Redefining Roles of Spokesperson: My Romance with PR Practice – Lai Mohammed
Let me first make a confession. I did not study Journalism or Mass Communication and never for one day worked for or in any media establishment in my life.
For the records, my first degree is in French from what is now Obafemi Awolowo University but in our time was known as University of Ife, and I later read Law in the University of Lagos and was subsequently called to the Nigerian Bar.
Yet I have spent about 30 years of my active working life as spokesperson for one entity or the other.
Because whether it is as Public Relations Manager for the then Nigerian Airports Authority {now called the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria} or the National Publicity Secretary of Action Congress, Action Congress of Nigeria or the All Progressives Congress or as Minister of Information and Culture, I have always played the role of a spokesperson.
What then do you need to be a successful or in my case a controversial spokesperson.
I will say a say sound education, (like the one all of you are pursuing here) a brilliant mind, confidence, self esteem, aptitude, loyalty, courage, integrity, commitment, focus, fearlessness, {sometimes bordering on recklessness}.
In the words of Garba Shehu in his article in the Premium Times of April 17th 2013, you must also must possess “the ability to recognize and speak timely on the relevant issues, you must possess the ability to write your press releases with aptitude, fineness, tightness and precision giving news editors very little room to manouver”
I don’t believe we need to belabour ourselves why a sound education in any field of endeavour is an indespensible tool for a spokesperson. Back in 1978, I was a Graduate Assistant at the University of Ilorin. The Kwara Hotel in Ilorin was then the favourite hang out of the elites in the state capital and this is where I met the then Public Relations Manager of the then Nigerian Airports Authority [NAA](now the Federal Airports Authority Of Nigeria) [FAAN], who had come in the company of his Managing Director and other top management team of the fledgling organisation on a visit to the newly commissioned Ilorin Airport. When he introduced himself as the Public Relations Manager of the Nigerian Airports Authority, I told him very undiplomatically nay rudely, that he was doing a very poor job, as most Nigerians were not aware of the existence of his organisation and that for most Nigerians, ONLY the defunct Nigeria Airways, Custom, and Immigration were present at the Lagos Airport. Rather than get angry, Mr Willy Erukuakpor, the Public Relations Manager, a refined and polished gentleman calmly retorted “young man if you are so critical of my competence and so confident of yours, why don’t you come and join me and let’s work together to give the organsation the robust image you think I am incapable of giving it?” I arrogantly told him my focus then was to pursue a career in academics and not in the public service. When however a few months later my dream of proceeding to Canada for my PhD in French Studies was shattered by the introduction of the first Austerity Measures by the then General Obasanjo Government, I had no shame going to Mr Willy Erukunakpor asking if his offer was still open. He smiled and said “young man you are in luck, an interview for new Public Relations Officers has been scheduled for next week.” He gave me paper and pen and said “sit in that corner and write an application.” He guided me in writing the application and where to submit it. I was two days later shortlisted for an interview and ten days after, on the 31st of August 1978, I was offered employment as a Public Relations Officer Grade 1 on Salary Grade Level 09 at the then Nigerian Airports Authority and so began my career in Public Relations.
I was consequently posted to the yet to be commissioned Murtala Muhammed International Airport Ikeja, Lagos. Within a few days of my assumption of office, I was summoned to the office of the Airport Manager, Mr PBO NWAJEI of blessed memory. He then dictated to me a story I was expected to make into a press release. I explained to him why the press release would be a bad idea and that if I had been at the management meeting where that decision was arrived at, I would have advised against it. I now asked him naively why I was not invited to the management meeting where the decision was taken, and insisted that I must be invited to subsequent management meetings to avoid similar mistakes. He laughed heartily and informed me that only Grade Level 14 officers and above were eligible to attend management meetings and here I was a lowly Grade Level 09 officer. I argued with him that he must find a way to accommodate me in the management meeting as I was not ready to append my signature to any press release in future if I was not present where the decision was taken. Chief PBO Nwajei was taken aback by my insolence and audacity and quietly asked me if I knew the consequences of my insubordination. I was adamant. Mr NWAJEI must have been amused with the innocence of my ignorance and my passion for the job. But as I was to learn later, Mr NWAJEI loved to encourage young officers, he was progressive in his thinking but above all he had a soft spot for me. At the end, a compromise was reached. I would be allowed to attend management meetings but only in the status of an observer, with no right to contribute to proceedings. Any intervention or contribution from me can only be made through the Airport Manager. For me that was victory. With the passage of time of course I was able to be a full participant. This is how I won the right to be a the table from day one as a spokesperson. No spokesperson who is not at the table can be effective. I however, won’t recommend to any young or new employee to emulate my conduct as the outcome today may not only be vastly different but could be disastrous.
