The reality of Political Endorsement and the Toyin Abraham Saga: An Opinionated Article

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In Nigeria, one of the methods used by politicians to push publicity for their parties, especially when contesting for public positions is the form of endorsements. In reality, some politicians employ the help of public figures, especially celebrities who have the hearts of many people – in other words, their ‘fans’; to reach more audience. Many celebrities have a large number of followers who love, believe and even do what they say, and these politicians make use of this opportunity to get endorsed by one of them in order to gain more trusts. From a recent issue that transpired between a very popular actress, Toyin Abraham, and her followers, political endorsement as a topic, has generated a lot of controversies.

 Here is the gist – following the 2023 presidential election in which Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerged as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; the country’s economy has declined greatly. Amidst the bitter complaints of people, an old tweet of Toyin Abraham was resurfaced – where she endorsed Bola Ahmed Tinubu and claimed that he has great plans for the country which he shared with her. In the comment sections however, some displeased Nigerians were seen asking her what the plans were and why the country continued to decline even with the ‘great plans’ the president had. The whole verbal exchange, ‘cruise’ and constant trolls became escalated when certain people started to threaten her and her family. Reports had it that based on the threat to life, dares and constant trolls, the actress filed a petition to arrest the said troll. This whole event begs these questions – what does it mean to endorse?  Can Celebrity endorsements affect political outcomes? When an endorsement does not breed a favourable outcome, should the endorser be blamed?

 What does it mean to endorse?

To endorse means to express support or approval of something or someone officially or publicly. Endorsing a political party therefore means to publicly express trust in and support for the party. The history of political endorsement by celebrities can be traced back in history to the 1920 presidential campaign in America, where some film stars like Mary Pickford, endorsed a contestant – Warren Harding. It has long since being a ‘thing’ for some celebrities to publicly declare their support for a political party or another.

Can Celebrity Endorsements Affect Political Outcomes?

In my opinion, celebrity endorsements may or may not influence political outcomes. It cannot be denied that when a public figure endorses a political party, some fans of theirs are convinced that the political party is the best choice and vote for them. However, there are a lot that goes on with political campaigns than meets the eye. For instance, from what I noticed from the 2023 presidential election campaigns, the number of celebrities that endorsed the now president Bola Ahmed Tinubu were not up to the number of celebrities who did not endorse him. In fact, a large number of celebrities who were APC supporters, declared their disapproval of him. I would therefore not hypothetically agree that endorsements of political candidates by celebrities are basically capable of affecting the result of elections, I would rather say they may or may not affect election outcomes. There are millions of Nigerians who are not ‘online’, in other words they are not active on social media platforms not to talk of following famous celebrities to know their political opinions. We cannot also overlook the fact that some of these celebrities follow their endorsed candidates to their physical campaigns both at urban and rural areas, however, there are still millions of Nigerians who did not receive formal educations - in other words ‘illiterates’, who do not recognise these celebrities. Many of people like these votes based on unions and small associations they belong to.

Also, following a particular celebrity does not imply that all their opinions are welcomed by their followers, in the case of Toyin Abraham, when she drummed support for her candidate – Bola Ahmed Tinubu, there were many black lashes she received from her followers – that is to say that many of them did not support her opinion. Moreover, whether or not a celebrity publicly endorses a celebrity, there are many other factors that influence people’s decisions during election, including peer influence, organizational influence, family influence, and for political analysists who are capable of understanding how politics work; personal interests. At the end of the day, whether or not all these factors influence you, you are at liberty to vote whomever you deem fit and you would not be forced to vote otherwise. (With exemption of the corrupted election process in the country where some people are literally forced to vote a different candidate from the intended). From these, I contend therefore that while to some extent, celebrity endorsements of political candidates may affect political outcomes, we should not overlook the fact that they also may not.

When An Endorsement Does Not Breed a Favourable Outcome, Should the Endorser be Blamed?

When a celebrity gets paid to endorse a product, it is done with the intent of increasing visibility and perceptions of quality and sales. If the product turns out to be harmful, the endorser who attracted people’s attention to the product might be blamed, firstly on the basis that they did not make their research well on the safety of the product before endorsing it, and secondly, on the basis that the endorser might be aware of its harmfulness and yet goes on to endorse it for selfish interests and personal benefits received from the company. This goes sideways with political campaigns. When a political decision breeds unfavourable outcomes for citizens, a common reaction is to wail out and blame those who had endorsed them for influencing such a ‘bad government’. It is in fact in human nature to ascribe blame on people for bad outcomes, especially when they had influenced one’s decisions earlier. However, in my opinion, my condition for blaming an endorser when their endorsement declines negatively is when the endorsement is done for selfish interests. For instance, some celebrities who agree to endorse a political party do so because of personal rewards and benefits they receive from them, which may also extend to their families. When an endorsement is done for such malicious, selfish and greedy reasons, it is worthy of reproach and blame. When a person strives to benefit alone from a party, knowing fully well that many other people in the country are facing hardships, then such a person should be blamed.

 From the foregoing, it is clear that while there is possibility that a celebrity’s endorsement of a political party can affect the final outcome of elections; it is also possible that the endorsement might not affect election outcomes. A fact that remains is that there is high possibility of people’s decisions being influenced by opinions of celebrities they love. To this end therefore, political candidates’ endorsement by celebrities should be done with honesty, truthfulness and selflessness.