In the beginning was the word

First, congratulations to us all for the return of 21 of the Chibok girls. We pray for the safe return of the remaining captives. Now to the matter of the day. Words have always been powerful since the beginning of time. Words cause joy, laughter, frustration, anger, envy, spite, meditation, hope and more. Wars are […]

First, congratulations to us all for the return of 21 of the Chibok girls. We pray for the safe return of the remaining captives.
Now to the matter of the day. Words have always been powerful since the beginning of time. Words cause joy, laughter, frustration, anger, envy, spite, meditation, hope and more. Wars are preceded by words, and when the cannon fire of the battlefield dies down, words are the tools of the jaw-jaw that follows.
Words are the raw materials of messaging. That is why serious statesmen and those aspiring to that pedestal set a high store by who handles their messaging. When one gets in the public space via universal adult suffrage, everything one says matters. Even your private comments are no longer private.
In more developed parts of the world, messaging is treated with utmost seriousness. When a top politician has an outing, the event is carefully choreographed. The process is even more rigorous for incumbent presidents and prime ministers. What are the likely questions? How should the principal react? Which combination of words should he use, especially on matters where he has to equivocate or hedge? What demeanour should he assume?
These are the kind of things that public relations practitioners spend quality time fashioning out. Devoid of the partisan emotions that becloud the judgement of those around the seat of power, they make cold forensic analysis of situations and proffer what in their considered opinion is the best cause of action and the best set of words to convey intent.
In Nigeria, we have always treated messaging as if it was a contract. Who is the consultant? What are his/her motives? What does he know that we politicians don’t know? But messaging is one of the skills brought to the table by a professional PR practitioner or reputation manager. Those who ignore this come to grief on the global stage.
President Buhari’s response to his wife’s recent BBC interview is a case in point. According to his aides, the president was merely joking when he said his wife belonged in his kitchen and living room. I have no problem with a private person joking on any matter. But a president’s messaging ought to be more professionally managed. A male African President standing beside a female Head of Government of one of the most industrialised countries in the world should have chosen a different set of words. The UK’s prime minister is a woman; so is the current monarch, Elizabeth. As at today’s polls, the likely winner of the 2016 US presidential election is a woman. And you are talking of your kitchen?
As an African, I can understand that joke. At a different time and place and with different dramatis personae, it could pass. (It’s the kind of thing that my friend, Epaa, would say during an elbow-raising exercise.) 
But no, the venue was wrong; the choice of words equally so.
Roll back the clock to six years ago when there was a big media war over whether or not Vice-President Jonathan should assume the presidency after the demise of his boss, Umaru Yar’Adua. Some of us sided with the constitution because it was the right thing to do. We didn’t have to belong to his ethnic group before we went public with our views. So, when some of those around him continued narrowing the political space, we did warn that he would someday box himself to a tribal corner where he would be so alone he would be both in front and behind. It came to pass.
In the same vein, we supported the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari after the vile campaign mounted by the retreating regime. As I stated after he was sworn in, it is in our collective interest that Buhari succeeds. Politicians can bask in the luxury of wishing for the downfall of their opponents. The people bear the brunt. Are we not all facing the consequences of Jonathan’s actions and inactions now?
Someday, I shall take a fairly in-depth look at Reuben Abati’s article which characterised the Presidential Villa as a forest of a thousand demons. For now, let me just say that there is no ‘witch’ that would put the right words in your mouth if your messaging is not professionally handled. I’ve heard a couple of such stories myself but I know that there is no demon greater that sycophantic political irredentists who see nothing wrong in the king and who compose sonorous tunes in praise of the king’s voluminous robes even when the whole world can see that the kind is naked.
We all argue with our wives (raise your hand if you don’t)! But we are not talking of private people here. And the matter is of global significance, having attracted acidic comments from the five continents, especially the West. My take is that Mrs Aisha Buhari loves her husband and that is why she’s warning him against what she perceives as potholes and manholes and trenches being dug around him. She played her part in getting him elected. Can I love Buhari more than his wife does? I doubt.
And there is no doubt that Buhari loves his wife and is not the bushman he’s been characterised to be. He paid for his wife’s tuition to acquire BA (Public Admin), MA (Strategic Studies) and several diplomas in cosmetology and beauty therapy. He encouraged her to run a thriving Spa and beauty institute. No narrow-minded woman-basher would have done all that. And his daughters are university graduates. But the “kitchen” comment was totally inappropriate. Words!
US President Barack Obama is an acknowledged orator. But even he listens to professionals who work on his messaging. Most of his public outings are carefully rehearsed because a one-minute verbal indiscretion could ruin his good work. There it is, President Buhari; time to retrace, re-craft, retool, rejig.