Political appointments for those who hate politics (IV)

Second Strategy: Be in the same physical environment with the principal

 One of the laws of getting someone to like us, is to draw near to that person, experts say. Experts from psychologists deconstructing the construct of love, to covert agents recruiting spies, to Robert Greene in his Art of Seduction.

That’s why marriages are usually between individuals living in the same physical environment such as living in the same community, working together or studying together – people who see physically, regularly. 

The same applies to political appointment. “You can’t select what you can’t remember,” Jeffery Pfeffer wrote in his book, “and that includes… candidates for leadership positions,” he continued.

So you have to let the person doing the appointment see you. 

I understand that this is the most difficult strategy – for people with self-respect. 

I can tell you how I implemented the first two principles discussed so far. But I can’t tell you how I applied this because I think (in my naivety) I’m better than showing up at a place uninvited. 

The first strategy says one shouldn’t be a fence sitter. Therefore, before the 2011 election, I took a position against the PDP president and my PDP state governor. 

I created the site www.AgainstJonathan.com and created another one www.Diaspora4Buhari. org where diasporan Nigerians including myself pledged the votes of our family and friends for Buhari. 

I was so against Jonathan that some people feared for my life. For 2015 elections, the same thing happened. Some of my articles were some of the most shared. Remember “I Would Rather Die Than Vote Jonathan?”

That was me implementing the first strategy. Even though I wasn’t doing it for appointment. 

The example of my implementing the second strategy is that during the gubernatorial campaigns I told the Gov Bello (candidate then) that I knew something about the media and would employ my skills for him for free.  I stressed “for free” because some people were paid per diem during the campaigns. 

And when we went to Edozhigi, the village of my grandmother, I mounted the rostrum and requested that village should vote for Abu Lolo. 

That’s implementing the second rule: help the candidate with your resources. But I’m not very good with the third strategy – even though it’s one of the most important.

After my resignation, the governor used to invite me to Kaduna and Abuja where he told me his plans of how he wanted me to come back and serve with him. One day, he said he wanted me to be visiting the Government House. 

“Okay sir,” I replied. I knew I wouldn’t go. I never went. Even now, it can take up to 90 days before I step into the Government House. 

But I was wrong. So please don’t follow my example. 

I wasn’t wrong for protecting my dignity. But if you truly want to serve the people by your political appointment, you have to tone down your pride. 

“You have a higher goal (service),” Muhammad Alibaba would say, “so overlook these little annoyances.”

So don’t break this rule. It’s very important. “Out of sight, out of mind” is a cliché probably because it’s true. 

Many good guys don’t do this. I recall when we were new in government, before the appointment of commissioners, etc. many people hung around Gov Abubakar Sani Bello. They were too many. One day he looked around in exasperation and asked:

“Where is Mr. X, where is Alh Y, where is Dr. Z? I don’t see the people who truly worked for us. Rather I see others! “

You see, the good guys didn’t come. He had to ask after them. 

The danger is that the governor can become overwhelmed with state issues and security problems that with time, he would forget the good guys, if he doesn’t see them or hear from them. 

Jack Schafer, a former FBI agent, in his book “The Like Switch” wrote that when they wanted to recruit a foreign diplomat to be a spy for the United States, they used the law that says one should be frequently in proximity with that person. 

That is applying psychology principles in covert operations – I recall reading a psychology book about such laws when I was still a young boy. 

For your quest, you also need to apply this. I saw many people now in government before their appointment and I said that “there is no way this guy is coming in. What can he offer?”

But I was wrong. They are in. And some don’t even have godfathers. They simply kept coming and coming.