Nigeria Content Online

George Esiri’s
passion for documenting history is well known. The former photographer
with Vanguard, Guardian, Reuters and occasional contributor to NEXT, is
renowned for his haunting images of the conflicts and environmental
problems in the Niger Delta amongst other issues. He, however, appears
to have widened his scope by training his lens on a different subject
matter this time around.

“I was looking at
it from the angle of an individual from the south campaigning for the
first time as the president of this nation, wholeheartedly supported by
southerners and people in the north. I said to myself, even if he wins
or lose, he has to be documented. That was what informed my
documentation of the president,” Esiri explains at the opening of an
exhibition on the 2011 national presidential campaign of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) .

Titled ‘The
People’s President’, the three-day exhibition opened on Tuesday, April
5 at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja. It featured 52 out of the
over 10,000 images Esiri took of Goodluck Jonathan and other dramatis
personae on the campaign trail in the 36 states and the Federal Capital
Territory. There were also some of Jonathan’s days as vice president.

Beyond Jonathan

The 52 photographs,
however, are a mix of the ordinary and striking. Jonathan, who seldom
dances is shown moving his shoulders to music in one; while he appears
like a Catholic priest blessing the faithful with his hands stretched
in another. One is taken back to 2007 by an image of Jonathan and the
late Umaru Yar’Adua, his predecessor, campaigning in Delta State.

But the images are
not all about Jonathan and PDP stalwarts. ‘Port Harcourt Boy’ crooner,
Duncan Mighty is shown in one with singer Daddy Showkey doing his
peculiar ‘galala’ dance in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State while actress
Stephanie Okereke appears in another.

The hunter becomes
the hunted in another photograph showing a group of photo-journalists
with cameras pressed to their faces trying to capture a scene. Esiri
endeavours to capture the light side of the campaign with a photograph
showing some mascots and a policeman in a tired pose. A group of boys
are standing in front of Jonathan’s posters in another state.

Harrowing experience

“It was hectic,
harrowing and tough because at times, I travelled with a (pair of)
trousers and T-shirt for a week with my bag, laptop and camera. There
were some states I got to that I didn’t get hotel to stay,” Esiri says
while narrating his experience. “I never even planned for [the trips].
I left my family in Lagos for five months, I will just go spend two
days with them and come back,” he adds.

Luckily for him, he
didn’t labour in vain as Nigerians, including the president and some of
his ministers, appreciated the photographer’s efforts at the
exhibition’s opening event. Senior Special Assistant to the president
on Research, Strategy and Documentation, Oronto Douglas, was the first
in line. He disclosed that despite telling Esiri there was no budget
for him when he requested to join the president’s campaign trail, he
didn’t back down.

Acting national
chair of the PDP, Bello Haliru Mohammed also commended Esiri. He urged
the photographer to take the exhibition “round the country for the
benefit of all.”

Blessed country

President Jonathan
who also appreciated Esiri disclosed that he was pleased when told of
the exhibition, “that someone was capturing our movement.” He added
that travelling the country for the campaign has increased his
knowledge of Nigeria. “Going through the country gave me the privilege
of knowing more about Nigeria. When you travel from the coastal parts
of the Atlantic, passing through the mangrove swamps, through the rain
forest areas, the savannah belt, passing through the Guinea savannah,
the Sudan savannah into the semi desert areas, going through the rocky
parts, the flat terrain of the country; it gives you a picture of a
country with different ecological zones that could really be
harnessed.” Jonathan also commented on the style of dressing across the
regions, noting that these signify hope. “The colours I see tell me of
a bright future, a country that has hope. That if we collectively work
together, we shall reform this country. I am happy to be a part of this
project, the Nigerian project, to play our little role to see that we
collectively recreate a country for our younger generation.” Esiri, one
of the 100 photographers whose works are featured in ‘A day in the Life
of Africa’, intends to take up the suggestion to take the exhibition
round the country. The works are also available for sale to interested
people.

The photographer, who curated the exhibition himself, disclosed that
it was not an easy task. “I won’t lie to you; it took me five days
because there are some strong pictures. I was confused so on the fifth
day, I just started choosing because I have a big bank of photographs.”
One of the guests at the exhibition was the photographer’s brother,
actor Justus Esiri. “I am extremely happy and proud of this young man.
It has taken years but he has finally arrived at what he has passion
for. It’s one thing being a photographer, it’s another having a passion
for what you do as we have heard here,” he said of his brother’s effort.