By Tunji Faleye
As part of its corporate social responsibility initiative, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, AAAN, recently unveiled advocacy campaign to further support government’s efforts in achieving a unified Nigeria.
The unity campaign which emphasizes peaceful co-existence and unity among the citizens has started being exposed on both offline and online media platforms across the country.
This has been regarded as an effort aimed at unifying the country especially in the face of bigotry and massive divisions among ethnic nationalities in the country. Apart, the campaign tagged: #StrongerTogether which was also part of a symbolic gesture designed to mark Nigeria’s 57th Independence Day is a collaborative effort among Advertisers Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), media organisations and other relevant stakeholders to save the country from imminent danger.
Speaking at the secretariat of the association recently, Mr. Koyade Oluwasona, president of AAAN said, the essence of the campaign is to create improved political tolerance, national reconciliation, unity and social cohesion among Nigerians. He added that the rationale behind the campaign is also to promote national co-existence and development which is achievable through national unity.
According to him, “This campaign reinforces and writes a new philosophy in the hearts of Nigerians that in spite of our differences, we are truly better together and there is no limit to what we can achieve when we lay aside our differences and reach out to one another.”
Oluwasona added: “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.”
Steve Babaeko, Publicity Secretary of AAAN, while elaborating more on the campaign, said the association has adopted online platforms to engage with the general public in the conversation for a united Nigeria founded on justice and fairness.
Campaigns
Different versions of the advocacy campaigns developed by AAAN appeal to all Nigerians of different status to shun all political, social and ethnic chauvinism, affiliations and work together in order to promote peaceful co-existence for the good of the nation.
Interestingly, Nigeria has diverse ethnic groups and cultures which are also its unique quality, hence the various versions of the campaigns become imperative for the unity and survival of the country.
For instance, all the campaigns come with questions for Nigerians whether they can identify a person’s tribe from the way a person sneezes? Identify a person by his palm print? Can tell where a person is from when he farts? Tell the tribe of a baby by the way he laughs? Others are also of the same format asking whether you can know where a person is from by the way he coughs?
At the end of the questions, Nigerians are advised not to allow the ideology of their society determines the way they see their fellow Nigerians with a hashtag #StongerTogether.
Assessing these campaigns, analysts say AAAN has lead in the process of unifying the country and re-orientate different ethnic nationalities to begin to see themselves as brothers and sisters who should contribute their quotas to the development of the country.
Meanwhile, to achieve this lofty idea, AAAN has secured the support of Advertising Practitioner Council of Nigeria, APCON, as the industry regulator, media organizations, journalists and other relevant stakeholders.
The association also collaborated with relevant sectoral groups in order to achieve massive success for the campaign.
Conclusion
The campaign is coming at a time when the country is passing through serious divisions among the ethnic nationalities occasioned by political divisions, ethnicity, and religious chauvinism. Political analysts say Nigerians have never been divided like this since gaining independence 57 years ago, hence the Unity Campaign by AAAN has been applauded by many Nigerians and giving credit to the association for a well-done job that will forever remain relevant in the process of building an equitable society.
Analysts say, over the years, several initiatives like WAZOBIO, Good People, Good Nation, Heart of Africa including many others have been part of government’s strategies to unify and make Nigerians do away with widespread corruption and massive impunity that have eaten deep into the fabric of every Nigerian. However, the recent campaign by AAAN has taken the process of unifying the country and promoting the spirit of tolerance among Nigerians to another level.