By Fredrick Nwabufo
Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, features in the
pantheon of accomplished Nigerian journalists no doubt. In his days of
‘’truth-telling’’ and before the hex of unclean spirits in Aso Rock, Adesina
was the man from miyshore – the straight place. He was loved. He cut the
persona of a light bearer. But why has the ‘’kulikuli exponent’’ so unravelled?
By the way, it was Reuben Abati, Adesina’s predecessor, who
regaled us with the tale of paranormal activities at Aso Rock. Abati in
‘Rituals, blood and death: The spiritual side of Aso Rock’, said: ‘’When
presidents make mistakes, they are probably victims of a force higher than what
we can imagine. Every student of Aso Villa politics would readily admit that
when people get in there, they actually become something else. They act like
they are under a spell.’’
So, I am compelled to believe that Adesina may be under a
spell — for his uncharacteristic deportment. Really, he takes a nose-dive
deeper and deeper into crassitude, insouciance, arrogance and iniquity. I wrote
the draft of this article earlier than today but had it pigeonholed. I was
conflicted – do I or do I not? Will my opinion be mistaken? Well, I have to
blurt it out anyway.
I knew the rulers of darkness and the principalities and
powers in high places, like those sketched by Nathan Uzoma, the ‘’ghost
buster’’, were at work when Adesina, a devout Christian, implied that giving
land to marauding herdsmen was better than getting killed.
Responding to a question on ancestral attachments to land on
an AIT programme in July 2018, Adesina said: “Ancestral attachment? You can
only have ancestral attachment when you are alive. If you are talking about
ancestral attachment, if you are dead, how does the attachment matter?’’
Also, Adesina does not spare his tongue in thrashing the
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) at every given turn. In fact, he is
always on an ambush waiting for CAN to speak so he could attack. It appears he
enjoys the sadomasochism on the Christian association.
He once described CAN as a political party. When the
Christian association was protesting over the death of Lawan Andimi, the pastor
beheaded by Boko Haram, Adesina intervened with a caustic aspect, censuring the
association for expressing indignation over their loss. But this is not to
obviate CAN’s occasional alarmist tendency.
Adesina has sunk steeply into the abyss of conceit. He has
thrown caution to the wind and allowed himself to be swayed by the vortex of terminal
privilege. The Yoruba say: T’á bá rán eni ní isé erú, à fí t’omo je.
Translation: ‘’If you are sent on an errand as a slave, deploy the wisdom of a
free born in delivering the message.’’
Adesina continues to deal a whammy to those who once admired
him – including me. In an interview on Nigeria Info FM on May 6, the
presidential spokesman dealt another shocker. He said: “People think because
either you elected a president or you didn’t elect him, you must lead your
president by the nose. It doesn’t happen. Because you elected a man then you
begin to order him around.”
I know Adesina understands the concept of democratic
leadership. I know he is well aware that the president is an employee of
Nigerians, and as such he is answerable to them and should even be ordered
around by them. Yes, I know Adesina knows Nigerians are the boss of his boss,
and that he must do as they please. I know he knows this. Perhaps, the
extramundane forces of Aso Rock are at work again.
Adesina’s bewitchment ossified, when he tried to rope former
President Olusegun Obasanjo into his hexed web. He said Obasanjo would have
insulted those asking him to address the nation. How farcical. So, Obasanjo is
now a standard for gauging President Buhari’s tepidity and lethargy?
I know it is difficult to speak for an administration that
has failed in every sphere. But what is expected in this case is applying tact,
temperance and wisdom in defending a failed experiment. Insulting Nigerians and
anyone who criticises the president is an ignoble exertion by a man who was
once the president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors.
The presidential spokesman should learn a lesson or two from
his predecessors. Power is only temporary. It will be difficult if not
impossible to regain lost integrity and trust. Some former presidential
spokesmen lost their shine after they joined government and became the
archetype of what they onced criticised. They lost relevance soon after they
left office.
Really, after he leaves Aso Rock, would I like to read Femi
Adesina again? I do not think so.
Fredrick Nwabufo is a writer and journalist.
Twitter: @FredrickNwabufo
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Does he care if you read him?
ReplyDeleteHe will go fully into partisan politics.
Anyway, he is a total disgrace. He is shameless.