Having won a seat at the table, the next task of the spokesperson is to win over the respect and confident of his colleagues and become an integral, nay indispensable member of the top management team. Recall this was an era when the public relations profession was very lowly rated. The public relations practitioner was at that time seen as nothing but a a purveyor of and intermediary for all matters, dark and dishonorable, ranging from procurement of women of loose morals for the illicit pleasure of his bosses and collegeaus to distribution of “brown envelopes”. The public relations practitioner was perceived as a “fixer” of all things disreputable. In all fairness in this era you did not find very many university graduates in the profession. I vehemently rejected any attempt by anyone however highly placed in the system to make me a gigolo or bribe facilitator. I was quick to remind any of them that I was a product of a university system like them and that my job description did not include trafficking in women or facilitating bribery and corruption. In no time my collegeaus came to understand that these were no go areas and learnt to respect me as their equals. However, for the public relations practitioner to earn the respect of his colleagues and become indispensable, he must also be ready to learn everything under the sky relating to his industry. If he finds himself as a spokesperson in the aviation industry as I found myself at the beginning of my career, he must have at least a working knowledge of the industry from control tower, to the ramp, to airport operation, to meteorology, to airline catering to aviation security etc. It is only by arming himself with this knowledge that you can make useful contributions in management meetings and earn the respect of your collegeaus and in the process become a valuable and indispensable member of management. To achieve this, in my case, I subjected myself to the same courses my operational colleagues were exposed to. I understood their terminologies and jargons and could therefore hold intelligent discourse with them. Gradually they began to see me not just from their narrow and jaundiced prism of a public relations practitioner but rather as an equal. This probably accounts for how though I began my career in the public relations department, I was at various times appointed airport manager and ultimately Secretary to the Authority.
My decision to pursue a Law Degree and attend the Nigerian Law School even as an employee of the Authority is a classic example of “Opportunity Meeting Preparedness”.
Self esteem and confidence is an indispensable tool for the public relations practitioner and this again is why a sound, qualitative and round education become indispensable to the practitioner. He must not limit his role or function to press interventions, radio and television appearances, media monitoring, etc but must see himself as a major stakeholder in his organisation.
He must be willing and ready to use public relations as a tool to address challenges confronting his organisation. For instance one of the major challenges facing my organisation in the early 80s in particular was impunity and indiscipline, especially from the executive and legislative arms of government of the day. Some members of the National Assembly of that era had no respect for safety regulations and bye-laws of the Airports Authority. Some of them insisted on being driven to the foot of the aircraft for boarding. Some of them turned our runways into highways while some were furious and demanded the heads of the management of Nigeria Airways or any airport official who dared to challenge them. They threw tantrums if a flight departed without them, even when they arrived at the airport a full hour after their scheduled flight time.
Recall this was a period when only the Federal Government-owned Nigeria Airways Limited was the sole operator in our domestic market. At a point in time as a result of the irresponsible behavior of this class of people, international aviation authorities threatened to blacklist our airports as unsafe. As the head of the public relations at the airport, I spearheaded the campaign of naming and shaming which didn’t go down well with our so called “big men”but which fortunately got the solid support of not only my management but that of the government of the day.
Fast forward to the 4th Republic where I honed my skill as a spokesperson between 2005 and 2015. This time however, as the National Publicity Secretary at different times for THE ACTION CONGRESS, ACTION CONGRESS OF NIGERIA and finally ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS. We however need to pause a bit for some political context. When at the end of the General Election of 2003, the Alliance for Democracy, the political party that brought me to political limelight first as the Chief of Staff to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu when he was the Executive Governor of Lagos State [1999-2002] and later as its Kwara State Gubernatorial candidate in the 2003 General Elections was brutalized and annihilated by hurricane PDP, to the extent that FIVE out of its SIX sitting governors were swept away by the hurricane, sparing only Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Lagos state, as its lone survivor, it was clear to most discerning progressive politicians of that era that the only way to avoid Nigeria being turned into a one-party state was if progressive politicians of all hues and colour came together to form a mega party as a bulwark to the ramping big elephant determined to truncate Nigeria’s fledgling democracy. Welcome Asiwaju Bola Ahmed to the theatre of Nigerian national politics. A stage he has so thoroughly dominated in the last 25 years through steel determination, courage, foresight, selfless sacrifice, and love of country. This in itself is a story for another day.
Suffice to say that it was during these turbulent political period 2003-2015 during which the PDP consolidated its stranglehold on the Nigerian political and democratic landscape and out of the necessity to survive that I emerged as the spokesperson for Nigeria’s opposition. The truth of the matter is that Asiwaju literally donated me to the merger struggle but did not abandon me to my own devices.. He supported me with everything from resources to political protection, counsel, mentoring, and unfettered access to both himself and the top echelon of the party.
