Nigeria: A Dysfunctional Presidency And Exaggerated Accomplishments

 By Dan Onwukwe

For presidential aides in a democracy, the advice has always been: Understanding of the inner workings of power is very essential. It will offer you a nuanced picture of leadership at the highest level. For spokespersons to the President, and Governors, the advice is even more direct: Always work in harmony with your colleagues, not in discord. Master your duties. Don’t lord it over others. 

*Tinubu 

To borrow the words of George Stephanophoous, Bill Clinton’s top media adviser during his presidency, your duty to your boss can be “compared to being an air traffic controller at a busy airport on a foggy night”. That means avoiding issuing contradictory statements that may send the wrong signals to pilots and passengers onboard the aircraft. Deviating from these rules  could ignite a firestorm in a presidential plate.

Recently, two spokesmen to President Bola Tinubu – Bayo Onanuga and Ajuri Ngelale – issued two contradictory press releases ahead of the events to commemorate the first anniversary of the administration. That was awful.  It gave the impression of a dysfunctional presidency. While Onanuga, who is Special Adviser on Information and Strategy issued a statement that the President would ‘break away from the tradition of nationwide broadcast’, but would address a Joint Session of the National Assembly, Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, described Onanuga’s press release as ‘false’. Instead, he said the President would embark on the inauguration of strategic projects across the country for the “benefits of all Nigerians”.                     

The question is: did Onanuga fudge facts to mislead Nigerian public or  did he issue the press release in question without presidential approval? To function properly, presidential spokesmen need a mix of policy and politics to be effective. Before now, there have been rumours of a simmering feud between the young Ngelale and the old, formerly well-respected Onanuga. Onanuga, it must be said, had in recent times gone off the handle. And the contradictory press releases he authored may have exposed the fault lines between these two public officials of Mr. president. It runs contrary to Tinubu’s style of public communication when he was Governor of Lagos state( 1999-2007).How things have changed with the man.

I recall as Editor,  Sunday Champion (2000-2005), I was privileged to be among the Editors almost always invited to Tinubu’s Quarterly media briefing at Crown Restaurant, along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, and sometimes at his residence at Ikeja GRA. The briefing ably anchored by Mr Dele Alake, was always full of banter and lively jokes. It was always fun. The atmosphere was always rarefied, with Tinubu all ears to listen to constructive criticism. He tried to know everyone by his first name. Then, his nature and habits combined to make him an excellent delegator of authority.

Those  close to him were always proud to say that their boss was a near perfect delegator because he could give a grant of authority that was clearly defined. One would perceive then that if any of his aides operated outside the limits of what he(Tinubu) wanted to accomplish, that aide would not second guess what kind of punishment that might follow. That, to me, explains why Alake and Opeyemi Bamidele(now a Senator and Majority Leader) remain loyal to the President. And they have been handsomely rewarded. Alake is now a Federal Minister in charge of Solid Minerals, and I guess, a member of that informal group of advisers to the President called   kitchen cabinet.

It’s not unkind to say that so far, Mr Onanuga has acted more as an apprentice rather than a master of Information and Strategy. He has become somewhat a disruptive influence in the public image management of the president. He was even worse as the Head of the Tinubu Presidential Campaign Organisation last year. Sometimes, it’s necessary to look to the past to find some hints of why some people throw tantrums and behave in undignified manner that offends public decency. 

Bayo’s offensive comment against the Igbo during last year’s presidential campaigns still rankles. “I don’t owe anyone apology for addressing the existential threats of our people – the Yoruba by the Igbo in Lagos. Let 2023 be the last time of Igbo interference in Lagos politics. Let there be no repeat in 2027”. This is not the kind of slur you expect from a so-called veteran journalist and publisher. It runs contrary for the kind of national development that the President talked about last week.           

If this is one of the low points of Tinubu’s one year in office, it also speaks volumes about the exaggerated accomplishments that were bandied about as achievements. You may recall that the Ministry of Information and National Orientation had reeled out a ledger of achievements of the administration in the last one year to include: significant strides in enhancing infrastructure and transportation, huge investment in education, health and social welfare. 

