By Emeka Oparah
I think one of the major un-doings of this government, which made re-election difficult, was poor communication. The government had so much going for it, but failed to publicize them proactively in pursuit of goodwill and endorsement.
You cannot light a candle and put it under the bushel. The media must survive, pay salaries and then do its work. The Public Communication arm of the FG is either cash-strapped or fund-starved. It was purely the grace of God that helped Buhari come back. I can’t imagine Atiku/PDP, considering their antecedents, giving PMB/APC such a tough challenge. It was either over-confidence or someone didn’t know his job or the president didn’t care or all of the above.
I recently listened to the Honourable Minister for Power, Housing and Works, Babatunde Fashola speak about the achievements and projects of his ministries. I was wowed by what they have done. I was more wowed by the sheer lack of information in the public space about these achievements-and I told his communication. It’s not as if they are not doing their best, but their best is simply not enough.
2023 will be worse, if things don’t change. Unfortunately, the FG-owned media do not have sufficient credibility (for obvious reasons) to tell the story of this government. Information is certainly one way of creating awareness, promoting knowledge, building understanding and enhancing goodwill.
Even before 2023, Nigerians need to know what’s going on. You may call it Propaganda, but i think it’s Information management to earn the confidence and support of the electorate. Of course, the government must continue to earn its social license and justify the mandate given to them. If you don’t communicate, then you play into the hands of the opposition and those who do not want the government to succeed or those whose favorite pastime is to criticize the government.
This is not about the austere or frugal proclivities of the president. It’s about marketing the government locally and internationally. It is actually possible Garba Shehu and Femi Adeshina are “suffering and smiling” in silence. Ditto Oga Lai Mohammed. For Mohammed, his antecedent as APC Spokesperson works severely against him, with or without budgetary allocations to his ministry. And as I said earlier, NTA, FRCN, NAN and Voice of Nigeria do not have the credibility to drive the narrative of this government-by the peculiar nature of their being government-owned.
This government needs to start talking to us-and not reacting to the opposition. Of course, it’s best to do and talk than just talk. Ighotago?