As a result I became the embodiment of the aspirations and ethos of the party and was able to speak authoritatively for the party without any fear of being contradicted by any party men no matter how high. The credit for my success, fame or notoriety depending on which side of the divide you belong to, actually goes to President Muhammadu Buhari, President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, His Excellency Baba Bisi Akande and His Excellency John Oyegun and other great leaders of my party under whom I served at various times and who gave me a freedom and power never exercised or enjoyed by any spokesperson in the annals of Nigeria’s political history.
It is not that I was infallible, far from that but I had the cover and support of these great leaders and also that of the rank and file of the party. Many had called me during this period many names including a one man army, not at all. I had behind me one of the finest and greatest communicators Nigeria has ever produced in the person of Mr Segun Adeyemi. I also had for my political sounding box Mr Williams Adeleye – both of whom served as Special Assistants to President Muhammadu Buhari when I held sway as the Minister of Information and Culture. The role and contributions of these two gentlemen in my career as National Publicity Secretary of AC, ACN and APC and also as the Minister of Information and Culture is subject for another day. I will however remain eternally indebted to these two gentlemen.
Now to the meat of the matter. How did I redefine the role of the spokesperson as the National Publicity Secretary of AC, ACN and APC? I took my position as the raison d’etre of my life, at times coming before my wife and my children as you will find out in the course of this paper, from the very first day about 2004 or 2005 when I emerged as the National Publicity Secretary of ACD. The health, fortune, pains and survival of the party became inseparable from my own health, fortune, pain or wellbeing. I became obsessed with the party. I was acutely aware of the many predators that lay in wait to ambush it. I was also not unaware of the fragility and frailty of the party. At this time you will recall that of the 36 states in the Federation, only one was ruled by an Alliance for Democracy Governor and that was Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Lagos. I hope you will remember that Alliance for Democracy or Action Congress reigned in only one state until about 2009 when the Edo Election Petition Tribunal declared Comrade Adams Oshiomole as the duly elected Governor of Edo State. You can therefore imagine our situation and how our political party be it Alliance for Democracy or Action Congress was perceived by the larger Nigeria. Up until 2010 when the Ekiti State Governorship Election Tribunal declared His Excellency Governor Kayode John Fayemi the duly elected Governor Of Ekiti State, in the whole of the Southwest Nigeria, Action Congress or Action Congress of Nigeria had only one Governor.
However, judging from our media presence in Nigeria by 2009, it would be hard to believe that we had only one governor out of thirty-six and probably less than one dozen senators out of 109. How did we achieve this. You will recall that I stated earlier that from the moment I became the National Publicity Secretary of the then Action Congress, it was as if I had no other purpose for being alive. I breathed AC, I inhaled AC, I slept with AC in mind, I dreamt or had nightmares about AC. My whole world focus and entire being was AC. Any slight on AC real or perceived I saw as a slight to my person, and must be repulsed. My loyalty to my party transcended my loyalty to any person or entity. I easily sacrificed friendship and other relationships on the altar of party. A good example was when the late Umaru Musa Yar’adua was elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party in 2007 and he stretched the olive hand to all other opposition political parties to join in a Government of National Unity, my voice was one of the most strident in persuading my political party to reject and renounce the offer as a Greek Gift. This was despite the fact that the late President and my self had been friends since 1965 when we first met as young secondary school students at Government College Keffi.
One of the most painful sacrifices I had to make as the National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria was sometimes in August 2011. On that fateful day I had already cleared all pre-boarding formalities with my wife and we were both relaxing in the executive lounge at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, awaiting boarding announcement of our flight to Jeddah en route Makka and Madina for Umrah when my phone rang. Behold it was Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, then National Leader of our party, ACN and the conversation went as follows: “Lai, where you? Your Excellency I am at the airport waiting to board my flight. To where, To Saudi Your Excellency, have you forgotten that I bade you farewell yesterday and you even gave me some money and also to my wife and requested my wife to pray for you in Makka and Madina? Oh yes I remember but have you heard the latest political development in the country? No Your Excellency. After he told me the political development, I asked for only one request from him. Can you please speak to my wife and also explain to her why we would have to postpone and reschedule our Umrah. Needless to say that was the end of our Umrah that year. When the cloud however settled and we were able to resolve the political imbroglio, my wife and I performed our lesser hajj. May Allah forgive us all our sins.