And you ask, where are the results? The list of achievements also claimed that the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ is paving way for a more prosperous, inclusive and resilient Nigeria’, and that the President has laid the “foundation of lasting progress and a brighter future for all Nigerians, through strategic investments, youth empowerment and improved governance”. And, again, you ask: where is the silver lining that they are talking about? Are Nigerians better off today than they were before Tinubu was sworn in as President on May 29, 2023? You answer.                               

Also listed as achievements are the backlog of $7bn Forex( which CBN is still processing). It’s still work in progress. There’s also a mention of the 4,600 freed hostages, and the so-called ‘economic rebirth’, as well as the subsidy removal, which the government said has resulted in the reduction of petrol importation and increased allocation for the three tiers of government from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to cushion the transitional pain of Nigerians. Where is the impact on the living conditions of Nigerians. No one needs to remind anyone that hunger, poverty and prices of foodstuffs have continued to soar. Most Nigerians no longer sure where their next meal will come from.  Yet the government claimed that so much strides have been made in the welfare of the citizens.                 

The document from the Ministry of Information and National Orientation also listed the unification of the Forex market to reflect the actual value of the naira as another major accomplishment in one year. But the harmonisation of the forex market has made matter worse than better as the naira continues to experience free fall in both the official and parallel markets.  If these are not exaggerated claims, then Gov Usman Ododo of Kogi state is right to list his visit to the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu as one of his accomplishments in 100 days in office.    Let’s be clear on one thing: No one is denying that a modicum of achievement has not been recorded in the last one year of Tinubu presidency. In fact, just been alive in Nigeria in the last one year  is something to celebrate about. But exaggeration is something history frowns upon.                                                 

The litany of  claims as this administration’s achievements  reminds one of a CNN report on July 28, 2019. It relates to Donald Trump’s  habit of exaggerating his own accomplishments when he was President of United States. even when “truth is in his favour”, according to CNN analyst, Daniel Dale. According to Dale, political leaders who exaggerate their own accomplishments do so because, “a big inaccurate number is almost always preferable to a slightly smaller accurate number”.  

There’s also this penchant for dishonesty, propaganda and a constant resort to rhetoric that are littered with major fabrications, invented out of thin air. Haven’t we seen a surfeit of this exaggeration peppered with extremely trivial sketches in the past one year?  In his book, The Art of the Deal, co-authored with Tony Schwartz, Trump calls the exaggeration of accomplishments as “truthful hyperbole”. Funny, isn’t it. But they are deceitful. 

Such leaders borrow from the playbook of the late iconic North Korea leader, Kim Jong II, who cultivated a personal mythology that included some outlandish claims. Imagine this: official records in North Korea showed that Kim learned to walk at the age of three weeks, and started talking at 8 weeks, and wrote 1,500 books over a period of 3 years, along with six full operas. 

Perhaps the most outlandish claim was  that Kim Jong II never defecated in his entire life. Can you beat that? That’s what happens when political leaders  build their nations on lies and monuments to their egos.  Our leaders should emulate other leaders who have inspired their people based on leadership style and reality. Late South African President, Nelson Mandela and John F. Kennedy, readily come to mind. Though long gone, they remain inspirational public figures, and their leadership approach remains influential and relevant. 

A president should project an idealistic image of leadership that must address his country’s  most profound challenges. Going forward, these are lessons in power that President Tinubu should embrace if he wants to leave a worthy legacy. He must have this utter realism, that ability to look facts – even very unpleasant facts – in the face and not let himself be deluded by wishful thinking or fanciful, deceitful praise from sycophants. This utter realism of calling a spade a spade is the political version of a businessman’s interest in balance sheets.

 It is not achieved by unduly influencing the outcome of elections, but by making sure that there’s no meddlesomeness in the electoral process. In the past one year, this government chose sound-bites, flip-flop reforms that supported weak reasoning. There’s anger in the land over high levels of corruption, inequality, hunger, poverty, hyper-inflation, cost-of-living crisis, power supply challenges, multiple taxes, nepotism,  unemployment, crime and insecurity,   Nigerians have suffered enough and need a break away from the past policies that have neither worked not renewed hope in the country.

*Onwukwe is a commentator on public issues