It’s the message, simple

Three years ago, a friend gave me a book – Courage and Consequence written by Karl Rove, who served as senior advisor to President George W. Bush of the United States. I had to persuade myself to read it, as I’ve never been a fan of Mr. Rove and I’m glad I read it.

Even while I’m not fully persuaded of his tactics and methodology particularly during the bitterly contested 2000 presidential election, the book affirmed what I’ve always believed, political communication is important for any politician, especially one in office. It also exposed my bias as an east coast resident then and who was deeply affected by classmates and friends’ disappointment when Bush was re-elected in 2004.

Why this story? Many things have happened in the last month that showed how communication is important to any government. Two people, in the past few weeks, have written on it on this medium. One wrote from a public relation’s perspective and could not resist throwing a jibe at the usual appointments of journalists as presidential spokespersons.

He conveniently forgot, however, that nearly all public relations practitioners in the land today have had stints with journalism. The second piece, written by Dr. Reuben Abati, was published yesterday and he adduced reasons why public officers’ spokespersons struggled in discharging their duties in this part of the world.

One area I found particularly instructive is the angle of the internal battle in the minds of former journalists-turned-spokespersons. He, however, did not pull the curtain wide enough for us on the behind the scenes events that shaped his time as former President Goodluck Jonathan’s spokesman. We eagerly await his memoirs.

Another reason that spurred this piece was a debate I had with a senior colleague last week. A highly cerebral person but whose humility is usually evident, he thinks the way President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokespersons are framing the government’s message is a major ailment of this government. To him, the thinking that perhaps there is not much to be said positively is not a fair reflection of this government. Added to this is the statement credited to one of Buhari’s spokespersons that they could do a better job than what they are doing presently, but is that not true of all of us as workers in our respective workplaces?

A plethora of examples abound to buttress this and I would cite just a few. Early last week, news broke that oil marketers were grumbling about the fuel price and would like an increase from the current price. The reportage of this in the media predictably was on the insensitivity of such an increase in this critical period. But what was lost in that reportage as I later found out, was the fact that the minister of state for petroleum actually met with the marketers and told them point blank that there can be no such increase. I also discovered that the foreign exchange fluctuations angle was not the main reason why the marketers wanted another hike in prices. It was simply a way of forcing the government from backing off from asking them to account for what they collected in the past, which was not the practice before. So, in that specific instance when government was on the side of the people, the nuances were lost and government got a black eye in the process. With the cruelty of a 24-hour news cycle where the tides are always shifting and a mob out there on the social media, information managers literally cannot afford to close their eyes for a second.

Another example is the Change Begins with Me campaign launched with fanfare last week by President Buhari. Various commentators have said a lot on the launch but whosoever wrote the speech and allowed the portion “In other words, before you ask ‘where is the change they promised us’, you must first ask how far have I changed my ways ‘what have I done to be part of the change for the greater good of society’” does not like the president at all. That, more than anything, is admittance that the change mantra of this government was a campaign ruse, never meant to be implemented but only a ticket to the seat of power. It then offers us a window into the thinking behind the constant reference to the previous government having led us to where we are. The campaign is also dogged with an allegation of idea theft, which, to say the least, is so distasteful and thereby makes it dead on arrival. Remember also that it is coming after we had a re-launch of “War Against Indiscipline” whatever that means.

Perhaps too many cooks are spoiling the broth of this government as exemplified in the many folks who man the communication apparatus and who seem to be trying to do so much leading to dissonance. We must also appreciate the challenge of speaking for a taciturn principal. It would also help if our ministers and agencies’ heads could show a bit of compassion and empathy in this austere period. But really, it’s the message, simple.