…That dour speech

After tremendous pressure, the President decided to come out and give a speech to the nation. This was on the back of very expansive rumours that he had escaped to a far flung country in bid to secure treatment for an alleged covid infection. The rumour gained ground so much that it forced otherwise very serious analysts to look at the issue with a secod glance.

I’m very sure that this would hve formed very strong basis for the speech. The Presidency’s attitude of being coy and almost secretive in very key issues of state hve not helped the tendency for wild and accusatory rumours that swirls round it.

Since the pandemic berthed on our shores via the hapless sojourn of the Italian, the Presidency has played a kind of an ostrich game with the people. It had buried its head in sand while the rest of the country runs helter skelter seeking help from other sources.

Thankfully, the Lagos State Government has jumped on its feet and has provided some of the most far reching policies anywhere in the world. This is all the more imperative if you take into consideration that the State is the gateway to the nation. You can imagine what would have become of the country if we had some lcklustre leadership in place.

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Anyway, it was time for the speech and I had clearly forgotten but was reminded by an alert on my phone. I rushed to the television set and found my way to a President who appeared really boring and almost disinterested in what he hwas saying.

He was cold and detached, amost like he could not wait to finish the written script and go bck to whatever it was he was doing. This was not going to be an ‘ I have a dream’ kind of speech or ‘ask not what your country can do for you’ type thing but a lullaby you sing to a child you want to sleep.

It is not as much as what he said, but how he did. There was no sparkle, no energy. Nothing to give the people hope for a resurgence. This was not our leader leading but a leader that looked quite sad and overwhelmed.

Now, do I blame him. I think not. I blame his handlers. Professional handlers would work with a plasticine mould and give it a breath of life. We have seen how PR and image consutants work with American political figures and turning them into soap box superstars.

Buhari’s image continues to receive defenseless battering. He is not being well positioned despite the fact that he has strong attributes that can be sold by brilliant communications strategists. He is patriotic, incorruptible and firm. We fail to see this side of him. What we are seeing is making it very difficult for him to push through policies with the peoples support.

The Federal Governmnt has donated about N15b to the Lagos State Government. It has showed a strong resolve to fight this Covid but all these have fallen on the floor and trampled upon by a motley crowd f Nigerians who seem really tired from it all.

By Joseph Edgar…

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