As the opposition spokesperson of my political party, I had to not only closely mark the PDP and the Federal Government, I also had to learn and predict them and sometime deliberately trick them to overreact. I became like a pest is to a cow. I gave them no respite. We criticized every act, every statement of the Federal Government and the PDP. We played and capitalized on the internal schisms of the Federal Government and the PDP. We invested in analytic research and brought to the public glare the policy inconsistencies and contradictions of the Federal government and PDP. We interrogated every statement and action of the government and the ruling party. We forgave no slip or imperfection. We were unrelenting in our attacks. There was simply no go area for us. We policed tightly every step, decision or utterances of the Federal Government and the PDP. We issued daily press releases in addition to radio and television appearances.
In the words of Mallam Garba Shehu in the same article in the Premium Times of April 17, 2013 supporting my nomination as Leadership Newspaper Politician of the year [the first opposition spokesperson to be so nominated] “The pedagogy of what Lai Mohammed is doing is that it teaches Nigerian politicians to practice politics by the power of the words. When you see what they are doing in the British Parliament you will notice that there is a tradition there of debate powered by eloquence and the choice of words. They used to say this for our First Republic Politicians. When those colorful politicians like the late K.O Mbadiwe, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nnamdi Azikwe and Obafemi Awolowo took the floor whether in Parliament or on the soapbox, radio or newspaper interviews, they knifed opponents and their ideas to death using words not knives. They did not use guns or machetes as we have nowadays. We have a vibrant media in this country.
“The traditional media – the TV, radio and the print press have tremendous impact on this society and that is where Lai is the master. He speaks on a relevant issue every day, writing his releases with aptitude, fineness, tightness and precision giving news editors very little room to maneuver. The new media, the SMS, the blogs, twitter, facebook and so forth are equally important and are gradually making inroads here. There too, Lai is increasingly present. Lai is the standard bearer when the issue is opposition research and politics. It is not an easy thing to have the entire gamut of the Nigerian government on the defensive but there is Lai for you. Like an old Marxian propagandist, Lai, unlike most political actors, has empathy towards the people. You cannot be a leader when you don’t share feelings of the people. To that extent, he is proactive, always the one taking the battle to the ruling government and party. Give or take from this, Lai has used effective communication to paint the present administration, of which his party is in opposition, as one that doesn’t address problems until they reach a crisis point; that it is a government grossly incompetent without vision, policies and future direction for the country; that today’s government is not focused on the problems of the people and the nation but focused on amassing personal wealth by hook or by crook. Lai has been successful in painting this administration a coalition of like-minded crooks who, bent on clinging to old privileges, are driving the country along primordial lines.” (At this point in time Mallam Garba Shehu was still the spokesperson for his Excellency Atiku Abubakar who was yet to join the All Progressives Congress)
You may also glimpse from President Muhammadu Buhari’s FOREWORD to the book “WITNESS TO HISTORY” [long before the merger between his own party CPC, ANPP, ACN, and a faction of APGA and DPP that resulted in the mega party APC] his perception of how our media intervention shaped the political history of Nigeria..
“It is with delight that I am writing the foreword for this compilation of public interventions by Alhaji Lai Mohammed for several reasons. I first noticed him in the political space in 2003 when I was also making my initial foray into partisan politics, when he resigned his privileged position as chief of staff to then Lagos State Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu to run for the governorship of Kwara State under the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD).
“What was significant for me then was that Alhaji Lai is not only a well-rounded Nigerian – a Kwaran serving as member of Lagos State Executive Council – but an altruistic politician willing to sacrifice a comfortable position to pursue a more noble public purpose. Though he lost the massively-rigged ‘election’ as we all did in 2003, he earned my respect and admiration, Alhaji Lai then emerged in 2005 as the coordinator of the political combination that ultimately became known today as Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the national publicity secretary of the party. In that role, since 2006, he achieved national prominence as the sole opposition voice in Nigeria, and has remained so until recently when our party’s own Rotimi Fashakin has followed in Alhaji Lai’s distinguished footsteps
“On subsequently meeting Alhaji Lai and getting to know him better, my respect for his intellect, sound judgment and loyalty to principles increased in leaps and bounds. I have come to the conclusion that he is more than a spokesman for his party, more than a quiet and loyal brainbox of the ACN and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, but the loudest and consistent voice in the defence of democracy, liberty and social justice in our country under this Fourth Republic. This book is a collection of the speeches, media statements and interventions that will persuade you as I have been persuaded to conclude as such
“The topics covered are as diverse as the challenges faced in our political economy in the last decade or so. They range from opinions and positions on the rule of law, opposition in a democracy, national economy, the constitution, the evils of corruption, imperative for electoral integrity, and the failure of the ruling party and its leadership in the nearly fourteen years of its misrule.
