Senator Monday Okpebholo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the September 21st election, has adopted silence as a strategy and weapon. This is according to his rambling in a recent BBC Pidgin interview. He considers it wise, but it is akin to bringing a knife to a sword fight. It may be unique, but it is not particularly effective, political analysts have said.
In politics and electioneering, where visibility, communication, and public engagement are key, Okpebholo’s silence is seen and interpreted as a lack of ideas, confidence, or readiness. While there might be some tactical advantage in not engaging in debates or honoring the Arise TV or Channels TV invitation to avoid pitfalls, Okpebholo’s deliberate silence and muteness simply indicate that he is out of touch and ill-prepared for the office he seeks.
For Okpebholo to refer to silence as a strategy or weapon might be a convenient way to spin a lack of presence or a failure to engage with voters. A strategic silence could work in specific scenarios, but in the rough and tumble of a campaign season, it seems more like an excuse than a winning tactic – even Okpebholo can attest to this if he wants to be sincere with himself.
Silence as a weapon? That sounds like trying to fight with an invisible sword – nobody sees it, nobody feels it, and in the end, nobody believes it exists. In the cutthroat world of politics, silence is not much of a weapon; it is more like waving the white flag while hoping everyone thinks you are still in the game.
For Okpebholo, calling silence a weapon is just a clever rebranding effort, but in reality, it is more like disarming oneself in the middle of a battle. Okpebholo is simply not smart. In a campaign where words, promises, and engagement are the ammunition, staying silent does not strike as a strategy. If anything,
Okpebholo’s silence is uninspiring even to his leader and supporters. It simply gives the impression that Okpebholo is out of ideas – or worse, out of the race.
