Malagi’s ministerial midas touch

Somehow, he took a French Leave but the satirist, as Ndaeyo Uko then was, rocked and ruled the media space in the 90s. Indeed, he was as prolific as he was proficient, sustaining 10 columns on the Daily Times stable. Naturally, he ruffled a few feathers and Chief Alex Akinyele, then minister of information, reined him in at a point. Uko, in one outing, had caricatured a government official, painting an inarticulate narcissist in a fictional interview with Mungo Park. Curiously, Akinyele saw himself in the text and Uko, with immediate effect, was sacked from the Daily Times.

However, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi, the current minister of information, is of a different cut from Akinyele. Truly, he is a man of sartorial excellence but Akinyele’s direct opposite in information management. Now, briefings, press conferences and official engagements are platforms for selling government policies and not vehicles for ego trips. Malagi, in his signature wit, delivers messages without histrionics or needless anecdotes. Besides, personal details like clothes designs, how long he takes to dress up and the cost of his apparel, are a no-no for the present minister.

Likewise, he is not a polemist, a hectoring firebrand and an ideologue like Walter Ofonagoro, the gadfly of the Abacha era. Coarse, caustic and combative, Ofonagoro stood up to NADECO, in fire-for-fire brickbats. However, Malagi is not of that mould but the minister, with aplomb and panache, markets the Renewed Hope agenda, especially to get citizens’ buy-in.

Above all, he is not given to blacklisting critics as wailers, unpatriotic elements and sundry labels. More so, the current Minister and his predecessor, in style and delivery, are poles apart in every material particular. Malagi from his background, is an image maker and not a ‘Geobbelian’ propagandist adept at spinning and spewing alternate facts. Rather, he strives to win hearts and minds, persuade with facts and disarm with credible information.

Similarly, he is not an attack dog but the chief image maker of the Bola Tinubu administration. However, in this regard, he provides the platform for fellow ministers, who give insights into the various ministries, departments and agencies under their watch. Malagi, more or less, is the conductor who mediates, calibrates and directs the choir, giving harmony to the orchestra of governance.

Indeed, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi, from the outset, had outlined his vision for the Ministry of Information at the senate screening last August. Prompt, credible and uninterrupted news flow from the government, according to him, will asphyxiate fake news. Rumour and fake news get oxygen from information blackout, a vacuum that gives them life and the wings to travel far and wide. “Unless credible information is put out there,” Malagi had counselled, “there will be room for rumours, misinformation, fake news and all kinds of things. Besides, information is key to transparency, accountability and moulding perception”.

Last August, Malagi provided a window into his leadership style and the matrix of assessment, after his inauguration as minister. Specifically, he pledged not to tell lies on behalf of the government. “As a Minister of Information and National Orientation, I have the duty of telling Nigerians the true picture of what transpired about the various programmes and projects of the administration in all sectors. Being truthful and effective as Minister of Information is essential to engender the trust of the people on various programmes and projects of the administration”. So, far the Kakakin Nupe has not broken this covenant with the people.