Talk to us, Mr. President!

By Tolu Ogunlesi

March 15, 2009 10:11PM

There should be a scientific discipline devoted exclusively to studying Presidential minds - who and what shaped/shapes them, how they process information, and how they handle the tensions and turmoil of a life lived beneath the coat of arms. If such a discipline existed, I'd study all the way to a PhD, focusing solely on Nigeria's Presidents.

Consider our dear President Yar'Adua. How can the leader of the world's most populous Black country be so taciturn? Wouldn't you give anything to find out what goes on in his mind, behind the mask that is his face? Does the impassiveness etched onto his face (as seen on TV and in the papers) bother you as much as it does me?

Whilst Presidents around the world are coming out in the open to share with their citizens their hopes and plans for these challenging fiscal times in which live, all we are hearing from Aso Rock is "reported speech" - "Mr. President reiterated..."; "Mr. President attributed..."; "Mr. President emphasized...", "Mr. President acknowledged..."

We know about tokunboh cars and Taiwan TVs and ‘bosi-corner' pants, but it's a bit hard to get used to this business of second-hand Presidential thinking - ‘thinking' filtered through typed pages penned by faceless persons (perhaps with the assistance of Wikipedia).

Yesterday on CNN, a correspondent, speaking about Barack Obama, asserted that "[t]he best salesman for the President's job - is the President himself."

Unlike former President Obasanjo, I'm not sure Yar'Adua understands this very simple but cardinal Rule of Presidential Leadership. You didn't need to give Obasanjo a microphone before you knew what was on his mind. He saw it as his primary Presidential duty to let you know.

Let's take some examples:

The Vanguard of Sunday, February 4, 2007 reported this: "President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday said that the former Housing and Urban Planning minister, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko would soon be investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for corrupt practice. He spoke in Akure at the South West Flagging-off of the Yar'Adua and Goodluck Jonathan Presidential Campaign.

According to Obasanjo, "When [Mimiko] came to me that he wanted to contest, I advised him against it but he insisted saying that if he refused to contest his supporters would kill him... I even made him minister without the knowledge of [Governor] Agagu yet he said he wanted to contest. I even begged him to support Agagu for second term but he was adamant. But unfortunately, when he was the minister he misbehaved and the EFCC would soon investigate him." (Emphasis mine)

Regarding that sort of "sorry-to-disappoint-you-but" declaration, Obasanjo was a ‘Master'. He went to Rivers State and declared that the political ambition of Rotimi Amaechi, winner of the 2007 PDP gubernatorial primaries had a "K-leg"; and therefore, Amaechi would be dropped and replaced with someone else (who apparently did not participate in the primaries).

In May of 2004, during a visit to Jos after one of the now countless religious disturbances that we have come to associate with the city, President Obasanjo gave the Chairman of the Plateau State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) a piece of his presidential mind: "Mr. Chairman of CAN, you are talking absolute nonsense... and don't provoke me... what meaningful thing have you contributed to make peace in this state other than that you are chairman of CAN? CAN my foot! What type of leader are you? And you are asking me this type of rubbish question. You are an idiot, a total idiot, and I have no apologies for that."

Yar'Adua on the other hand hardly ever reveals his thoughts, beyond the dreary speeches that Presidents are obliged to keep us busy with. What exactly does he think about in his spare moments? Tax breaks? A stimulus bill for the banking industry? Potential husbands for daughters No. 3 and 4? Nigeria's foreign policy agenda regarding the Middle East? An addition to the 7-point agenda? New furnishing for the Presidential Dining Room?

The only thing I can recall from his 2007 Presidential campaign is him laughing to prove to bemused Nigerians that he was still alive and well. ("Umoru, are you dead?"). This laughter was put together on a hospital bed in Germany, and transmitted to Nigeria via mobile phone in a live interview conducted by Segun Obasanjo, host of the popular "Baba Live" show.

President Yar'Adua, you have to start talking to us! Please. Even if it's merely a four-letter word spat at an incompetent aide in public.

Or else you'll leave us imagining that whenever you are sighted huddled behind that imported green-and-white podium emblazoned with ‘President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria', this is all that churns in your mind:

"What the hell am I doing here?"