“However, the book is more than a collection of published interventions. Its chapters also provide deep insights about political organization, articulation of opposition views, positions and platform, and some understanding of the dramatis personae and roles they have played in Nigeria’s contemporary politics
“This book is compulsory reading for those interested in understanding some of the turbulent years of the democratic experiment of the Fourth Republic and the response of the opposition to the unfolding events of the period. I congratulate Alhaji Lai for constantly representing the views of the silent majority in Nigeria and urge him to do more. There is a lot of work left undone, and we must not rest until Nigeria becomes great again. After all. we have no other country than Nigeria, and we must put our heads and hands together to salvage it for the present and generations yet unborn.”
Major General Mohammade Buhari, GCFR
Kaduna, Nigeria. December 2012
I will round up this section with the tributes by another opposition politician:
LAI MOHAMMED, A TRIBUTE BY CHIEF EBENEZER BABATOPE, OFR
(A PDP CHIEFTAIN)
“One of the very first introductory lessons given to fresh students of Journalism is about the unusual nature of the profession’s news presentation.
“It is said that when a dog bites a man no news is made. When however a man bites a dog and such is reported, there the news has been made fully. Such a news item surely is about the unusual.
“What Nigerians will be reading in this book written by one of the very best practitioners of the political party system in Nigeria today, Alhaji Lai Mohammed includes this unusual tribute from the hands of a member of a major political party in Nigeria opposed to Lai Mohammed’s political party.
“I am a member of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) that since 1999 has been in contention with the opposition political party represented by Lai Mohammed as its Chief Publicist. Our ideas differ. Our approach to Party Organization is never the same as both our Parties, (the PDP and ACN) are diametrically opposed on nearly all socio-political issues facing Nigeria.
“Despite the above, I am a fan of Lai Mohammed. His writings, his press releases and his political utterances designed to explain the positions of his political party are so brilliantly and intellectually presented that one cannot but love his person and love the style of his presentations. Though, I can never be taken in by his stout and brilliant defence of his political party represented in all his massive media presentations, I can however not stop in admiring Lai Mohammed.
“Politics is never “rub my back and I rub yours”. Revolution is defined as “an act of insurrection through which one class violently overthrows the other? In this regard, CHAIRMAN MAO, the leader of the Chinese revolution once said that Revolution is never a tea party. In the same vein, political party system is about the attainment of power and it is ever cemented on the ability of the political parties to successfully sell their ideas to the electorate.
“This is why the Political Party System has ever been based on Propaganda, Agitation and Mobilization. All the above three are ever combined in the field of organizing a political party.
“Hate him or love him, it is my contention that any objective mind analyzing the political stands of Lai Mohammed in the detence of his Party cannot but acclaim his sterling qualities.
“Apart from being a gifted writer, Lai Mohammed has the unique ability of capturing the attention of all those who believe that in justice there is the Truth and in Truth there is Justice. Justice and Truth are noble principles that a Party Publicist must imbibe at all times
“Information is indeed Power. Coming from a political tradition as it was established by the sage of all times, the late Papa Obafemi Awolowo in the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria of the second republic, I cannot but fall in love with anyone who knows that the political power and supremacy of any party lies in the ability of that Party to give information to the electorate at all times. I state once again that despite my being politically opposed to Lai Mohammed’s Party, I simply admire him as a modern day political activist whose brilliant usage of publicity has gone a long way in defining the aspirations of the supporters of his political cause.
“What you will read in this book “WITNESS TO HISTORY written by Lai Mohammed is definitely going to be hard criticisms of my Party (the PDP). The beauty of the book will certainly not be what Lai Mohammed has written of the PDP. It will be the punchy political motives that have instigated the presentation of such views.
“Years ago, a political rally was held in Khartoun, Sudan by Arab patriots. The famous Arab leader, the late Abdel Gamal Nasser of Egypt had said the following in that rally:- “There at the battle field, brothers and sisters, lies the final victory over Imperialism”.
“One can say, following the example of the great speech of the late Abdel Gamal Nasser that the battle field of ideas will be crucial in determining a Political Party’s efforts in building the image of a well organized Political Party in the minds of its supporters. Lai Mohammed, in this regard, has excelled in the discharge of his duties as the principal Publicist of his political party.
“Though I will never Campaign for the victory of Lai Mohammed and his Party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) over my Party, I however doff my hat and I pay adequate tribute to Lai Mohammed as a talented political party image maker.
“Lai Mohammed is simply exceptional!”
Chief Ebenezer Babatope, OFR
Lagos, Nigeria. 2013
The great wedding of the ACN, ANPP, CPC and factions of APGA and DPP was finally consummated on the 31st July, 2013 giving birth to the All Progressives Congress, which has been in power since 2015.
