INTRODUCTION
Dr. Abati is a Nigerian, and like every other Nigerian, he has every right to accept to serve the nation in the capacity of a Senior Media Adviser to the President. As things stand at the moment, it is reasonably difficult to fathom any plausible excuse for the strident criticism surrounding his acceptance of the job, except for the fact that Dr. Abati has long been a columnist and a fearless critic of previous administrations.
He is a fine Journalist whose qualification for the job of Press Secretary or Media Adviser was never in doubt or contested by anyone. Besides, he was never or known to be a card-carrying member of any of the other political parties. So, I do not understand how being a known critic of previous administrations is a disqualification for the job of a Media Adviser.
As a Nigerian and a journalist of an unblemished record, his willingness to serve President Jonathan was not in error: it follows established precedents, locally and internationally. The post of Chief Press Secretary to the President is not a Nigerian peculiarity. This is a lawful assignment under the auspices of a democratically elected President and Head of Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Gentlemen, give Reuben a chance. The accusation of betrayal as we often read in social media is complete baloney and without a reasonable foundation. Only The Guardian Newspaper can make that accusation, if at all.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
About two decades ago, Chief Duro Onabule, the Editor of the National Concord Newspaper who also writes a weekly column for the paper on Thursday, had an open confrontation on the pages of our national newspapers with retired Air Commodore Emeka Omerual, then Minister of Information for IBB’s Military Government. It started when Mr. Omeruah accused the Press of an unpatriotic act for publishing articles and news stories designed to bring down the government.
Chief Onabule responded in his weekly column that no press is capable of bringing down a government that reaches out to the people and their needs. The tit for tat lasted for about three weeks, and at the end; IBB made Chief Onabule his Chief Press Secretary. Not everyone took kindly to the appointment.
Mr. Sonala Olumhense then the Op-Ed Editor of The Guardian Newspaper came out from his “Afghanistan” crying foul. He saw treachery in the making and called the position "press boy" in his piece. He called on Nigerians to reject the appointment and labeled it a ploy by IBB to silent and emasculates the press. His main argument then was that, as a journalist of the caliber that Chief Onabule is, as a columnist and an as the editor that he is, he is a greater asset and importance to the Nigerian people and the news media than being a "press boy" to the President.
That was it; as expected, there was uproar. The Guardian Newspaper was bombarded with letters and op-ed articles, some fiercely condemned Mr. Olumhense’s effrontery for labeling the position of Chief Press Secretary as “press boy”. Others saw it differently, lamenting as the author did that the vacuum created by the exit of Chief Onabule was ill-motivated and cannot be occupied by another Journalist.
(Mr. Olumhense's controversial piece, received more than ten letters and five op-ed pieces in the Guardian Newspaper within two weeks of the publication of the article. Of the five articles, three were in support and two took umbrage with Sonala's audacity. Remember, there was no internet then, but our postal service was reliable. And me, I was buying and reading The Guardian, and reading at least, three other newspapers every day. So, what you are reading here is not a research work, but a true account of history by a true witness).
In hindsight, I wish it didn't happen. I was an ardent fan of Chief Onabule; I never miss his Thursday column. He was fierce, blunt, brutish, and fearless. In his writing, he was never a philosopher - no sermonizing or trying to sound intellectual; it was always straight talk from the opening paragraph to the last sentence. The Chief has a powerful presence, aura, and great personality. You could feel it in his writing. He never tried to entertain or to prove that he has a good command of the English Language. It was all about the serious issues of our time. But he was not Dr. Abati.
ABATI AND THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER
There is no denying the fact that Dr. Abati is not Chief Duro Onabule. Abati is the wordsmith, an angry young man out of graduate school, forceful, and overly verbose in his fact analysis. At that stage, there is the tendency to prove a point - the new kid on the block is first among equals.
