Bwala’s bulala

At a crucial time when Nigeria is facing massive security threats and one of the greatest public relations battles it has had to deal with since its amalgamation in 1914, missed opportunities to stem the country’s reputational haemorrhaging often feel like a mortal blow in themselves. Daniel Bwala’s recent disastrous outing on Al Jazeera’s “Head-to-Head” […]

At a crucial time when Nigeria is facing massive security threats and one of the greatest public relations battles it has had to deal with since its amalgamation in 1914, missed opportunities to stem the country’s reputational haemorrhaging often feel like a mortal blow in themselves.

Daniel Bwala’s recent disastrous outing on Al Jazeera’s “Head-to-Head” is an example of this. It was supposed to be an opportunity for Nigeria as a country to put some positive scores on the Reputational Scoreboard, but instead, it has turned out to be a massive PR catastrophe that has done more harm to the country and its president, and to the pride of Nigerians.

The interview titled “Renewed Hope” or “Hopelessness,” a play on President Bola Tinubu’s campaign slogan that now seems like a forgotten historical relic, was a 49-minute-long train wreck featuring the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Policy Communication. What was an opportunity to counter the US-driven yet somehow self-inflicted reputational harm Nigeria has suffered as a result of the country’s failure to deal with insecurity saw Bwala inadvertently stick a knife in the back of the country, what was left of its reputation, and the president himself.

At no point during the interview, and after it, did Bwala acquit himself well. His strategy going into the interview, which essentially was hinged on whataboutism and denial, his posturing, his poor choices in answering the questions, and his pronouncements after the interview had been damaging. It leaves the impression that, as Bwala himself said, “it’s all politics” and no one should take anything seriously, even if it means the killings of Nigerians and the failings of our country continue unchecked.

Instead of discussing the government’s policies, especially with regards to insecurity and corruption—which is his job, to communicate policies—Bwala went in with the mindset of a fiery political sycophant aspiring to sell his political candidate. Perhaps someone should have told him that this was not a political campaign but an influence operation to contain the reputational damage Nigeria has suffered, especially in the last few months since some persons in the US government decided to turn their hyena-like attention to the country.

Already, the interview was unfortunately pre-conditioned by Bwala’s reputation. The man who was once a Tinubu salesman then, in 2022, defected to the opposition and swore undying loyalty to Atiku Abubakar when he became a fierce critic of Tinubu, whom he called a drug lord, a corrupt politician with questionable sources of wealth, and a funder of political violence through a “militia” he had created. Then he switched sides again when Tinubu appointed him his spokesperson.

While Mehdi Hasan brought Bwala’s past comments against him in the interview, Bwala floundered, flatly denying things he had said so publicly and so vociferously, even when they were quoted back at him. Was it an ambush? Perhaps. But Bwala is an official spokesperson and a lawyer. He should be able to pivot and think on his feet, not deny statements he had made before. He could and should have owned up to those statements and refocused the conversation to the things that mattered—the president’s policies on insecurity and corruption.

But denying his past statements wasn’t the only bad thing that happened. He denied even the Nigerian reality. Has insecurity worsened in the country? Yes, it has. Only recently, Boko Haram militants raided Ngoshe, in Bwala’s Borno State, and captured 300 villagers. In the last few weeks, they have successfully carried out daring raids on military bases in Borno State. If Bwala is not in touch with the reality of the rest of Nigeria, surely he should have friends and relatives who would update him about what is happening in his own state at least.

I understand that as a spokesperson, not trained on ethical representation, he might have a problem admitting the obvious, but he could simply acknowledge that and proceed to explain what the government is doing to address the new developments.

When confronted with the NAF bombings in Tudun Biri village in Kaduna in December 2023, in which the NAF accidentally killed 85 Nigerian civilians during a religious event, and the one in Tundun Kara, Zamfara, which occurred in January 2025, just three weeks after military airstrikes in Sokoto had claimed the lives of 10 villagers, Bwala at first denied it. Then he claimed he wasn’t aware. Since these are known facts, Bwala would have been better off expressing regrets that they happened, that cases of friendly fire regrettably happen in wars, and that the government is training the military better and is committed to getting them better equipment to ensure villagers are protected while insurgents are neutralised. It would have been a perfect opportunity to pitch that international partner states could support Nigeria’s defence effort by selling the required weapons to the country.

But instead, Bwala decided that denial was his strategy. The danger in that strategy, since he was speaking for the president, was that the killings and deaths of Nigerians did not matter to the president. This unwittingly provides justification for the claims Trump has been making about Nigeria over the last few months.

While injecting humour sometimes works to douse tension, Bwala attempted and failed woefully to use humour as a shield. His water analogy was badly timed, as was his repeated attempt to use the water metaphor as a crutch. Opportunities to pivot and explain policies were turned into opportunities to laugh at Bwala and Nigeria. It was painful to watch. And it could have been worse. The writer and director at Open Society, Ayisha Osori, who was an analyst on that episode, reported that in a section that was edited out, Mehdi Hasan had followed up a question he had asked Bwala with “Why?” and Bwala had responded with “because Y is a tree with two branches and a long tail.” Or something like that. It was the sort of puerile response we had scorned at in playgrounds when we were still children.

Yet, Bwala subsequently was using editing as an excuse and reportedly challenged Al Jazeera to release the full, unedited interview. Those in the live audience who have made their opinions known publicly disagreed and said the editing actually saved Bwala’s face. It could have been worse. This was the worst kind of public flagellation a person occupying a sensitive office like that could have received, comparable only to US Attorney General Pam Bondi’s appearance before a US Senate committee to explain her handling of the Epstein Files. And instead of licking his wounds, Bwala is grasping. It was as if Mehdi Hasan used Bwala’s own words to bulala him.

Yet, Bwala tried to dismiss the whole embarrassing episode as “it’s all politics” in his subsequent press statement. That is the worst thing about this. It gives the impression that Bwala, and by extension, the government he speaks for, is oblivious to the gravity of the situation we are in. Politics is not a fun pastime but rather a serious endeavour with very high stakes. The acquisition of power is not the end goal, but rather the deployment of this power to improve the lives of the people.

While Bwala is putting on a brave face and claiming he is ready to jump back into any other interview chair to be grilled, he must understand that Nigerians are not ready for the kind of secondary embarrassment we suffered on account of watching that train wreck of an appearance. He claimed to have defended the government but in reality, only disgraced it. There is a difference between a political attack dog, which he had fashioned himself as, and a presidential spokesman. Speaking for the president of the country, especially one as beguiled as Nigeria is by insecurity, corruption, and economic woes, requires more strategic thinking, one that considers the weight of the 200 million people this government is leading. The sooner Bwala and the rest of those in government realise this, the better for all of us.