Igwe Ezeoba Alex Nwokedi, a veteran journalist, a sports man and Utokoneze Achalla, Anambra State, is also a former Chairman, Anambra State Council of Traditional Rulers and former Press Secretary to former President Olusegun Obasanjo during his time as military Head of State. In this interview, Nwokedi says those wishing President Muhammadu Buhari dead are wasting their time as, according to him, the wish means Buhari will live long. He also speaks on the need for the President to adopt Conversion, Correction and Communication tactics to boost his communication to enable Nigerians believe and understand his policies and programmes.
By Bashir Adefaka
When the President of a country is wished dead, how does it feel to you as somebody who had been there before as Press Secretary to a Head of State?
It is not good to wish anybody dead not to even talk of wishing the President of the country dead. Whoever wishes Buhari dead only wastes his time because it means he will live long. There is an adage in my area that says that when you start wishing somebody dead, it means long life for the person. Do you have that adage in Yoruba too? It is not a good thing to say that somebody is dead when the person is hale and hearty. But the President is the President of Nigeria and so all his movement must be known to Nigerians.
Do you mean that the information that he was going on leave for 10 days was not enough even with the handover to his vice as Acting President?
Why not? That is enough. He must be given credit for not twisting the system as he did what was needful. Now, the President, who ordinarily is entitled to about 30 days as annual leave, is known for not spending all and during that short period governance is not suspended.
Having worked as the spokesman for a Head of State and Commander-in-Chief in the past, what do you think is wrong when people say President Buhari does not communicate?
Whoever says the President does not communicate is not saying the truth. However, this new year, whether such people are saying the truth or not, they are Nigerians and so he should adopt what I describe as CCC.
What is CCC?
CCC is Conversion, Correction and Communication. You see, people are funny. There are people that if you talk to them from January 1, 2016 till January 1, 2017, ask them, “Have I communicated?” You will be surprised they will say no you have not communicated. And in the context of this interview I want to put myself in the position of such people which is the reason I want everything about the President’s information and communication system to look like starting afresh.
How do you mean?
By CCC, the President should try to convert us to believe in what he is doing. And when we raise issues, we are not just criticising but we are pointing out some errors which he should correct.
Could you let us into some of the errors that the President has committed?
Communication. That is just the issue, nothing more. He is a human being.
However, the President should strengthen his communication outfit. Femi Adesina, his Special Adviser Media and Publicity, is, no doubt, competent and he is a renowned journalist. He should be strengthened and given the facilities to improve the communication system of the Office of the President. That is what is wrong with the President, nothing more.
So, he should empower Femi Adesina to improve his communication system because, no matter how well a President is doing, if his policies and programmes are not well or adequately communicated to the people, it can cause a disconnect between the leader and the people. That is why it is very important that it is done. And I will appreciate it if that happens: Conversion, Correction and Communication.
But knowing many Nigerians for whom they are, no matter how you talk to them, they will still say they don’t hear. So, how much difference will improving the media office of the President make?
That is not true. Nigerians are very competent and about the best in terms of people to interact with. Just let the President do what I have said and see whether people who are talking anything they like today will not change and begin to sell his ideals and programmes tomorrow. And what I have said he should do is to convert us to believe in his policies, he should correct his mistakes and strengthen Femi Adesina with people and facilities required to up the communication system in the Office of the President.
Communication is very important to the success of every government. I remember when I was Press Secretary to General Olusegun Obasanjo as Head of State and he would tell me his inner thought on issues and that helped me to communicate to the people.
President Buhari should see communication beyond just gathering people around him. He should tell Femi his inner thought on issues, Femi will give his own advice which the President is bound to reject or accept.
Apart from being a foremost traditional ruler, you are also a big farmer. What do you have say about diversification into agriculture?
Yes, I am not just a farmer. I am a rice and yam farmer and our rice in Achalla, Anambra State is the best in Africa and one of the best in the world.
If you have the best rice in Africa, how come the impact is not felt in your area as the people still complain about high cost of rice?
High cost of rice is good but should be reasonable also so that while the consumer finds it easy to buy, the farmer too will have the value for his labour.
I will only appeal to the Federal Government to give Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State support to take farming in the state up to the level that can contribute significantly to feeding the entire nation. Obiano is a performing governor and if the brilliant programme the Federal Government has put in place is extended to Anambra, like it should be extended to and embraced by other state governments in Nigeria, he will do better.
And the area farmers of Nigeria particularly in Anambra State need assistance is in the area of mechanised farming. If that is done, we will not only have enough to feed but we will export to earn foreign exchange for Nigeria.
The Emir of Surmi few days ago apprehended, with the aid of his vigilantes, three Boko Haram members and handed them over to the Nigerian Army, which is similar to what you did when you used your vigilantes to find and apprehend those who kidnapped an Igwe and brought him to your community to hide. How do you think this effort can go round?
Leadership of the National Council of Traditional Rulers should take the meeting of the council beyond just presenting papers. It should be made practical so that monarchs who have this kind of experience you talked about can discuss how they do it so that other monarchs will go back home and use the ideas in their communities.
I can assure you that this is a way traditional institutions can be made to play a role in securing lives and property across the country and, once every community is free of crime, the country will be better to live in.
The post ‘Those wishing Buhari dead are wasting their time’- Igwe Alex Nwokedi appeared first on Vanguard News.
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