Dr. Abati came to the Guardian Newspaper at the time most of us who grew up with the newspaper from the very first day was already indoctrinated or used to the writing style and standard of people like Dr. Stanley Macebuh, Dele Cole, Lade Bonuola, Sonala Olumhense, Nosa Osadolor, Odia Ofeimun, Chinwezu, Pini Jason, Eleum Emeka Izeze, Godwin Sogolo, Chief Effiong, Jide Oluwajuyitan, Femi Kusa, Professor Osafisan, Madunagu, Professor Ojetunji Aboyade, Dr. Yemi Ogubiyi, Sunny Ojeagbase, Mitchel Obi, Trigo Egbegi to mention just a few. But the new kid on the block, Dr. Abati, belongs to a different generation and a different era. He was simply an essayist, who writes as if he is defending a term paper.
When he started, you could feel the youthful exuberance immediately in his articles – it was not too much about content or ideas, but pure analysis of developing stories as most columnists do these days. He was in a class by himself. Indeed, he has a Ph.D. in liberal arts. But he has no long resume. He was not Odia Ofeinmun (Awo's Personal Secretary). He was not Stanley Macebuh, Ogubiyi, Bonuola, or Chinwezu (international exposure). And he was not Jason, Olumhense, or Effiong ( a journey through the years). Like Aboyade, Bonuola, Ogunbiyi, or Sogolo, he was not a scholar. He was simply Dr. Abati, a raw gem, straight out of the academic factory, ready to rumble.
I do not know much about Chief Onabule's history or background as a journalist prior to his arrival at the National Concord, but I can say without equivocation that his departure from the National Concord was a huge loss to his fans. Mr. Olumhense was right, the Nigerian people deserve Chief Onabule more than the IBB's Military Government. As it turned out, it took the emergence of TELL Magazine and the unrelenting crusade of our social and political activists to force IBB to "step aside". You can not say that of Dr. Abati's departure from The Guardian Newspaper to Aso Rock. That, indeed, is the theme of this article.
IBB AND JONATHAN AND THE CHOICES THEY MADE
President Jonathan is not President Babangida. The two were in the market for Press Secretary at a different time and for different reasons.
President Babangida was very much aware of who Chief Onabule is in the media cycle, what he represents, and the impacts of his writing in the larger society when he hired him. He hired Chief Onabule, for reasons not exclusively connected with the role of a Press Secretary. In a nutshell, going by IBB’s calculation, the issue was not much about what Chief Duro Onabule can do for him or his government as Chief Press Secretary, but the harm that the Chief would likely cause him and his Military administration if the Chief is left without restraint. That was the basis of Mr. Olumhense's outrage, which those who took exception to his piece did not comprehend.
On the other hand, chances are that President Jonathan didn't know much about Dr. Abati, who he is, who he was, his exploit at The Guardian Newspaper, or what he represents as a Journalist. On that, I stand to be corrected. In addition, his hiring was not calculated to preempt any real or imagined harm he might cause Jonathan's administration. The recommendation was simply in good faith - for his journalistic excellence and knowledge of the media industry. Again, I stand to be corrected.
Most importantly, IBB has been a national figure in the military and in the political scene for more than 30 years before he became the Military President. He knows the geography of Nigeria in and out. He knows the top Military officers, the names of their wives, their children, and places of birth. He knows the top political leaders, their history, influence, strength, and weakness. And he knows the business leaders and the industrialists. He knows the academics, the celebrities, the writers, and the young and the restless. These are verifiable facts.
You cannot say the same about President Jonathan. We know where President Jonathan was before he arrived at Aso Rock. Judging by some of his public pronouncements so far, one could reasonably and prudently so, conclude that he came to the scene unprepared or sooner than expected - politically, he was a foreigner in his own country when he arrives at FCT. (The same is true of all our Presidents since independence).
After surviving the intrigue and the political machination played out in the open by President Yar'Adua inner cycle, President Jonathan, became a one-man gang - trusting no one. How he survived the ordeal is outside the scope of this piece. But the sad truth still remains: in their (the political establishment in the Federal Capital) reckoning, his ascendancy was an aberration. It was clear, President Jonathan doesn't need to be told; he needs an outsider, a Press Secretary to trust and confide in. And Dr. Abati was a good fit for the job.
