Politics Unusual: Rethinking Nigeria Political Terrain through Political Marketing Strategies

Abstract

Political marketing has been variously adapted in furtherance of party politics and marketing of government and its policies, programmes, etc. In this article political marketing is utilized as a vehicle to achieve some behaviour change among key political actors in the Nigeria political landscape. Over the years, Nigeria political terrain has been characterized by some ills such as electoral malpractice, violence, intimidations, and other forms of dark art of Machiavellian political chancery. These anomalies constitute the new political lexicon, ‘politics as usual’ which must give way for a new political order known as ‘politics unusual’ To enthrone this new political order, political marketing strategies and principles must be employed ; first to educate key political stakeholders about the dangers of playing dirty politics and perpetuating the old order of ‘politics as usual’, secondly to use political marketing as instrument for behaviour change.; and thirdly to x-ray the benefits of adopting the market-oriented party model by political parties in Nigeria and market-oriented government framework as strategies that will sustain the call for enthronement of ‘politics unusual’ and de-marketing  features of ‘politics as usual’ in the Nigeria political terrain.

Keywords: Political marketing, behaviour change, communication, market-orientation