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Depending on how one looks at the appointment and consequent
reversal of Dr. Festus Adedayo’s appointment as the Media Adviser to the
President of Nigeria’s Senate all within 48 hours, one cannot but sense moral
danger in some of the events that preceded the reversal of the appointment. One
begins to ask if competence is not already being slaughtered on the altar of
partisanship in Nigeria. Qualifications and competence no longer matter as much
as who is behind you or speaks for you.
Before now, Festus
Adedayo’s works have spoken for him. An incredibly good columnist, he served as
a Special Adviser to Governor Chimaroke Nnamani in Enugu State and later as SA
to Governor Abiola Ajimobi in Oyo State.
Before the reversal of the appointment, Adedayo’s sins were
dug up. His criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed
Tinubu became a matter for the social media. Those who brought the issue up did
not decorate their intention, it was simple and sharp, Adedayo should not get
the job and the odds against him were overwhelming.
But for Senator Ahmad Lawan to have interviewed Dr. Adedayo
despite being his major critic, he must have seen some qualities in him. Reversing
the appointment after the outcry however showed that the people matter. At least
the Senate President heard the voice of the vocal majority people and did their
bidding.
The outcry against Festus Adedayo might however need to be
looked into. Is Festus Adedayo a bad man? No one has said he is. Is he
competent? Even his accusers agree he is. Why don’t you want him? He is
critical of the President and the National Leader of the All Progressives
Congress! This situation points only in one direction, the country thrives on
crass politics. Almost everything in the country now has a political undertone.
Meanings are read to things as trivial as the clothes one
put on! A chairmanship aspirant in my local government reportedly lost the
ticket the day he wore agbada to an
event attended by the then Governor who was incidentally his mentor. Convincing
Mr. Governor that the young man was competing with him didn’t prove difficult
and that was the end of the young man’s aspiration.
If the sense of entitlement of Nigerians is not worked on,
in the not too distant future, it might lead to a full-scale catastrophe. It is
gradually becoming clear that everyone who works for a political party wants
something in return, even those who post on social media; competence level notwithstanding!
National interest has since given way to self-interest as almost everyone who
supports a politician expects a form of return on the support invested. This is
a sad reversal of the politics of the olden days when passion and ideologies
were the main criteria for deciding who to support. One would sometimes wonder
if the country is not spinning out of orbit.
Sentimental values are being attached to the debate as to
whether Adedayo should have rejected the appointment or not. There is a school
of thought that believes one shouldn’t smell a food item he is not interested
in for freshness. His status as a critic notwithstanding, Festus Adedayo walked
into the lion’s lair for a job interview and came out successful. It is perhaps
a replay of the biblical David, who after killing Goliath, the Philistine champion;
found himself a trusted ally of Achish, king of the Philistines. He was so
trusted that Achish enlisted David and his men when the Philistines wanted to
march against Israel! Like the biblical David who after his ordeal in the hands
of Saul became King of Israel, something bigger and better seems to be in store
for Dr. Adedayo.
The man Festus Adedayo is being accused of criticizing chose
him over the other candidate for the job. The argument is that he shouldn’t work
in a system he criticized. But what if he planned to make changes there? Chief
Bola Ige was Minister in the Obasanjo administration. People may need to be reminded
that Ige aspired to be President on the Alliance for Democracy platform. Some
have argued that critics can take executive positions but should never be
appointed as spokesperson. But Dr. Reuben Abati was a major critic of Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan, yet he was appointed as the President’s Special Adviser on
Media and Publicity. In his first term as Governor, Lere Olayinka was one of
the worst critics Governor Ayo Fayose had.
And talking about the unwritten rule of having to work for a
candidate before being appointed, it is unsure whether the likes of Ahmad Nasir
el-Rufai, Oby Ezekwesili and Ngozi Okonjo Iweala worked for Obasanjo before
they were appointed back then.
While it is notable that the Senate President reversed the
appointment out of cowardice, Dr. Adedayo too must have taken a lesson or two
from the situation. Perhaps it will lead to a leap of discovery. Fine, some
people rose in his defence but truth be told, Oga Festus needs to be more of a
team player and do more of mentoring.
And for many of those who dissipated so much energy just to
ensure someone does not get a job, there is a lesson to learn too. If the same
amount of time and energy goes into campaigns against the ills facing our
dearly beloved country, our leaders will not only listen and take action,
things will surely get better. The army lost a Colonel and about 20 other
soldiers recently in Borno State, terrorists overran military bases, in the
last eight days, 42 people have been killed in Zamfara, just days ago, the son
of a former Minister was kidnapped, and released yet many of us are bothered
about who becomes the Senate President’s Media Adviser. Our “come and chop”
entitlement mentality really needs to give way to genuinely fix the Nigerian
system.
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