Indoctrinated With the Message of ‘Change’?

The world is used to the image of uneducated, disadvantaged and indoctrinated people engaged in terrorism. That imagery has been overthrown by recent occurrences. Increasingly, the class of people exhibiting extremist behavior has expanded to include well educated and influential people. There is the shameful episode of Mutallab, the Christmas Day pants bomber. Abdul Mutallab had a privileged upbringing but that did not protect him from becoming indoctrinated by extremists. And there is the more recent episode of the son of a former Chief Justice of Nigeria allegedly involved in terrorism.

Terrorism survives on ignorance and the extremist mindset of the participants which are often reinforced with propaganda. So, Nigerian youths and parents have to be wary of the gimmicks of the APC which is built on lies and propaganda. Many young APC supporters have been sold a Photoshop version of the presidential candidate of the party through a well-oiled media machine.

It was recently revealed that the APC had secured the service of an American consulting firm to wash and polish their Presidential candidate and help build a media wall around him, only allowing him open to the public through staged performances like the Chatham House event which he read from a written note, and which he had spent weeks practicing.
He has been hiding behind a media wall to avoid the challenge put out by President Jonathan calling him to participate in a public debate.

The APC are so confident about their propaganda machinery that they have publicly declared that their supporters have been completely taken in by it and have become so brainwashed that their reasoning has been numbed. Last week, the party tweeted from its official handles that even if valid video evidence is shown of their presidential candidate and party leader robbing a bank, their supporters will go ahead and vote for them. It is clear that the APC adapted the ways of religious extremism to politics as only indoctrinated supporters will go ahead to vote for a party regardless of credible evidence of criminal behavior.

It is easy to see that suicide bombers have exactly this mindset when they wear the bomb vests and go ahead to flick that button despite the presence of innocent human lives all around them.

It is important that young people and other segments of the electorates become aware of the APCs harmful propaganda and take steps to protect themselves from becoming indoctrinated.