At the official launch of the first scientific -based AUDIENCE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM in Broadcasting in Nigeria, on the 6th of June 2024, a serving distinguished senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on hearing the announcement of my presence at the event, told the audience that he used to be an ardent fan of mine and his political mentor, hero and role model when I was the opposition spokesperson. But that however, I was not that effective or inspiring as a spokesperson for the Federal Government. In truth I have heard similar comments from many sources including political commentators and associates and even friends. I wish to use this platform to respond to such criticisms. If I am correct and I say this with all sense of humility and gratitude to Allah, I am probably the only living Nigerian who was back to back opposition spokesperson for a record ten years and government spokesperson for another eight years. I believe I am therefore qualified and competent to speak authoritatively on the similarities and dissimilarities of the two positions. As an opposition spokesperson you have only one goal in mind: advance the cause of your political party to win elections. Your loyalty is ONLY to your political party and you have only one obsession: use words to remove the ruling party and replace it with your own party. To achieve this the opposition spokesperson must constantly be in the consciousness and minds of the people, and he does this by ceaselessly bombarding the ruling party from all sides aerially – radio, television, by land -newsprint and even spiritually -digital platforms. He is consumed by hunger, anger and desperation to send the ruling party away. He is a rampaging elephant that does not rest until the ruling party is destroyed, annihilated, and overran. That was precisely was my mission between 2005 and 2015. In the words of Mallam Garba Shehu again.
”The pedagogy of what Lai Mohammed is doing is that it teaches Nigerian politicians to practice politics by the power of the words. When you see what they are doing in the British Parliament you will notice that there is a tradition there of debate powered by eloquence and the choice of words. They used to say this for our First Republic Politicians. When those colorful politicians like the late K.O Mbadiwe, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nnamdi Azikwe and Obafemi Awolowo took the floor whether in Parliament or on th soapbox, radio or newspaper interviews, they knifed opponents and their ideas to death using words not knives. They did not use guns or machetes as we have nowadays. We have a vibrant media in this country. The traditional media -the TV, radio and the print press have tremendous impact on this society and that is where Lai is the master. He speaks on a relevant issue every day, writing his releases with aptitude, fineness, tightness and precision giving news editors very little room to maneuver. The new media, the SMS, the blogs, twitter, facebook and so forth are equally important and are gradually making inroads here. There too, Lai is increasingly present. Lai is the standard bearer when the issue is opposition research and politics. It is not an easy thing to have the entire gamut of the Nigerian government on the defensive but there is Lai for you. Like an old Marxian propagandist, Lai, unlike most political actors, has empathy towards the people. You cannot be a leader when you don’t share feelings of the people. To that extent, he is proactive, always the one taking the battle to the ruling government and party.Give or take from this, Lai has used effective communication to paint the present administration, of which his party is in opposition, as one that doesn’t address problems until they reach a crisis point; that it is a government grossly incompetent without vision, policies and future direction for the country; that today’s government is not focused on the problems of the people and the nation but focused on amassing personal wealth by hook or by crook. Lai has been successful in painting this administration a coalition of like-minded crooks who, bent on clinging to old privileges, are driving the country along primordial line.”
To buttress this viewpoint let us also revisit Chief Ebenezer Babatope’s comment:
“Despite the above, I am a fan of Lai Mohammed. His writings, his press releases and his political utterances designed to explain the positions of his political Party are so brilliantly and intellectually presented that one cannot but love his person and love the style of his presentations. Though, I can never be taken in by his stout and brilliant defence of his political Party represented in all his mansive media presentations, I can however not stop in admiring Lai Mohammed. Information is indeed Power. Coming from a political tradition as it was established by the sage of all times, the late Papa Obafemi Awolowo in the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria of the second republic, I cannot but fall in love with anyone who knows that the political power and supremacy of any party lies in the ability of that Party to give information to the electorate at all times. I state once again that despite my being politically opposed to Lai Mohammed’s Party, I simply admire him as a modern day political activist whose brilliant usage of publicity has gone a long way in defining the aspirations of the supporters of his political cause.”
However as the spokesperson for the Federal Government the turf is vastly different, so also are the rules and modus operandi. Recall that prior to assumption of office, every Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria takes an oath of Allegiance and an oath of Office.
1. Oath of Allegiance: This oath is a pledge of loyalty to Nigeria. Ministers swear to be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.
2. Oath of Office: This oath commits the minister to faithfully execute the duties of the office. It includes a commitment to discharge these duties in accordance with the Constitution, the law, and to the best of the minister’s ability, to the utmost of his loyalty and conscience.
Therefore, the era of freewheeling, impunity, activism, recklessness, desperation and devil-may-care attitude as the opposition spokes person is now banished for ever and replaced with temperance, accuracy, fact checking, national security considerations, geo-political considerations and balancing, national cohesion, and above all the corporate existence and well being of the country.
