Congratulations on your audacious victory in the just concluded presidential election. The optimism of your victory could only be in doubt by those who know little of your antecedence and track records. To Progressives, it is no surprise and indeed well deserved.
This letter wishes to draw your attention to the pit fall that the Buhari government fell into which led to the arduous battle the APC had to fight in the 2019 and the recently concluded 2023 general elections. No political party in our nation’s history has dismembered itself with salient rife like observed within the APC in recent times resulting into heightened public outrage and glorification of erstwhile failures of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which was ousted in 2015, to such extent that eluded the landmark achievements by the Buhari administration from 2015 till date. Nigerians were suffocated like a thirsty man in a desert who will drink even urine as water.
People suddenly exhumed the buried lucre skeleton of Nigeria’s future buried by the PDP becoming the biblical dry bones of Ezekiel 33 that could rise again. What could have made Nigerians wish they went back to the days of PDP when the Buhari government’s 8 years evidently outperformed the last 16 years of gargantuan corruption? Is it president Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration which was accused of embezzling about $16billion in just the power sector or the Goodluck Jonathan administration that appendage the Nigerian brand of corruption at historic proportion.
Nigerians were sooted with the imagery and grandeur of utopia; “all is well,” is what they were made to believe. The media was paid heavily for this as Nigerians danced to radio jingles, giggled at television adverts and watched government spokespersons assured that things have never been this better. Whilst the nation sank slowly into an Amazonic marsh of economic scarecrow.
2015 came! One would have expected that the manner in which Nigerians had supported and welcomed the Buhari government in 2015 would crescendo into the consolidation of the humongous efforts of the government through its dogged fight against corruption, recovery of looted funds, infrastructural development roadmap, unprecedented social intervention, remarkable prudence in management of resources etc. But instead, the APC gait to victory in 2023 against a massive ill public sentimental onslaught against your candidacy.
What happened? How did the darling party of Nigerians in 2015 suddenly become the one that will have to muscle for its place in governance? The appointment of proven media practitioners, the likes of Garba Shehu, Special Adviser to the president on Media & Publicity who’s career stint in journalism as former president of Guild of Editors and columnist in the Nigeria Premium Times and his colleague, Femi Adesina, ace journalist who scintillated readers with his espouse on politics would give the Buhari government unfair media advantage.
Their parlay with the media would amplify the achievements of the government so much that opposition parties and pessimists would back paddle and bend the knee. Even the entrance of the learned silk, Festus Keyamo into the courts of the administration cabinet had left jaws dropping at the abysmal quietness and reactive media parlay. The vast array of media savvy professionals at the presidency could have drove the narrative up to speed than wait for naysay to postulate. One would wonder, what happened to journalism? What is behind those curtains in the villa that muted these exceptional individuals who erstwhile dined with the media. Why did they allow the government sink so deep in public disaffection and distrust when very little could have been done to lead the hurdle.
Nigerians were not patient to wait for the promisedland in silence. The public who had become starved, dry and left to decode the body language and good intentions of government had to invent their own means. If the government knew this mistake would become sand in its wheel of change it never would have gave it a second thought. The biggest mistake it ever made.
The government kept millions of its citizens in the dark; when you don’t feed the masses what they need then be willing to deal with what they will throw at you. Even a dog often isolated from its owner will soon bark at him.
It is one of America’s bestselling authors and speakers, Zig Ziglar who said that marketing is the lifeblood of any enterprise. There is also a popular cliché in advertising that says, it is needless winking in the dark, because no one will see you. It is unfathomable why the Buhari led government would undermine the role of the media over the course of its 8 years of governance, without realizing that this same tool facilitated the victory it got in 2015 against an incumbent government.
How did it forget so soon the backlash and relentless reboot by its social media armies against the day-to-day dirt thrown by the incumbent government in order to discredit the Buhari/Osibanjo candidacy. The media bash in 2015 elections against the APC presidential candidate could have buried anyone, instead it was dusted off and blown away by the sporadic response of these young ardent followers at the time.
What happened afterwards? Why did the APC struggle so much to swim aboard the tide of social barge these same young vociferous social media mercenaries unleash on it in the 2023 general elections? Did the Buhari administration perform so badly that the public would vent their rage on the party or was his efforts not amplified enough? Even the president at some point in 2022 expressed his dismay at how his achievements were not publicized and little credit accorded his administration by his own appointees and party faithful. Even those who benefitted immensely observed table manners or better put in Nigerian parlance, “they chop clean mouth.”
Yet, even anti-Buhari supporters would agree that the government has achieved landmark strides, especially in areas of infrastructural development, policy reform, serial interventions in agriculture, security, ICT etc.
In the race to the 2023 general elections and the public outburst of the president instigated his ministers and heads of MDAs to rev up and wrangling last minute jingles, press interviews, media hypes and releasing publications to amplify the achievements of the government. So many Nigerians expressed shock at the reality of the magnitude of the projects executed by the government.
But already, the stench had spread and just one spray of deodorant could not be enough to undo what the nose had inhaled. The last minute media acrobatics could not downplay the misinformation fed the public turning them against the government the pillaged in earnest for positive change.
Undoubtedly, Nigeria has become one of fastest growing and highest social media driven nations in the world to such level that our young people have drawn the attention of some of the most influential people to our nation’s doorstep. Our entertainers have become global influencers in such historic fashion than one could ever imagined. Truly, any leader who losses this population must be sure to count his teeth with his tongue in the days ahead.
Sen. Ahmed Bola Tinubu, President Elect, has been known as one who has always surrounded himself with young ingenuous Nigerians right from his time as governor in 1999 till date. Even some of the bright minds who came to national spot light through his recommendation could not be easily shoved aside for incompetence and lack of capacity. Yet, there is a new state in Nigeria now (an invincible State yet powerful to put a hold on the entire nation, Social Media State of Nigeria-37th State) he must endear if he seeks to enjoy the lost love of 2015. BAT presidency must prioritize the media as an ally in development and partners in progress. It will be wise to court, woo and engage them. Do not leave Nigerians to assumptions or presumptions.
Importantly, whoever shall be appointed as the spokesperson, minister of information or whatever nomenclature is chosen, must carry the New Media along. It is better said wrongly than not said at all. Your Excellency Sir, as I conclude, please don’t forget that Nigerians will not say how good your soup taste until you say it out loud.
May the taste of your soup in these 4 years be heard in the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.
May your government leave a lasting legacy that will endure for those after you.
Long live Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President Elect
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.