Dele Alake: Social media will not determine 2023 election

The Director of Strategic Communications for the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign and former Lagos State Information and Strategy Commissioner, Mr. Dele Alake, was interviewed on Tuesday as part of from a TVC show, Journalists Hangout. He explained why Asiwaju Tinubu looks good to land the presidential race. Babajide Otitoju and Ayo Ozungbaku hosted it.

Preparations for the 2023 elections are well underway and campaigning will begin next month. Based on the vibes you're getting, how would you describe the tempo so far? I think it was a natural development. We have had several election cycles in our time. Personally, there was nothing dramatically different from the previous campaign build-up we witnessed in Nigeria.

Of course, when elections or campaigns are near, passions are bound to flare up and then you see the gravitation left, right and center; and all this as well as vituperations of all kinds from all sides.

Of course, it's natural because it's a competition for power. The election, like any election, is a competition for power. Therefore, the various interests involved will gather their loins, prepare their arsenal and stockpile their weapons and stuff like that for the campaign and then the eventual election.

The increase in tempo, for me, is a natural phenomenon. It is something to be expected. I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary in the tempo so far.

What factors do you think would shape the 2023 presidential election? The main issues facing Nigeria right now are the factors and variables that will shape the 2023 election. On our side, we are not going to engage in mob unrest. It's the ones who believe they're going to lose or that they don't have anything tangible or a quality product to market to show the public who would engage in comedic mobs or tantrums and stuff like that.

No, it's not for us. Either way, we have a truckload of products to distribute to the discerning public. There's no denying that all of the personalities vying in today's political firmament, our product stands head and shoulders above anyone else in terms of track record, in terms of track record, in terms of all the attributes of leadership. < /p>

He embodies all the leadership of a progressive developing nation or a nation in a hurry to develop and we have an example of that. Is it social engineering? Is it in political development? Is it in infrastructure development? Is it in mental development? In all aspects of administration, public life, human life, human existence, our product Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) is ahead of any competitor on the horizon to date.

The factors that will shape and condition the minds of the electorate are major issues of security, economy, etc. As we go along, we will get into the nitty gritty and reveal so many details about his achievements and his vision for Nigeria

Labour Party (LP) candidate Peter Obi is gaining popularity on social media, even in the south of the country. Before now we mainly had APC and PDP, but Obi's move to LP seems to have changed the narrative for the 2023 elections. Do you think this is the year of a third force? I cannot sit here and deny the fact that there is an undercurrent of frustration among young people and among the general population, which is in fact the driving force behind what you call the popularity of Peter Obi on social media.

However, I can tell you that it is natural (the feeling, the suppressed anger of all who express their spleen through the symbol of Peter Obi). The aggravation of all that pent up anger is being channeled into Peter Obi on social media. Social media will not determine the 2023 elections. It has never determined any election in Nigeria to any great extent and it will not determine the 2023 elections, nor our elections in many years to come.

You must make a critical and rational analysis of political behavior and the political environment in which we find ourselves, the political environment of our people. Now, all these people who are considered social media warriors or are active on social media, if you take their population, you'll find that it's not going to sway the biggest voters.

For example, how many of our rural dwellers or farmers are on social media? The reason we think social media is so popular today is because the elite (like you and me) are on social media.

However, when you aggregate the population of social media activists, relative to the entire population of the country, you will find that it is almost infinitesimal.

Therefore, anyone basing their judgment on 2023 in terms of...