As the spokesperson of the Federal Government, your allegiance and loyalty is now to the entire people and governmment of Nigeria and no longer just to your political party. As His Excellency Kayode Fayemi once reminded me “You campaign in poetry but you rule in prose”.
Every Minister of Information will then have to fashion for himself how to abide by the two oaths. Let me state clearly and categorically here that as a Minister neither the handover notes, your studies at the Kennedy School of Politics, Harvard or Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism can adequately prepare you for the office. You are completely on your own. You will need to rely wholly on your creativeness, intuition, ability to think on your feet, intellectual background, network of friends and associates, academic and professional background, mental aptitude, personal world views, etc.
Soon after our party, the All Progressives Congress won election in 2015 on the mantra of Change and I began to suspect that I may be appointed a Federal Minister, I immediately put together a small team made up of the indomitable Mr Segun Adeyemi, Mr Williams Adeleye, late Brian E’bden to deliberate on what my priority as Federal Minister of Information should be. At my own cost, we organised a three day brainstorming session /retreat outside Lagos and came out with the conclusion that if Nigeria is truly to change then that change will have to involve every Nigeria bottom-up and must have the buy-in and support of all Nigerians.
Convinced that this was the way to go, again at my own cost we approached a leading advertising agency in Nigeria CENTRE SPREAD GREY and commissioned it to develop a multimedia national campaign of change which gave birth to the “CHANGE BEGINS WITH ME” campaign which was launched on the 8th of September 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari. The campaign was to run on Television, Press, Radio and Outdoor. Recall that about ten years ago when this campaign was conceived, digital advertising otherwise referred to today as social media had not become so popular otherwise it would have been included. Regrettably due to paucity of funds and other challenges, the campaign could not achieve its set objective. This is story for another day.
At this juncture I must however appreciate the contributions of certain individuals to the success of the campaign. Mr Waheed Olagunju as Managing Director of the Bank of Industry was one of our major sponsors. The former Managing Directors of the Nigerian Television Authority, Mallam Yakubu Ibn Mohammed and his counterpart at Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Dr Mansur Liman also deserve to be appreciated for the unquantifiable airtime they gave on their platforms for this campaign.
We also implemented the following programmes to highlight the successes recorded by the Buhari Administration between 2015 and 2018.
Changing the Narratives on the War Against Insurgency:
As the spokesperson for APC, my party and I were very critical of the way and manner the Jonathan administration prosecuted the Boko Haram insurgency. Therefore upon assuming office I prioritized visiting the liberated communities that had been hardest hit during the Boko Haram insurgency. As the government spokesperson, it was essential for me to gain firsthand information on the extent of destruction caused by the terrorists and to reframe the narratives on the successes of our Armed Forces in combating the Boko Haram insurgency. My mission took me to Maiduguri, Konduga, Kaure and Bama, which was once considered the so-called Caliphate of Boko Haram, and which used to be the epicenter of the Boko Haram war.
Accompanying me were about 40 journalists from print, electronic, and international media outlets. The trip was not only an eye-opener. It changed the entire narrative about the Boko Haram insurgency. It was also to be a turning point in my relationship with the Nigerian military and the beginning of my respect for our military and an enduring collaboration and friendship between my Ministry and the Nigerian Military institution, a relationship that is still serving me well even today.
When President Muhammadu Buhari took office on May 29, 2015, the controversy surrounding the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls was at its peak. Unfortunately, there was a subtle effort to blackmail the Buhari administration, accusing it of doing very little to secure the release of the girls from their abductors.
To change this narrative, as the Minister of Information, I organized a trip with the “Bring Back Our Girls” group and the media to Yola. There, the Nigerian Air Force briefed us and provided some of their jet fighters for us to accompany them on sorties across the Sambisa Forest in Borno State in search of the abducted girls. Initially, the BBoG group was reluctant to join the trip, but through persuasion, their leader Dr. Obi Ezekwesili, the Convener Aisha Yesufu, and Dr. Manaseh Allen, who was also the spokesperson of the Chibok community, participated in the trip. The expedition was the brainchild of the former Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar and he and the former Minister of Defence, Brigadier General Mansur Dan-Ali, joined us on this trip.
This unique opportunity allowed us in the company of representatives of BBoG and the media to witness firsthand the efforts being carried out to search for the schoolgirls and, to a larger extent, corrected the erroneous impression that the Administration was not doing enough to bring back the abducted girls, and also muted the hitherto strident campaign of the BBoG group.
Recall that on February 19, 2018, a group of terrorists struck in Dapchi town, Yobe State, abducting scores of students from the Government Girls Science and Technical College.
As the government’s spokesperson, I found the situation both challenging and traumatizing. The media were circulating different versions of the story, including varying figures of those involved.
