THE JOB OF FIGHTING FOR THE PRESIDENT

He will be speaking on behalf of the president to the public. That is Dr Doyin Okupe. President Goodluck Jonathan appointed him as his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs lately. Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, that was his previous job. Some say Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, has been sidelined as result of this new appointment. If that is not exactly so, some Nigerians may have concluded it is. But there are reasons one may not need to take that suspicion as it comes.

This writer had had it in mind in recent past to state that the president needs someone to bully the public; it is the duty of the person with the title such as Okupe has to bully the public. And the idea is founded on the logic that bullying cannot be the job of a Senior Special Assistant, SSA, on Media to the president who is a professional. Professionals are guided by the ethics of their profession. And a Senior Special Assistant on Media to the president should sound as trite and presidential as the president himself. So in a way, President Jonathan is a mind reader. He has taken an advice that is yet to be voiced. Not that one is stating that there are not a few things that must have transpired in the State House which led to this new appointment. Such details are better left for those who keep their ears to the ground.

Now, there is no point trying to be long on the person the president has appointed to manage his image with the public. It should suffice to state that if anyone is familiar with the humour merchants that once acted the TV drama called Awada Kerikeri (by a defunct Yoruba theater group), he would know that Nigerians are in for a long round of laughter. If anyone has read what a West African head of state wrote for the international audience about the current Nigerian administration that has banished corruption from the country, and praised its leader, too, he would get the drift; the same will happen with this new appointment. Okay, if the SSA to the president on issues that involve trying to convince the public can not make Nigerians have a laugh, what else will be able to do? In fact, will he have the attention of Nigerians at this stage when many have already made up their mind about the current administration? There is no need going into details, except to add that when a person has the task of laundering an image that may have been made and sealed, “have fun” may be the best counsel to give Nigerians. Of course, the man for the job is a political dramatist in his own right, and drama that takes attention away from the presidency must have been part of the calculation.

And one shouldn’t wait for Dr Okupe to tell Nigerians what his job entails. In short, anyone who waits will wait forever. But one can be sure of waking up tomorrow to find this new public affairs manager on his TV screen telling everyone why they should love and support their dear president. So before he defines his new job with that indirect approach, it is good to pre-inform his audience what they should expect, in case he starts to do a one-dimensional job, rather than the full measure of what the work of a public affairs manager entails. Now what does it mean to be in charge of public affairs? Public Affairs office of the U.S. Mission to Nigeria, for instance, says part of its duty is to engage Nigerians of all walks of life; empower Nigerians to understand American life and culture; educate Nigerians about issues of mutual concern; enrich the dialogue between American citizens and institutions and their counterparts in Nigeria; listen to Nigerians about their concerns toward the U.S.; inform Nigerians about U.S. policies in Nigeria; improve understanding between Nigeria and the U.S.; and evaluate public affairs programs for their effectiveness in reaching Nigerians. Does anyone ask if the president’s public affairs man had half of these in mind when he took this job meant essentially to fight on behalf of the president? That’s one question.

Generally, public affairs is a term used to describe an organisation’s relationship with stakeholders. These are individuals or groups with an interest in the organisation's affairs, such as MPs, civil servants, shareholders, customers, clients, trade associations, think tanks, business groups, unions and the media. Public affairs practitioners engage stakeholders in order to explain the organisation's policies, provide statistical and factual information and to lobby on issues which could impact upon the organisation's ability to operate successfully. Their work combines government relations, media communications, issue management, corporate and social responsibility information dissemination and strategic communications advice. They aim to influence public policy, build and maintain a strong reputation and find a common ground with these stakeholders. Public affairs practitioners can be described by a whole host of different words in job titles including: Public affairs, policy, government affairs, government relations, parliamentary affairs, corporate affairs, stakeholder relations and stakeholder management. Another question: In what category does Dr Okupe fall as a public affairs practitioner, please?

Well, a medical doctor, he had been spokesperson for a former president. And he had a way of positioning himself in the centre of political occurrences since he was relieved of his post to give way for a professional halfway into President Obasanjo’s first term. Wherever there was high-wire politics, and prominent politicians were strategizing on how to capture an office, he might be found there as the Master of Ceremony, as a speaker, and sometimes reporters gave him space, in his capacity as a former special assistant, to speak in support of politicians. Speak in support, never against. What was that he said lately in support of President Jonathan after which he was remembered and given this latest appointment? He had hailed the president as the “true hero of the Edo elections.” That was because, according to him, the president could have turned the other way and allowed the pre-election violence and other strange plans to play themselves out on the day of the latest governorship election in Edo State. He also said he was sad that the incumbent Governor Oshiomhole of the ACN was returned to office after the election. Earlier in May, he had lambasted Pastor Tunde Bakare who has been criticizing the Jonathan administration for his “political activism,” meaning in that sense that a servant of God should have no business being in politics.

Some have asked why Okupe should be the choice at this time. One, like those who had done this same kind of job of fighting on behalf of the president in the past (Femi Fani-Kayode under the Obasanjo administration), Okupe would not shy away from making bombastic assertions on behalf of his employer; the kind of assertions that Nigerians can look into space and ask, “Where is it?” Such is good drama when it is time to prepare the ground for another election. 2015 is the air already. It means nothing what has been said that the presidency is not keen on talking 2015. When preparing the ground for election is at issue, Okupe is experienced. As a former governorship aspirant in Ogun State, he knows how to make assertions on behalf of his employer that a professional media like Abati would be highly unlikely to make.

Okupe had also served in electioneering campaigns for others; he was one of the spokesmen for the Jonathan’s campaign organisation during the 2011 presidential primaries, and he was a member of the president’s publicity committee for the 2011 elections. That’s all there is to his credential as a public affairs manager. One of Okupe’s colleagues in the Obasanjo administration, and a friend of this writer had said the new SSA used to sit at high-level meetings in that era, laugh and clap along with others as it was deemed socially correct, and then dispersed with along others - no strategy, no format as to communicating what transpired to the public as a professional image maker would. But he did get cuttings of some of the bombastic articles he wrote for the then president to see though.

This time, his job is made easier. There is a professional beside the president in Abati, who is more likely going to focus on sounding policy statements on behalf of the president, while a political dramatist, not a court jester, has the responsibility of giving Nigerians a laugh, allowing the presidency to concentrate on the job. There is no need mentioning enlargement of coteries around the president in all of this, and at a time his Finance Minister is doing all she could to keep down government spending. So outside of what a professional would do in a Public Affairs section, let everyone expect the following from the SSA to the President on Public Affairs: One, engagement in roforofo fight with critics of the president.

Two, newspaper columnists should expect to be engaged in accusations and counter accusations, and newspapers with spaces for ‘Right To Reply’ should be ready for crossfire.

Three, opinion page editors should expect to have their email boxes filled with articles from the office of the SSA about the good deeds of the Jonathan administration. Four, paid writers with fake names, and who would enumerate the good deeds of the administration which Nigerians won’t see might be in business shortly. Five, editors should wait for invitation cards to a media chat with the SSA who would want to solicit their support. After that, the fight would begin. But congratulations to Nigerians and reporters for this new colour added to the political space. It keeps everyone busy. At least, until 2015 decides.

Written By Tunji Ajibade
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