The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Olalekan Adetayo

  • Makarfi slams Presidency over expulsion of Punch reporter

    Makarfi slams Presidency over expulsion of Punch reporter

    The Ahmed Makarfi led Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has chided the Presidency for expelling The Punch Aso Rock correspondent, Olalekan Adetayo.

    Adetayo was on Monday expelled from the Aso Villa by President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief Security Officer, Abubakar Bashir over a report he did on Buhari’s health, which Bashir considered unpalatable.

    A statement on Tuesday by the spokesman of the Makarfi camp, Prince Dayo Adeyeye said the development did not come as a surprise, stressing that the nation was gradually tilting toward full blown dictatorship.

    The statement said, “The PDP acknowledges Mr President’s health challenges; and as a human being and an elder statesman, we quite understand the need for him to have adequate rest and continuous medical attention.

    “We are therefore not too surprised that the President has not in recent times been able to fully face the rigours of governance and has to make very rare public appearances.

    “This is pretty obvious to all Nigerians. The Punch story is, therefore, nothing extraordinary. It merely reflects what Nigerians already know with perhaps a little bit of speculative license. It, therefore, should not have elicited the extreme reaction from the President’s Chief Security Officer.

    “The media, as the fourth estate of the realm is an important pillar of any democracy. Any attempt to gag the press in whatever guise is an abridgement of the rights of the people and a direct assault on our hard earned democracy.

    “We therefore totally condemn the action of the President’s CSO. He must realise that we are in a democracy and not a military dictatorship. It is also revealing and shows the lack of synergy in the Villa that a reporter will be expelled without the knowledge or concurrence of the President’s Adviser on Media Relations.

    “For the umpteenth time, we want to reiterate that Nigerians deserve to know the health condition of their President. No one has the right or power to hide the President behind the curtain while dishing out instructions to Nigerians in the name of the President.

    “We join all well meaning Nigerians to wish the President a speedy recovery and pray that the Lord Almighty will grant all that is required for him to fulfil his responsibilities to our dear country”.

  • Presidency orders recall of expelled Punch Reporter

    Presidency orders recall of expelled Punch Reporter

    The Presidency has ordered the recall of the Correspondent of Punch Newspapers, Olalekan Adetayo, attached to the State House, Abuja, barely 10 hours after his expulsion from the beat.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, confirmed this development in a message addressed to the Chairman of the State House Press Corps, Malam Ubale Musa.

    The presidential spokesman revealed that the recall of Adetayo followed the intervention of the Director-General of the Department for State Services (DSS), Lawal Daura.

    According to him, his office and that of the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity will resolve the issue on Tuesday.

    “”We just got a clearance from Malam Lawal Daura, the DG SSS, to recall Lekan to the Villa. Please come along with him tomorrow.

    “”The Special Adviser on Media, Femi Adesina and I will resolve the issues,” he said.

    It would be recalled Adetayo was interrogated on Monday afternoon by the office of the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the president over a story the presidency considered offensive.

    The correspondent, who spent about 45 minutes with his interrogators, was later escorted out of the Presidential Villa by security operatives after picking his belongings from the Press Gallery of the Council Chamber.

    Mr Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, however, posted on his twitter handle on Monday evening that his office was not consulted before Adetayo was expelled from the Villa by the CSO.

    According to him, an amicable solution to the matter is being worked out by relevant offices in the Villa, adding that President Buhari does not intend to muzzle the media in any way.

     

  • Punch correspondent barred from Presidential Villa

    Punch correspondent barred from Presidential Villa

    Top officials in the Presidency on Monday de-accredited the correspondent of Punch Newspapers, Olalekan Adetayo.

    He was interrogated on Monday afternoon for some hours over a story the Presidency considered offensive.

    Adetayo was later escorted out of the Presidential Villa by security operatives after picking his belongings from the Press Gallery of the Council Chamber.

  • Aso Rock badge show

    An interesting picture of what may be described as the latest fashion accessory in the country’s corridor of power came through a noteworthy observation by The Punch presidency watcher, Olalekan Adetayo, who writes a weekly column called ASO ROCK Lens. He wrote recently: “As the 2015 presidential election draws nearer, President’s men are falling over one another to display their loyalty to the man who has been endorsed as the sole candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party.” Of course, he was speaking about President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Adetayo continued: “One of the ways they are showing their loyalty is the way they attach pin-ups on their lapels and dresses in the case of women. Some of the lapels only have the President’s portrait. There are other pin-ups with only inscriptions such as ‘Goodluck to you’ among others.”

    It would appear that Adetayo was speaking of promotional badges. To go by his observation, badge producers with the right political connections must be doing well; more specifically, badge makers who have the ear of the politically powerful must be laughing all the way to the bank, considering that, apparently, money is no object when it comes to the Jonathan re-election project. It stands to reason that if expense is no object, then providers of such items related to the Jonathan re-election ambition must be in paradise.

    It is conceivable that, given the circumstances, those who are interested in profiting commercially from the opportunity would reach not only new heights of creativity but also new depths of desperation. Instructively, Adetayo also observed: “The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs introduced another dimension to the matter when it produced digital pin-ups, seeking votes for the President. The item which is rechargeable has the message scrolling on the chest of whoever attaches it to his lapel.”

    However, it is equally imaginable that the sycophantic badge wearers may also exhibit creativity and desperation. For instance, there could be individuals who would display more than one or two different badges, and wear them in ways thought to be maximally visible and effective.

    Indeed, this observed publicity approach in the place of power reminds Hardball of the new age advertising concept known as “human billboard.” In effect, the badge wearers have chosen to play the role of billboards, but that isn’t all. They could also be seen as “mobile billboards”, another development in modern-day advertising. So, this particular activity of the advertisers of Jonathan and promoters of his presidential re-election dream may be considered a study in how to sell an unappealing product to an unwilling market. It is an example of high-pressure salesmanship.

    Interestingly, it should not be surprising if the pro-Jonathan badges are regarded as emblems of allegiance in Aso Rock, where power seems to be all that matters and service to the people appears to be of no importance.

    But beyond Aso Rock, these badges more likely suggest grovelling of a nauseating kind. Those who strut around wearing them must be small-minded men of straw, which includes the women too.