Billboards, Bombs and Boko Haram

We woke up to billboards of presidential aspirants in the upcoming elections of Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria. Before long, there were calls that those adverts be pulled down because of 'security issues.'

The main thrust of the security issue, being that the very thorny political issue of instability symptomatic of the Nigeria's north could pose security problems for Ghana as a nation state. Simply put, Boko Haram was the fear factor.

First was a fellow with the Legon Center for International Affairs (LECIA) Dr. Vladimir Antwi Danso, Dr. Kwesi Anning of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC) also added his voice.

Most recently has been Irbard Ibrahim, in all of this; all experts espoused the same train of thought and conviction. That it was an unhealthy development that Nigerian politics was been imported into Ghana.

I am no expert and I respect the views of the three gentlemen but I most respectfully beg to ask a few questions that in my view point to the fact that their fears may not be tangible after all.

I shudder to think how many 'ordinary' Nigerians would cast their ballots here in Ghana. Most likely those on diplomatic missions and a few others as far as I know. So if one may ask; who were the targets of these boards for whoever decided to pay for them to be erected?

I wonder why a billboard of PDP or ACP wherever it is located in Ghana, could become a source of Abubakar Shekau and for that matter Boko Haram's wrath now or in the future however potent a regional security threat that it is manning up as.

That a group of Nigerians in Ghana supporting either of the major players in Nigeria's political system cannot form an association to champion the cause of their party and chosen candidates?

For crying out loud, at no point have any political party in Ghana associated itself with a Nigerian political party, so therefore how do we have to believe that Boko Haram will unleash a war with its peculiar socio economic dynamics through Benin, Togo and into Ghana.

Forgive my ignorance but I find it difficult to grasp how Boko Haram will thrive in our society. Whiles we do not wish militancy takes root however small it is, can we not state that Boko Haram is a northern Nigeria situation and just that?

I can see the Cameroonian attacks by the group popping up, but then again could it not be more a case of the lapse of intergovernmental collaboration between the two countries that is clearly being depicted here; that is what I think it is.

Maybe we should pause and ask who are the sponsors of these billboards, where in our outdoor advertisement bylaws is it stated that political advertisements are outlawed?

So is it then that we can accept publications of these political nature in the media, say an advert in the Graphic and other intercontinental media (especially magazines) and in these days on social media but we hate to see it real life size?

It seems to me that the new trend of politicking globally would mean that it is just a matter of time before we cannot do anything about such adverts especially as most nations embrace the need to link up politically with their followers the world over.

My prayer is that the upcoming elections, crucial as it is to which direction a "big brother" in Africa progresses or retrogresses, passes off with peace and the best candidate emerges at the end of the day. My preferred candidate though is General Mohammadu Buhari.

Thanks for sharing my thoughts and kindly pardon my ignorance. God bless our homeland Ghana.

Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban
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