By Tony Okafor
Recently, reports and claims have circulated that the cost of campaign billboards, posters and related outdoor advertising for presidential candidates has risen to astronomical levels in some places, with figures said to be as high as ₦750 million.
If such pricing becomes the norm, the implication is obvious: any presidential candidate who cannot afford such sums will be effectively shut out of those advertising spaces.
Whether by coincidence or design, such practices naturally narrow the space for political competition and favour those with deeper pockets.
Democracy, however, was never intended to be an auction where the highest bidder purchases the loudest voice.
Elections are meant to be contests of ideas, character, competence and the confidence of the people—not merely contests of advertising budgets.
To those who may feel disadvantaged by such developments, do not despair. It is never a good philosophy to cry before sadists; they only derive joy from the sorrow of others. Some people mistake temporary power for permanent authority.
They play God because they forget that history is littered with the ruins of those who imagined themselves invincible. Let them play God if they must. Time has a way of reminding every mortal that there is only one Supreme Judge.
Many Nigerians recently spent nights at INEC offices across the country in their quest to obtain Permanent Voter Cards. They endured long queues, frustration and uncertainty—not because of anybody’s billboard or colourful poster, but because they desired to participate in deciding the future of their country.
Their motivation was born out of lived experience.
The suffering in Nigeria has become a billboard that no printing press can produce and no advertising agency can design.
Rising food prices, unemployment, insecurity, inflation, collapsing purchasing power and the daily struggle for survival have written campaign messages on the hearts of millions.
Those messages are read every morning in the markets, every afternoon in workplaces, and every night in homes where parents wonder how to provide the next meal.
That is why the lesson of the humble ogili should never be forgotten. Nobody goes to the market to buy the smelly ogili because of a billboard or a glossy advertisement. People buy it because they know its worth. They have tested it. They know the flavour it brings to the soup. Its smell may offend the nose of a stranger, but its value is never in doubt among those who understand it.
So it is with leadership. Real value cannot be hidden forever, and empty packaging cannot deceive discerning people indefinitely. Gold does not become brass because it lacks a billboard. Neither does brass become gold simply because it occupies every billboard in town.
Those who seek to manipulate the democratic space through economic barriers should remember another timeless truth: you may control the walls on which posters are pasted, but you cannot easily control the walls of the human heart. Conviction is stronger than advertisement. Experience is louder than slogans. Memory is more persuasive than propaganda.
As another political season unfolds, let candidates concentrate on earning the trust of the people rather than merely occupying advertising spaces. Let voters also remember that democracy is strongest when choices are made with conscience rather than with the eyes alone.
After all, history has repeatedly shown that billboards may decorate the highways, but it is the people who ultimately determine the destination.