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Reader Comments (6)

Posted by Ibukun Babarinde on Mar 16 2009

Now Nigerians should be more concerned about the criteria to be used in picking our presidents....Yar'Adua is both weak and slow, and we should blame OBJ severally, for impossing umoru on us.... tell akunyili, I am not proud of Yar'Adua, i cant introduce him to my girlfriend, that He is our president, bcos she believes that by the enermousity of ... Read Moreneeds and the present challenges our nation faces now, someone less than her boy friend; in charisma and vigour should not b the president... my girl friend is a nigerian, but she has since jettisoned...she is one of those "About to b rebranded" and "Just rebranded".... and maybe, Mr. President is restricted by his failing health, and on this health ground thing, I will advise him to resign, this is the most heroic thing Yar'Adua could do for us. Ibukun Babarinde

Posted by Ibukun Babarinde on Mar 16 2009

Posted by akunbe on Mar 17 2009

now, i am at a loss!yes, it is ok for the president to say what he thinks of the economy and what good (or otherwise) he thinks should be done, but i am totally aghast that OBJ actually said such words to the president of CAN Jos chapter on air! it is not the office of the presidency that has been insulted but that of the whole country. because it just goes to show the kind of people we have elected to political positions in the country. it is either one person does not talk i.e.Yaradua, or the other has no tact at all! tact, decorum is to be learned and not picked up from the streets and also is determined by your exposure and level of intellect. it is just my fervent hope that learned, articulate people such as H.E Excellency Babatunde Fashola would be elcted more often, at least that is one governor you can be proud of.

Posted by Dan on Mar 19 2009

Hi Tolu, Well, what good/difference will it make if the President spoke himself? I think the most important thing to do, if I were in his shoes and I don’t want to talk to Nigerians directly (which could be wise considering that George Bush had a shoe thrown at him while attempting to do that in Iraq), is to gather all the person’s speaking on my behalf and give them a private Ph. D in the makings of my mind and then monitor to ensure that what they said tallied with what I would have said. Without such precaution, the level of confusion in Nigeria could be appalling, I recall a while back when Soludo said the naira will be re-denominated, and later, it seemed Soludo was acting very much on his own. In 2007 while I was waiting to be called up for NYSC, I heard that because there is no money, the call up will be based on quotas allocated to the universities, later that was reversed, not only did we all go, our stipend was increased! Recently Ghana conducted an election and Nigerians were asking: any lessons for Nigeria? As I am writing this, I still don’t know whether or not ‘officially’ there is a lesson to learn. Just a few weeks ago, the First Lady went to launch a report at UNICEF about Nigeria, she said there that the UNICEF should go back to the field and gather fresh data about child/maternal health in Nigeria because she didn’t agree with what was reported, but how can someone commission a report they believe is wrong? On the other hand, since Her Excellency, First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria said the report needs some cross checkings, will I be right in saying Nigeria officially rejects this report? Maybe to avoid all this confusion, all those Special Assistants and Senior Special Assistants on Media that are always giving the Presidential reported speech should take a cue from Mr. President and simply shut up: silence is not only golden; in Nigeria it is Presidential. If they could do that, news will be shorter and we will have more time for music and Nollywood and other things. Until that happens, you have to learn how to filter through what ‘they’ said the President said. If 3-4 ‘spokespersons’ said roughly the same thing, you can assume that he did said that, at leas, until you know better.

Posted by Bola "Picaro" on Mar 20 2009

I thought i was the only one thinkig that. this president is completely mute! in the beginning his silence was considered as wisdom, you know, silent conteplative sort, but hell, its been years and you can actually count the number of times you've heard him address Nigerians concerning a new policy or recent executive actions. my God! was he not in the academics? as a matter of fact, his decisions and choices give us ample room to decipher what he's thinking and i tell you, it is not in his benefit at all. actions speak louder, and since he's not saying anything, we know what he's "saying". he's telling us that the rule of law is an illusion. he's saying, "i never wanted to be here. i was handpicked and forced." he's saying, "did you actually believe in those seven point agenda? come on you gatta be kidding me!" he's saying, "i'm too weak to work." for christ sakes, not even a "fellow countrymen" broadcast or a "chat"as his predecessor used to.