RENTED CROWD

By

Eddy Aghanenu


The campaigns are here again. Everywhere is buzzing. The unemployed and the poor masses are becoming useful once again in the hands of desperate politicians. The rented crowd is here again.

If you are probably from another planet and does not know anything about rented crowd, then the best place to learn about it is Nigeria. During elections, politicians in order to prove that they are popular, rent crowd for their campaigns. At the end of the day, terms such as ‘mammoth crowd’, ‘massive crowd’ are used to describe such gatherings. Due to the economic situation, the masses are rented for peanuts. They are faced with a lot of hazards – long trips on very bad roads, venue to sleep, feeding and lack of medical care. In most cases, politicians do fulfill their own side of the bargain. The contract amount are sometimes not paid.

An example is the recent ‘mammoth crowd’ that attended Ibrahim Babangida’s recent declaration for the presidency in Eagle Square, Abuja. According to The Nation of Friday, 17th September, 2010, the crowd rented from Minna in Niger State have not been paid their allowance of N5,000 per person. Ironically, Minna is the home town of Ibrahim Babaginda.

According to Yau Ibrahim, the spokesperson of the commercial crowd, they promised an allowance of N5,000 for the trip. The money was supposed to be paid before the trip. Unfortunately, this was not done. They were assured that they will be paid on the way. This was not to be. Finally, they were told that the money would be paid at the venue. It was an unfulfilled promise.

The commercial crowd has now besieged the Government House, Minna, for their money.

Expect more of such stories as the campaign progresses. This is what you get when politics is turned to ‘a do or die’ affair.