By Adeyemi Adeleye

The Kukah Centre, a policy research institute, has organised a development workshop for political parties to enhance pluralism, internal democracy and equal opportunity in Nigeria’s political party system.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Kukah Centre is one of the organisations implementing six components of the European Union’s flagship governance programme known as the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN).

The centre’s project is tagged “Component III-Support to Political Parties”.

Speaking at the end of the three-day event on Thursday in Lagos, Ms Inimfon Etuk, a Public Relation and Strategic Communications professional, said that political parties’ capacity must be built to develop purpose.

Etuk said that political parties in their campaigns, must discover ways to use interactive technology to encourage public participation.

She spoke on the topic; “Developing Enhanced Political Party Communication”.

“In the past, political campaigns were all about face-to-face interactions. Candidates would converge, shake hands and give speeches.

“In today’s evolving digital age, more and more campaigning is done online. Political communication is evolving, and some trends are here to stay.

“Effective political communication typically involves understanding the needs and wants of the audience and then tailoring the message to fit those needs,” she said.

According to Etuk, since the early 1990s, the most important change to the political communication process has occurred through the rise of the internet.

Etuk added, “The World Wide Web facilitates a virtually unlimited choice of information and communication one-to-one with a minimal role for gatekeepers or government censors.”

She noted that internet messages had the capacity to flow further, faster, and with fewer intermediaries.

Etuk said that in the political landscape, AI had already transformed how politicians and governments communicate and interact with their citizens.

“By processing extensive data and studying voter behaviour, AI can craft messages that appeal specifically to different groups of voters,” she said.

Etuk urged political parties to wage on the internet.

“Political campaigns will model after commercial marketing strategies focusing on visuals and political communication will be primarily through cyberspace, which will become the new public space for political action,” she said.

Mr Esrom Ajanya, Head of Programmes, The Kukah Centre, said that the purpose of the workshop was to engage various political parties on certain priorities that had been identified through a Needs Assessment.

“On the 5th of December 2023, The Kukah Centre held a public presentation of the Needs Assessment of political parties in Nigeria.

“The assessment sought to understand the challenges faced by political parties.

“Based on the findings of this exercise, The Kukah Centre held a high-level meeting with the National Leadership of political parties on the 16th of July, 2024, where Political Parties were tasked with setting up Technical Working Groups (TWGs) to facilitate party-specific interactions for tailored support towards strengthening their management and operations.”

Ajanya said that issues highlighted by the report as priority areas for intervention included: exploring and clarifying the fundamental value systems, organisational structure and membership profile.

Others are active and well-established knowledge structures for political discourse and compliance with legal and institutional frameworks and political communications.

In his remarks, Alhaji Yusuf Dantalle, the National Chairman of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), an umbrella body of all registered political parties in Nigeria, commended the organisers for commitment to deepen democracy.

Dantalle said the only vehicle for contesting elections or assuming any elective office in Nigeria remained political parties, hence the need to strengthen them.

“This programme is about building capacity for the managers of political parties and the management of political parties.

“This will catalyse into a better democratic atmosphere for the country if we have better managers of political parties. This is a wonderful and welcome development.

“We thank the European Union in partnership with the Kukah Foundation for this initiative,” Dantalle, the National Chairman of Allied People’s Movement (APM), said.

Stating that the initiative was in line with IPAC’s motor of deepening democracy in Nigeria, he described the workshop as a propelling force for building democracy. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Folasade Adeniran