20th November 2024
By Idris Buba
A Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stalwart from Ogun State, Segun Showunmi, has faulted President Bola Tinubu for the appointment of three spokespersons in his media team.
Tinubu, had through his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga Monday, announced that Onanuga and the new appointees, Sunday Dare and Daniel Bwala, would jointly work as his spokespersons.
The PDP stalwart, however, faulted appointing more than two people to manage the presidential communication team, adding that the idea of having an “attack dog” is past as the world now thrives on believability which engenders acceptance and good governance.
In a statement sent to journalists on Wednesday, Showunmi, said “For someone who has built and invested heavily in the media and who has enjoyed significant support from the media, especially during his run for the presidency, it beats me how he is suddenly so confused and disorganised with a straightforward task of putting together a coherent, light-footed, fit-for-the-purpose media team.
READ MORE; Daniel Bwala’s Appointment And Tinubu’s “Spokesman” Bayo Onanuga.
“Just look at the cacophony of strange fellows he has appointed, from the rather too-old-for-the-era Methuselah to the turncoat minimal value blabber. They are too many, the job description is all over the place, and some of them have neither real access to nor an understanding of how the Nigerian media space works.
“If the President cannot put a simple media team together, can anyone be surprised how he will motivate them to get the job done? What is even their job? He mistakes media management for public relations. He muddles this up with a spokesperson interface, with media firewall speaking heads, and with social media optimization.
“He imagines some ‘attack dog’ role as useful in an era where reality is key and young people are catching cruise as they call it, where rudeness and deliberate misdemeanour are the currency.”
The Ogun state born politician, advised president Tinubu to quickly reorganize his media team and ensure that there is an appointed leadership with cabinet status to coordinate and lead.
According to him, a team head with a cabinet status would also make it easy for the media, especially the international ones to know who to call on when needed.
He recalled that, “Former President Buhari had just two main media drivers, wherein, Femi Adesina was leading with Mallam Garba backing him, each had defined roles.
