Dino Melaye Adopts the Pyrates Confraternity: A PR Coup?
[Former] Senator Dino Melaye – SDM – (Twitter handle: @dino_melaye) on the 4th of August 2020 tweeted a cynically edited video clip of members of the Pyrates Confraternity singing his name in elated spirits. The comment that accompanied the clip SDM presented was, “SDM loved everywhere… even Pirates [Pyrates].” Call it narcissism, the tweet appeared to be a subtly devised public relation’s [PR] coup by SDM. Perhaps, it has worked well in a nation with an ever ready atmosphere for the unusual.
Several Pyrates reacted on social media platforms professing that SDM was a fool to think the Pyrates were praising him. Because , in reality, they were mocking/condemning him for his bizarre resistance of arrest antics widely televised in 2018. The High Command of the Pyrates Confraternity in the person of the NAS Capoon stepped out to make a press release. His claim was they were not praising Dino Melaye. But Pyrates had for ages used songs creatively to address the ills of the politics and politicians in Nigeria. These reactions look like the were they responses SDM had hoped for from the Confraternity. He might even suffer Pyrate-envy since he is not a Pyrate nor part of its subculture.
The assumption that SDM did not know what the contents of the video clip meant may be very naïve one. The members of the Pyrates would accept and reinforce that assumption firmly, even if it is wrong. A Pyrate leaked the video clip to SDM and must have told him meaning and context of the song. It would take further naivete to deny or reject this. Some members will try to say SDM got the video from a stolen phone, a unhappy Pyrate’s wife or even the confession to a priest, which all seems improbable.
SDM, a crafty politician, understands PR very well. Does he slick spin to counter and provoke the Pyrates Confraternity while boosting his own image with verve on social media? My answer is yes. There is something else to consider. If the famous adversarial songs of protest and accountability by Fela Anikulapo-Kuti could not turn the tide on dirty politics and politicians (military and democratic) in Nigeria. How could songs sung in hidden enclaves achieve it?
I was once in Abuja with politicians and senior bureaucrats as an adviser. Every senior and middle-ranking public servant I visited at home had certain books on their bookshelves. The most pervasive book on the shelves was “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Green, a manual about how to gain power, influence and fame using immoral dirty tricks. The 6th Law of Power is “Court attention at All Costs. Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing.
“Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colourful, more mysterious, than the bland and timid masses.” Wow! At all costs impels the user of the law to gain fame or notoriety even if it results in slander, insults, condemnation, scandal or ridicule. There is no such thing as bad publicity according to this Law. I wonder how many times SDM has read this book, particularly the 6th Law of Power.
Nevertheless, SDM strikes most as someone who can deal with negative publicity with considerable proficiency. He craves attention. Shame and embarrassment are no deterrents to his persona or public conduct. Many would agree. He faints in face of crucial questions, behaves like a toddler resisting arrest (the basis of the song in the video clip), is put under arrest for sponsoring criminals. Then threatens to take his case to the International Criminal Court, taunts political heavyweights that have fallen from grace (Adams Oshiomhole and Ibrahim Magu). He also sing songs that suggest he is invincible/mischievous. And even stages a Pirates of the Caribean themed birthday bash; all going viral.
Before his election, as a senator, his self-portrayal was a as champion of the common man. But once elected, he became a playboy toff with a hedonist’s lifestyle and a fleet of choice cars. The former senator is a textbook example of the 6th Law of Power in practice and has used it successfully against many, most recently, the Pyrates Confraternity. SDM has thus turned his mockery into favourable notoriety for himself. That is, he had courted much attention from the public on the backs of the Pyrates Confraternity.
One big advantage SDM has is so simple and easy to expolit. The public does not understand the ways of the Pyrates Confraternity, any informed or PR savvy person knows this. Therefore, SDM counts on this information gap rather astutely and edits the video clip to remove any incriminating extra seconds – he did not imagine the public will see the full video. It is true the video clips mocks Dino Melaye in clear terms, but how is the public to know that? Apart from the Pyrates, many will take SDM’s side or find it amusing. Many will also forever believe SDM is a Pyrate which he is not.
For now, SDM will be on the prowl for another PR coup opportunity elsewhere.
Grimot Nane
Please take a look at my article, The Original Anti-Corruption Organisation in Nigeria: The Pyrates Confraternity (National Association of Seadogs) and Professor Soyinka’s and the Pyrates Confraternity – I Disagree!. Cheers