In response, I organized an emergency trip to Dapchi with two of my cabinet collegeaus the Hon Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahaman Dambazzau and the Minister of State Foreign Affairs Her Excellency Khadijat Abba Ibrahim and some journalists to uncover the facts about the abduction and to determine the exact number of students taken by the insurgents.
The objective of the trip was achieved as the media had the opportunity to speak with witnesses and community members about the circumstances of the abduction, effectively countering false narratives from naysayers. We also issued a media statement listing the names of all the abductees and confirming the exact number of those taken. By the grace of God and through the tireless efforts of our security forces, all the students were rescued unhurt, except Leah Sharibu.
Town Hall Meeting Series:
On April 25th, 2016, under my leadership, the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture launched the town hall meeting series. This initiative aimed to bridge the communication gap between the government and the people, involving them in the governance process and obtaining their feedback. We used this platform to account for the government’s actions to the citizens.
The town hall meetings brought together citizens from various walks of life and ministers from different ministries to openly discuss the government’s efforts to address challenges faced by the people.
We conducted 23 town hall meetings nationwide, covering issues such as farmers-herders clashes, youth employment, banditry, vandalism of public infrastructure, provision of infrastructure, agricultural interventions, insecurity, and value reorientation. To ensure effective communication, some meetings were held in local languages, such as Hausa in Kano and Igbo in Enugu. The feedback from these meetings was compiled into reports, which were then submitted to the Federal Government for deliberation and further action.
Testimony Series:
The Testimony Series on television, radio, and social media was implemented to provide Nigerians the opportunity to hear directly from the beneficiaries of government social intervention programs and other infrastructure projects across the country. This initiative was to showcase the tangible impacts of these projects on the lives of ordinary citizens, highlighting the government’s commitment to improving the welfare and infrastructure of the nation.
We went behind the television screen to assemble some of the beneficiaries of those projects at an elaborate programme where they physically interacted with Nigerians and the media.
Media Tour of Projects:
We embarked on a road trip across the country to showcase the infrastructure projects being implemented by the Federal Government in the various sectors of the economy. In addition to government-funded projects, some private companies also leveraged government policies to invest in new industries or expand their production lines, thereby stimulating the economy and creating job opportunities for Nigerians. We also visited such projects with the media.
We inspected various significant projects, including the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge rail line, Oyo-Ilorin Expressway, Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, Abuja-Kaduna Standard Gauge rail line, the reconstruction of the runway at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Head Office of the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas Limited in Bonny, Rivers State Airport, the Second Niger Bridge, the Loko-Oweto Bridge, the Department of Petroleum Resources, the Dangote Refinery and Dangote Fertilizer and Petrochemical Industry in Lagos, BUA Cement in Sokoto, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company at Nnewi, Rice farms and mills in Kebbi, Rice mills in Kano, and Road projects in the FCT, among others.
The initiative of conducting media tours of projects across the country was a deliberate strategy to go beyond press statements and bring to Nigerians the actual footages of project sites in order to affirm the government’s implementation efforts.
PMB Scorecard Series:
Since the administration’s inception in 2015, we highlighted its accomplishments through Town Hall Meetings, Press Conferences, Radio and TV Documentaries, Media Appearances, and the Testimony Series. However, the Scorecard Series was intended to consolidate our efforts in showcasing these achievements.
As the Buhari administration wound down, on October 19th, 2022, we launched the PMB Scorecard Series, a platform designed to showcase the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The PMB Scorecard Series involved detailed PowerPoint presentations by all the ministers, who took turns interacting with Nigerians on a multimedia platform, highlighting the achievements of their respective ministries.
At the conclusion of the series, we edited and compiled all the presentations into two comprehensive volumes, which are now available for research purposes and posterity.
Additionally, we designed and launched a portal, www.pmbscorecard.gov.ng, where all the presentations are hosted online for easy access both within Nigeria and globally. Our
The above mentioned interventions and programmes were in addition to regular Press Conferences, Radio and TV Documentaries, Media Press Conferences etc.
I have just highlighted about eight or nine novel projects/programmes I curated during my eight years unprecedated sojourn as the Honourable Minister of Information and Culture. These were projects I did not inherit from any handover notes or met any of my predecesors execute.
Therefore those who hold the view that I was more effective as opposition spokesperson than as the Federal Minister of Information and a Culture probably were expecting the same kind of fiery activism, confrontational journalism and headline grabbing utterances etc they enjoyed and witnessed when I was the opposition spokesperson.
Regrettably, the new assignment as Honourable Minister of Information and Culture required new tactics and strategies.
*Alhaji Lai Mohammed, former Information Minister delivered this lecture at a Seminar by Mass Communication Department of Olabiso Onabanjo University in collaboration with NUJ and NIPR
