What Next After The Protest?- The Gatekeeper Strategy & Other Ideas - 3

I discussed the Gatekeeper Strategy in the last update. I now want to share my thoughts about one of the factors I believe is very important when seeking political power.

In 2018, a 29-year old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her election as a United Dtates Representative by defeating 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley. It was a really big upset and she is the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress.

While putting her strategy together, she said, “You can't really beat big money with more money. You have to beat them with a totally different game”.

And that’s what she did. She did not to take money from any big corporation. She raised funds through crowdfunding for the elections. Crowdfunding gives the opportunity to confront big money and also turn a pool of people with low financial capacity to a huge financial powerhouse

It also breaks the stronghold of political strongmen and godfathers as their major stranglehold is due to the financial support they provide.

In 2008, Barack Obama raised $600m from 3m donors through http://barackobama.com . That came to an average of $200 per donor. His strategy of targeting small donors was very successful.

So let’s discuss this factor in details:

3. Money Is A Subset of Numbers

You need good money to win elections all over the world- not just in Nigeria. Money is required for logistics. Unfortunately, our elections are heavily monetized and until something is done about the cost of our elections, it will continue.

On Election Day, you will need your representatives at all the wards if you’re a candidate. Many will not do it for free. You also need to treat them well because your opponent can buy them over- in which case they look away when certain irregularities are being perpetrated

You need money to print posters, deploy public address systems, buy campaign vehicles, buy slots for media campaigns, purchase campaign collaterals and do so many other things.

Most parties run a delegate system which they utilize to choose their candidates and this system is very expensive to run. Candidates in a lot of cases have to even pay for accommodation for the delegates during their convention in order to secure their votes.

Money certainly has its limitation especially in a situation where the strategy and platforms are weak but no doubt, money is a critical factor in politics.

You have shown your ability to mobilize resources with the protests. That is really commendable. We saw how donations- cash and kind- came in from far and wide.

Towards the 2023 election, if each young person donates N500 every 6 months assuming a population of 20m people, that will be N20b yearly. If this is done in 2021 and 2022, that is a N40b financial ‘war’ chest.

Let’s do a few more simulations. With a contribution of N500 per person every 6 months assuming we have 5m people, that will be N5b yearly and N10b over 2 years. Crowdfunding is an option you should consider so you can crush the power of godfatherism in our politics.

If you get representatives who are altruistic, you can cut down the cost of logistics during elections significantly. You can deploy the funds raised judiciously.

Your aim is not to actually outspend any politician but to deploy resources where they are needed. It’s not straightforward like that as the issue of accountability needs to be worked through but what you have done by crowdfunding the protests show it can be done.

Make the amount to be contributed per donor something they can give without batting an eyelid. It’s not about the individual contributions- it’s about the pool. Get as many people as possible to buy in. Make the process very transparent so everyone can know what has been received

Get credible people to supervise the disbursement. Ensure reports are rendered as and when due. You can crowdfund different aspects of the election or the whole.

Start early.

I will continue with my thoughts in the next part.

Bayo Adeyinka

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