By Yinka Adaranijo
Against the backdrop of their roles in the management of media and communications during the campaigns of President Olusegun Obasanjo, a few names were already engraved in the public consciousness who could possibly lead his communication team. Dele Alake, Bayo Onanuga and Tunde Rahman were at the very top of the list. Alake and Onanuga indeed had very long relationships with Tinubu beginning from their years as editors of major newspapers and magazines. They were potent operatives with Tinubu and concerned Nigerians opposed to the better forgotten fistic rule of General Sani Abacha. They were the arrowheads of the “underground press” which reported the despondency of the Nigerian sociopolitical situation to the international community under the famously repressive reign of Abacha.
Alake served as Tinubu’s topmost publicist in the latter’s years as governor of Lagos State. Alake it was who affixed the schedule “strategy” to the primordial brief of information commissioner. This has since been widely adopted by many who barely understand the origins of the initiative. Onanuga was director-general of the News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN), under Buhari, courtesy of Tinubu. Rahman succeeded Sunday Dare who would later serve as sports minister under so Buhari as Tinubu’s media adviser, all the way into Tinubu’s presidential project. All three gentlemen could confidently and confidently stake their curriculum vitae in the quest for the job of presidential spokesperson.
The dynamics of politics is oftentimes unpredictable. For all his good works and professionalism as presidential spokesman during the presidential campaign of Obasanjo in 1998 and 1999, Onyema Ugochukwu, the legendary journalist was tipped undisputably for the job of Obasanjo’s media adviser. In working for Obasanjo, Ugochukwu incurred the wrath of his kinsmen in the Igbo country who thought him a betrayer. Alex Ekwueme a for Vice President was also running for the presidency. Why would Ugochukwu choose to work for a Yoruba aspirant? One of the very first appointments Obasanjo made immediately after his inauguration was that of Doyin Okupe, a medical doctor as his media adviser!
As it turned out, whereas Alake was at the very fore of presidential communication in the early weeks of the Tinubu government, the President’s sights were on Ajuri Ngelale as his media points man. A familiar face on television during his years in the African Independent Television, (AIT) and Channels Television, the young Ngelale had also served in the office of the immediate past Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, SAN. He is the son of Chief Precious Ngelale, from Rivers State who was Minister of State for Water Resources during Obasanjo’s first term. The President apparently had another crucial brief for Alake to handle, in developing the nation’s solid minerals sector as potential alternative to oil. Petroleum has remained the mainstay of the nation’s economy over several decades. Tinubu had his name on his ministerial shortlist close to his chest. He also had his ideas about how to accommodate and deploy the media human capital resources around him, variously.
Tinubu would subsequently appoint Bayo Onanuga as Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, (remember Alake), and Tunde Rahman as his Senior Special Assistant, (SSA) on media matters. For the purposes of clarification, the Special Adviser and SSA are at par in terms of ranking and entitlements. It was suggested for adoption into the Nigerian presidential organogram in 1999, by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Obasanjo filled up the quota of advisers approved for him by the National Assembly. He was still left with substantial numbers of technocrats to integrate into his new government at the advisory level. Atiku came to the rescue with that ingenious suggestion, probably borrowed from the US presidential system.
Tinubu is the first President to operate with a tripod of key media aides. Obasanjo maintained just one in the State House, while other media specialists were assigned different designations. Ugochukwu, was in-charge of the Office of National Orientation and Public Affairs, while the respected Dr Stanley Macebuh (of blessed memory) was SSA Special Duties. Ad’Obe Obe who succeeded Ugochukwu as editor of West Africa magazine in the UK was on the speech writing and foreign affairs schedule, while Tunde Olusunle managed Special Services. All these operatives, however, collaborated with the Media Adviser seamlessly. Buhari adopted a two-pronged system which comprised of Femi Adesina, Special Adviser, and Garba Shehu, SSA, and they complimented each other without glitches.
While the Tinubu administration has brought the Ngelale, Onanuga and Rahman triad together and they collaborate on their assignments, there seem to be ghost agents perennially opposed to Ngelale. From the incident at the United Arab Emirates, (UAE) and the NASDAQ, United States incident last year, to the more recent Maersk incident, certain tendencies seem to be consistently baying for his blood. They seem to detest his youthfulness and self-confidence. They are thus never tired of innuendos and insinuations calculated to undermine his hardwork. Ngelale did not appoint himself to his job, President Tinubu did. And he evidently did so on his convictions even at that time. Those who watched the television shortly after the Supreme Court upheld Tinubu’s election in October last year would probably remember the President’s words when Ngelale visited him in his office. “Ajuri, congratulations. Your job is secure,” was Tinubu’s comment. Ngelale had been with Tinubu for just a few months and was convinced enough by Ngelale’s services that he reassured him of his retention on his desk.
Sources in Aso Villa will tell you that beyond packaging and managing the public perception of the President, Ngelale also functions as master of ceremonies for events held in that complex. Elsewhere and at other times, this in itself is a full portfolio at the pedestal of an adviser. The daily schedule of the President as articulated by the Department of Protocol in conjunction with the Chief of Staff, (COS), should be served to the official manning this outpost regularly. His work could indeed involve some research work to keep the compere updated about what to say in specific terms, displaying situational and spatial awareness. Just in case the President was receiving in audience say Anthony Blinken the US Secretary of State, introducing the dignitary and situating the context of his visit are beyond spontaneous conjuration.
Beyond rhetoric, Tinubu is conscientiously committed to grooming the younger generation to become leaders of the future. The likes of Betta Edu, the ostensibly 37 year-old medical doctor who was entrusted with the crucial Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation might have failed the President. His faith in the younger generation, however, as baton-collectors from the older dispensation remains unshaken. This explains his entrusting the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, (NASENI), the 33 year old Khalil Halilu as Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive, and the 38 year-old Jamila Bio-Ibrahim as Minister for Youth Affairs. Ngelale is 37 and fits the profile Tinubu wants to groom for the future.
Yinka Adaranijo a renowned journalist and seasoned public affairs analyst, writes from Lagos