A public relations stunt to promote Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered vehicles in Nigeria has failed.
The campaign which failed woefully even before it kickstarted saw three celebrities namely singer, Tuface, comedian, Basketmouth, and skit maker, Ola of Lagos traveling on a knowledge acquisition trip to India.
Aimed at using celebrity endorsements to promote the supposed safety and efficiency of CNG-powered vehicles, the government-sponsored trip has been nothing but a disaster with both fans and critics of the celebrities questioning their authority to speak on a technical and specialized topic such as CNG usage and safety.
On social media, the PR stunt aimed at promoting the campaign synonymous with President Bola Tinubu, following an astronomical rise in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), has been described as propaganda from a group of sellouts.
Reactions that have trailed the campaign include a reply to a post by a Basketmouth. In his reply to the post titled “It’s not about politics, Roland Ugiangbe said: “So, when you condemned CNG it was politics, but, now that, the same government you condemned is sponsoring your trip to India, you suddenly realized that, it is not about politics. At last, everyone will be alright in Nigeria..”
Another social media user simply identified as Berry directly attacked Basketmouth saying: “Omo u fall my hand, Basket .. I used to hold you in high regard but mehn … you are the last person I can think who will change sides so quick .. I don’t think I will be interested in anything u do again … Omo it’s painful.”
Part of the clips released in the promotion campaign sees Baskethmouth in a video conversing with President Tinubu’s Senior Special Assistant on Digital and New Media, O’tega Ogra who is believed to have orchestrated the stunt. While playing the novice, Basketmouth enquired about Nigeria’s gas deposits, wastage through gas flaring, and exports to other countries including India.
In another video, legendary singer, Tuface could be seen in a vehicle attributing the low adoption and pessimism of Nigerians to ignorance.
“Ignorance is a terrible thing,” Tuface said. “Everybody is allowed to be skeptical of something you don’t know about or something you have not experienced,” he said.
Reacting to Tuface, Charles Bilulu asked: “What is the composition of CNG and what is its specific heat capacity? What exactly do you even know about CNG? Some deals dey purge.”
Brendan Champion also came for the singer saying: “Someone said I should ask you what is the full meaning of CNG without using Google.”
On his part, Jerry Toboh wondered why entertainers were being used to endorse the job of engineers. He asked, “If they bring Engineers to explore Entertainment, art, and culture exhibitions abroad, would you like it?”
Nehemiah Ifeanyi Nwosu queried them thus: “How many of you in that team drive a CNG-powered car? Una just be enablers of incompetence.”
Adebola the Emcee said: “Boss, can we revisit this conversation after you convert all your cars? Ola of Lagos sef dey deal in cars, make he convert some in his garage.”
Maazi Chukwuma encouraged the trio to buy CNG-powered vehicles and share them with their families. He wrote, “Buy CNG cars share them with your families, and since you’re an ambassador of it convert all your cars!”
Summarizing the futility of the entire publicity stunt, Agba Voter on social media said that the amount of people convinced by the trio is zero.
Before now, Nigerians have expressed skepticism about CNG as an alternative source of energy for vehicles, questioning its general safety. The situation has not been helped by cases of explosions in certain states in Nigeria and the ban on CNG-powered vehicles in other nations.
Despite this, CNG appears the preferred source of energy of the Nigerian government, as it has set up a body identified as the Presidential CNG Initiative (PCNGI). The body is charged with spreading the gospel of CNG conversion while ensuring its widespread adaptation by financing the conversion of public transport vehicles.
However, PCNGI’s achievements have been limited, as private car owners continue to ask safety questions and lament the high cost of converting PMS-using vehicles.
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