INSIGHT Goodbye, With Our Best Wishes
Duke Ogunbor
It is self-evident that the President’s media handlers have consistently let him down, judging by the third-rate manner they have gone about their task. It started with the special adviser to the President, media and publicity, Femi Adesina’s egregious description of the administration’s political opponents as “the wailing wailers.” - that sweepy characterisation was universally denounced for its pettiness and crassness. Not to be outdone, Garba Shehu, his junior partner, and senior special assistant on media and publicity (why the legendary taciturn Buhari chose to appoint in one fell swoop, two spokespersons, is still a mystery to many), misspoke on one-toomany times, it became increasingly difficult to take him serious. Thrown into the mix, are the headscratching comments by the special assistant on new media, the irrepressible Lauretta Onochie, and lest I forget, the endless stream of head-spinning statements by the granddaddy of them all, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that inherently-duplicitous- purveyorof-mendacious- propaganda; all working together to ensure their principal is always in the news - for the wrong reasons.
Now, compare the antics of these slap-stick quartet to the professional manner Laolu Akande, the senior special assistant to Vice President has gone about his business, you can literally see professionalism oozing from all his official statements, and conduct - a clear testament to the fact that not always are two heads or four in this case, better than one.
This presidency is floundering, and has clearly lost most of the goodwill with which it rode into power, therefore, it will be incredibly difficult to achieve much of what is left on its agenda before campaign season, unofficially kicks off next May. So if by chance, there are plans to reverse course, and introduce policies and programmes that will alter the downward trajectory of the economy, and also purge the land from all the bile that has been dredged up in last couple of years; then there has to be a complete overhaul of key components of the executive branch - starting with the media team.
That team has consistently let the President and the nation down, and should take a long overdue walk into the sunset, with our best wishes; the mere fact that someone served you very well during the campaigns is no guarantee that he will do same in government, yes, I am looking straight at you Mr Lie, sorry, Lai Mohammed. After all, politicians are expected to campaign in poetry, but govern in prose - it’s time to take the hard decision, and cut them loose. Nigeria deserves better!
“Be resolute in your convictions, but never absolute in your views” -Duke Ogunbor