Bwala on Al Jazeera: A Controversial product for tainted salesmen

President Bola Tinubu remains one of the most contentious, controversial, and infamous presidents of Nigeria, often widely considered an enigma of sorts, given his political chokeholds in Lagos, and his growing grip on the country’s political levers.

A man loved and hated in equal measure on account of his political successes,  practical political philosophy, and his Machiavellian methods and tactics. Selling a man of such contrasting appeal to wider public is not going to be easy.

His image-making team—a broad, often described as “tripartite” configuration of 12 or more special advisers and media officers—has had a mixed, yet increasingly proactive, impact on his administration’s image .

What they have achieved and failed to achieve is a matter of interpretation, political leaning among other factors.

Nevertheless, they  have succeeded in building a narrative of “bold reforms” and “economic recovery” among supporters and global investors, but on the whole they have faced  significant hurdles in bridging the gap between this narrative and the daily economic hardships experienced by many Nigerians. Convincing Nigerians to hold a positive view of President Tinubu has become difficult in the face of hardship, pervasive poverty, insecurity, unemployment and wide disenchantment.

The focus is on the triumvirate- consisting of Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy; Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication; and Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Policy Communication.

Dirty Leaning Under Camera

Many commentators have turned a searchlights on Tinubu’s image makers in view of the disastrous outing of Daniel Bwala at the Al Jazeera  interview conducted by the cerebral Mehdi Hassan..

The triumvirate is considered as a “tripartite arrangement” lacking in coordination with no clear line of leadership. While Onanuga may seems the most experienced when it comes to journalism and political consultancy and communication, as Sunday Dare had earlier worked under him at TheNews/Tempo in the mid 1990s, but in terms of political gravitas, Dare may churn out more experience having served as a minister of youth and sports under former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Daniel Bwala, a lawyer and former ally of Atiku Abubakar, has had a long experience in political communication, legal consultancy among others.

Other silent players in the team like Tunde Rahman, Senior Special Assistant on Media, and Tope Ajayi, and various content creators may have tried to project the image of the President it has had less impact given pervasive poverty and growing insecurity.

The trio of Onanuga, Bwala and Dare has struggled to present a narrative of “Bold Reforms”, as a marketable edge for Tinubu’s re-election, but the buy-in on the side of the people has been poor. The team has  marketed the narrative that President Tinubu inherited a broken economy and is taking decisive, unavoidable, and brave steps (fuel subsidy removal, FX unification) to fix it by highlighting what they refer to as economic gains. But the former government he succeeded was APC which he was national leader.

They have  publicized data on revenue increases, reduction of debt service ratios (e.g., from 97% to 68%), and record federal allocations to states as a major achievement.

They also like to showcase “high-level foreign investment” inflows (reports of over $30bn in FDI), but this has often fallen flat in the face of reality which the people can see in their daily life.

Promotion Flat on the Ground

They  actively monitor and refute  negative stories, particularly those they label as “fake news” or “artificial AI videos” meant to disrupt the government’s message. But the people are not convinced going by serious pushback on social media.

It’s very clear that in spite of  “positive spin” and data-heavy reports, the image makers struggle to mitigate the severe public discontent over high inflation, naira depreciation, and high fuel costs, poverty, insecurity and the lavish lifestyles of the politicians under Tinubu’s watch.

Their communication is very aggressive, they often adopt a very defensive posture, leading to public spats with critics and opposition, which can distract from the main policy message.

The image makers have struggled to fully transition the public image of Tinubu from the “entitled kingmaker” (Emi Lokan) to a “trusted servant leader” among those who did not vote for him.

However, their success in winning the hearts and minds of the general public— whose lives have been negatively affected by the immediate impacts of these reforms, is limited, leading to a polarized public perception.

Dr. Ayinde Balogun, a communication scholar, told Business Hallmark that  “This team of image makers is the worst in the history of presidential management. They lack coordination and are aggressive, always attacking without measured understanding of issues involved. Ima Niboro under Jonathan was a good image maker, he balanced civility with protecting his principal.

This view is supported by David Ayodele, another communication scholar, who informed this medium that “In this current team managing Tinubu, Sunday Dare has comported himself as someone close to an ideal image maker: cerebral, measured and not insulting. He defends his principal with civility.

Bayo Onanuga

Bayo Onanuga is a long distance runner in the world of journalism in the country. He has succeeded as one of the nation’s top editor,  media icon and an exemplar of activist journalist. He had worked in The Concord owned by MKO Abiola, n the early 80s, among others, and one of Founders of the highly influential TheNews/Tempo that fought the military to a standstill. He remains one of most revered media icon.

But there’s a difference between opposition journalism and a role in government. Onanuga in government has not been quite successful. He has unnecessarily been combative, insulting, refusing to draw the line between propaganda and reality. He has been accused of being a divisive figure who fans ember of animosity.

Sunday Dare

Sunday Dare has drawn on his experience in government to tame his job as one of Tinubu’s image makers. He was once a media aide to Dora Akunyili when she was Minister. He has functioned in other government role before being appointed Minister of Youth and Sports by Muhammadu Buhari.

He has been widely praised for employing decorum and insight in projecting Tinubu’s image. He has largely avoided the insulting vitriol associated with much more of Tinubu’s other image makers. He prefers to use data to make his points.

For instance, when he tried to prove that the government is not dominated by the Yoruba through records, his facts didn’t add up and he apologized and withdrew the report. Onanuga would forced such obvious falsehood under everyone’s throat.

Daniel Bwala

Daniel Bwala’s outing at the recent interview at Aljazeera is a reminder of how undue political over rach can have consequences.  Bwala employs propaganda, barefaced lies in defending and projecting the image of the President. He was once Tinubu’s fiercest critic when he was Atiku’s media adviser . Upon being appointed by Tinubu as special adviser, he has been employing vitriol against critics of the administration without restraint.