ANALYSIS
At the time President Jonathan hired Dr. Abati, Dr. Abati must have been at The Guardian Newspaper for close to 20 years, if not more than. At that level, Dr. Abati was no longer the vibrant uncut gem from the classroom, poise for a fight. But a very grown-up gentleman who, like IBB, knows much about Nigeria and its power elite groups better than anyone else. With his academic background, he is no doubt a good fit for the position of Media Adviser to President Jonathan. In a nutshell, given President Jonathan's background and shallow knowledge about Nigerians and our proclivity to play intrigue on one another, he deserves Dr. Abati more than Dr. Abati's fans and the newspaper industry deserve him.
Dr. Abati did not betray anybody when he accepted the job. He is not engaged in any conduct that his detractors can objectively say is unethical. He was a journalist who worked for a private newspaper. He was never a leader of an opposition movement or a political party. Thus, he has every right to accept the job of a media adviser to the President. The criticism is without foundation and in every respect, petty and rickety at the base. His critics should find something new to write about.
MOVING FORWARD
As things are today politically, the President might not be able to lead the revolutionary changes that Nigerians are yearning for. His party is an embodiment of fraud and greed. For the revolution to be televised he must be willing to, first, rebel against his own political party. How he does that is beyond any ones guess - he needs a base. Otherwise, he would be committing political suicide.
A situation where the children of the past and present leaders of his own political party are some of the oil marketers directly involved or indicted in the ongoing petroleum subsidy scam investigation makes Dr. Abati's job more difficult. Abati and his boss face indictment every day in the mind of every Nigerian for being part of a political party that seems to be very good at setting up committees and investigatory panels, but lacks the capacity to convict known thieves and recoup the looted funds. The two gentlemen will either go down together or remain celebrated; such outcome will be influenced principally by the way President Jonathan and his administration handle the ongoing petroleum subsidy scandal.
Dr. Abati should make a choice: You cannot be sharing meals at the same table with the President if not for closeness, trust, and respect. Therefore, each second you spend with the President must be put into use. The President must know how much it cost the average Nigerian to eat breakfast, to send their children to school, to fuel their vehicles to work, and the time it takes to commute from Lagos to Benin City by road.
The President must know how long it takes to complete a four years bachelor degree, how long it takes graduating students to make it to NYSC Camps, how long it takes to clear a vehicle from our Ports, how long it takes a ship to berth at our Ports, how long Nigerians stay at the gas pump to fuel their vehicles.
He must know or should be able to answer the question: why can't we find a permanent solution to cancellations of examination results taken by our children who graduated from Grammar Schools, why can't we find permanent solutions to the ASUU strike and closure of our Universities, and why can't we resuscitate NUGA or the University Game and makes life on campus exciting once again.
These are some of the stuff that the President does not need a Minster to remind him of or additional funding to execute. Also, he does not need the approval of the National Assembly to implement them. It is a matter of phone call to the Head of the appropriate Department.
The new Inspector General of Police took a decision a few months ago that no other IGP or President has ever tried or suggested - he ordered the Police out of our Highways and reintroduced Highway Patrol. Every Nigerian, at home and abroad loves it. It requires just common sense. That is your job, Mr. Abati - common sense. It is not enough to issue press releases; be substantive and be persuasive in your detailed analysis, because you are the President’s eyes and ears. If he is not taking your advice, resign. That is a very honorable thing to do. And that is the choice you have to make fast.
President Jonathan can make Nigeria walk tall again, without going to the National Assembly or setting up committees. We have the institutions and we have the manpower; it is left for the President to put them to good use. How the President does that to maximum effect depends on the council he is receiving from those closest to him. Dr. Abati, that is your job. If you want a new definition for your job, Google the name: Karl Rove. Good luck.
