Tag: PRESIDENCY

Preamble

The media is like a spider web. A small object that approaches it easily gets ensnared. But if the object is big, no time is wasted in attempting to tear the web apart. That is the parable of the media in the hands of power wielders.

It is no longer news that the State House correspondent of the Punch newspaper , Olalekan Adetayo, was expelled from the Presidential Villa in Abuja last Monday. And the expulsion was allegedly carried out on the order of the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Mr. President without any consultation with the Presidential media team in the same Villa. Thank God, a fine professional like Femi Adesina was up to the task as he immediately rescued the situation and thereby saved Mr. President of another embarrassing media dent that could have dangerously robbed on his image with a lasting effect. The incident is a further confirmation that the Presidency lacks synergy in its internal operations and the public is not oblivious of this.

Going through the history of Punch newspaper, one will discover that the paper was founded on a platform of radicalism in 1976 by two gentlemen of professional competence. These were the late Chief James Olu Aboderin, a Chartered Account and Samson Oruru Amuka Pemu, an Editor from the then Daily Times stable. The latter is now the Chairman and Publisher of Vanguard newspaper. The radical background of Punch newspaper was the reason for adopting the slogan: ‘Pack a Punch’ which was popularly known with the Punch in 1970s and early 1980s.  It was for the same reason that the Beattle Car was used as its hypothetical symbol of ruggedness. “You can’t kill the Beattle”.

 

Media waves

When the Nigerian media waves throbbed with the breaking news of Punch correspondent’s expulsion incident, it quickly became a reminder of several similar incidents in that same Villa since the inception of the ongoing 4th republic. It will be recalled that the first Presidential media spokesman in that Villa in 1999 was Dr Doyin Okupe (a medical doctor) who was generally perceived as a square peg in a round hole as far as that office was concerned. He had to be unceremoniously removed by President Olusegun Obasanjo after two years of intolerable performance in office.

But the generality of Nigerian journalists as well as the enlightened members of the public had known that Okupe’s sack was just a matter of time. The office required professionally trained personnel in the field of information and communication management. Thus, putting a medical doctor in that office was like putting a bull in a china shop.

 

Tunji Oseni’s Era

When the first experiment failed, the same President Obasanjo went out in search of a versatile journalist of international repute, as a replacement for Okupe. That impeccable qualification was found in the late Tunji Oseni. And the gentleman’s appointment brought a great relief to most Nigerian media houses in the belief that with Oseni in the saddle, the practice of journalism in relation to governance at the federal level would strengthen democracy in the country.

 

Obasanjo’s perception

Unfortunately, however, President Obasanjo did not see the job in that light. His seeming perception of the post of Special Adviser to the President on media was to use the office to silence the opposition and curb the perceived recklessness of the media. But Tunji Oseni was too refined to engage in such a butcher’s job. Thus, in less than two years again, President Obasanjo became fed up with Oseni’s civility and professional handling of the Presidential publicity management. What he (President Obasanjo) seemingly wanted for that office was brutality and not civility. He therefore fired the gentleman called Tunji Oseni through a humiliating radio announcement and then searched for another crack journalist of international repute who would however do the bidding of the President, irrespective of professionalism.

 

The late Remi Oyo

It was that presidential search that brought the late Remi Oyo to the Presidential Villa as Nigeria’s first female journalist to occupy the seat that was hitherto seen as a special preserve of the male gender. Although Mrs. Oyo was well equipped for the job, it was another matter if she would do it according to Presidential expectation at the expense of her professional prowess.

 

Professional parasites

It was that uncertainty on the part of the President that led to the employment of two ‘rental criers’ to handle the unprofessional angle of Oyo’s job. One of them was Femi Fani-Kayode. The other was Akin Osuntokun.

Sensing that Remi Oyo might not be courageous enough to operate differently from the way Tunji Oseni did, the President decided to rely on the duo of the bulldozers who were given different innocuous titles to justify their pay.  Thus, through their bulldozing approach to publicity at the Presidential Villa, those men relieved Mr. President of his professional allergy and thus prevented him albeit inadvertently, from ending up in hiring four Special Advisers/ Assistants on publicity in eight years of his tenure. But it is on record that he used three Advisers with the period.

 

Tunji Oseni’s narration

Narrating his ordeal after leaving office, Tunji Oseni said Mr. President suddenly walked into his (Oseni’s) office strangely one day and said to him: “Tunji, I am thinking of making you an Ambassador in one of the foreign countries.” And, when he (Oseni) mildly objected to that proposal saying that he was satisfied with the job at hand, the President just walked away without uttering a word. About ten minutes later, he (Oseni) heard of his sack on the radio. And within a couple of hours, some security men told him to quit his official residence within 48 hours. That is the extent to which professionalism is accorded respect in Nigeria. Tunji Oseji never got over that shock till his death.

If a renowned professional of Tunji Oseni’s status could be so humiliated what else is there to say about the expulsion of a correspondent from the Presidential Villa by a boss of another sector?

 

Expulsion of ‘The Monitor’ correspondent

While Remi Oyo held sway in that office, the State House correspondent of an Ibadan-based newspaper, ‘The Monitor’, was not just expelled from Aso Rock, he was physically bundled out of the Villa on the order of Mr. President who was supposed to be the father of all. The young man’s offence was to have asked a question that was considered as obnoxious to the Presidential power of that time.

From all these, it became evident that calling the media the Fourth Estate of Realm is a mere political nomenclature that is totally abhorrent to Nigerian political class. Perhaps that was why President Olusegun Obasanjo vetoed the Freedom of Information Bill for about five years from 2002 to 2007 and refused to sign it into law till his exit from that office.

 

Whistle Blowers’ risk

It was the former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, who first blew the whistle by drawing the attention of the world to the extent of corruption in Nigeria. He said emphatically that “Nigeria is a fantastically corrupt country”. That could be called his parting gift for our country on his way out of office as Prime Minister. But he had hardly completed that sentence when the noisy Nigerian press descended on him and took him to the laundry. As usual, our press rained abuses on him and asked him to proceed to the gallows. But now, less than six months after he made the statement, who is right? And who is wrong? Today, the man is globally acknowledged as a speaker of the truth at least in that respect.  And ever since, the Nigerian press has kept silent on the matter burying its ugly head in shame.

 

Not patriotism

Patriotism is not about blindly defending one’s country even where the truth is obvious. Going deep into the causes and effect of corruption in Nigeria, our press can hardly exonerate itself. Here is a press that blatantly paint the truth black and shamelessly clad falsehood in a cloak just for selfish reason.

Yours sincerely is not just a veteran journalist but also a member of Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE). But whatever the situation may be, calling a spade a spade is the hallmark of patriotism. Those who claim to love this country must show it not in words by in action.

Whistle blowing is yielding positive results. The looters of this country and their satanic accomplices must be ready to go to the gallows if need be. A trillion barking dogs cannot stop the surging train on its rail. Nigeria must survive.