The exalted position of a president is one to be occupied and maintained well to avoid degrading it. A president is not meant to be seen or heard talking every now and then. He or she is to remain ‘invincible’ while performing his/her duties.
However, to preserve the presidential office, he has to guard his tongue well. Just as it is written in the Holy Book, ‘He who keepeth his mouth and tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles’. And to avoid saying even the right thing but at the wrong time, requires professionalism and that’s where a spokesperson comes in.
The Presidential Spokesman speaks on behalf of the President on matters of public interest, among other things. Considering the restricted level of access that the media has to the President, the Spokesman is expected to be the primary source of presidential directives in the absence of the President, in order words a spokesperson or spokesman or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others.
In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have received formal training in journalism, communications, public relations and public affairs in this role in order to ensure that public announcements are made in the most appropriate fashion and through the most appropriate channels to maximize the impact of favourable messages, and to minimize the impact of unfavourable messages.
It is the job of a spokesperson to faithfully and judiciously represent and advocate for the president, even when those statements are not in tandem with the spokesperson. That is the job of Mr Reuben Abati, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Goodluck Jonathan.
He was the newspaper columnist and also chairman of the editorial board of the prestigious Nigerian newspaper, The Guardian. He was a first class honours graduate of Theatre Arts from the University of Calabar, where he won the Vice-Chancellor’s prize for the best overall graduating student.
He also won a number of other awards including The Cecil King Memorial Prize for Print Journalism in 1998, The Diamond Award for Media Excellence for Informed Commentary in 1998, and The Fletcher Challenge Commonwealth Prize for Opinion Writing in year 2000.
Abati is a man of intellect who has the ‘divine’ and natural way of coining words together humorously. Yet he passes the message the right way to the right people at the right time. He is a major critic or should I say he was very critical of the government’s activities prior to his appointments as the spokesman to the President.
Before his appointment, he maintained his stands by making the government to be alive to her responsibilities. He regularly queried government when they do the ‘wrong’ thing through his column. He won the hearts of so many Nigerians and was appreciated for ‘standing up’ to the government.
But the moment he joined the Jonathan’s government, he went ‘quiet’ and began to do what he now knows best – defending his master. He began to write and appreciate the government’s efforts.
In fairness to him, he has changed the way a president is to be represented. Being an advocate of press freedom before his appointment, the onus was and is still on him to live up to the high pedestal he had placed himself.
He was critical of government’s spending, high number of convoys, lack of information, amongst other things. He seems powerless to change some of these things even though he is close to the president but he has been able to achieve is the freedom of press which ultimately led to the passing into law, the FOI Act.
Unlike his predecessors, he has a twitter handle, a website, a Facebook page which he uses to pass out information when needed. He has been able to stay close to Nigerians through the social media while performing his traditional duties. He let’s Nigerians know the movement of the president regularly even if the president is going to Otuoke to see his uncle or for a private visit (there is nothing private about a president).
Mr Abati redefined the office of a spokesperson through his actions. He is not seen or heard insulting the opposition rather he seeks ways to calm frayed nerves. He is meticulous and homourous. He obviously hasn’t been carried away by his position as he is still accessible when time affords.
As one of the President’s strongest advocates, Mr. Abati has set up #Lestweforget, a hashtag trend on twitter that follows the accomplishments of the Goodluck Jonathan administration in order to set up a compelling case for re-election in 2015.