winning campaign strategies and application of scientific information management skills to election campaigns.
The statement says application forms are still being sold in the Registrar’s Office at the Pan-African Institute of Paralegal studies, 7-9 Panaf Drive, Off Rockville, Behind Urban Shelter, Dawaki, Off Kubwa Expressway in the FCT-Abuja Nigeria.
