By Busy Brain
Glittering greetings, the Chief Press Secretary to the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye. I want to sincerely commend your tremendous efforts since the inception of Governor Abdulrahman’s administration for many jobs well done. With all sincerity of purpose, your immense contributions through dedicated service and commitment remain a strong force upholding the Kwara State Government’s administration.
If the truth must be told, your prudent reflection, logic, and brilliant composition through your writings to debunk, set records straight, and refute allegations, smear campaigns, and resentment against your principal are top-notch. As one of those who have read your responses one or two times to allegations, I revere you in inexplicable awe. Kudos to you.
Contrarily, I want to use this medium as one of your readers and as a journalist, and columnist who has been featured in different national dailies to express my disappointment on how you handled the issue of Journalists detained in Kwara State because of allegations levied against you and his excellency on a Whatsapp group platform. Why would you be so tempted and frustrated to deploy that channel as a means of defense? Didn’t you realize at this critical moment your principal needs you more for constructive engagements as the terrain of Kwara State politics is getting murkier?
If you will recall sir, I had once sent a message to your inbox to stop engaging yourself in chit-chats on WhatsApp groups when I noticed your intermittent response to allegations on a particular WhatsApp platform. Engaging yourself in chit-chat not only belittles you but is also a trap of temptation to misuse your office. You are an authority, a mouthpiece whose assignments have nothing to do with engaging in chit-chats. There are other media aides who can function as WhatsApp warriors, not you or your office sir.
Sir, the premise on which the Akonguns were detained is trivial and needless. This will only stir a media crisis that you will have to work extra hours with your team to fight. If people who have given ‘Thief’nubu, A’thief’ku, Articu’looted’, Ob’idiots’, Obi’dents’, or Obituary appellations to Presidential candidates with heavy allegations on social media are being arrested, how many youths or media users will remain on the street? You were accused of sponsoring the NUJ election with 15 million naira on a WhatsApp group and your accusers were remanded, what will you do if such claim is published in the national daily? Will you send them to life imprisonment? Sir, your weapon against the armless public is neither police nor court of law, your weapon is weaving words into lines to clear the air. Those journalists detained have gained public sympathy in the court of public opinion and rebuked your attempt at the court of law. As a journalist, I believe you know that this kind of scene can transmogrify into a national issue the more those people remain in remand. It is likely to be a topic of discussion on national television channels and radio stations or even form the point of opinion for the columnists. How many people did you want to tell your own side of the story that the whole scene happened on the Whatsapp group?
Sir, no administration is perfect, allegations from all quarters are meant to occur, that’s not news in Nigeria. Allegations will never come from your supporters, they will come from the opposition, civil society, or journalists who want transparency and good governance, they may appear to be biased in their engagements but yours is to tell us the allegations are unfounded not to write a petition that will lead to arrest. Establishing a defamation case while you are in government is not suitable sir. I can not count several times citizens have defamed President Buhari. Yours is not the first and will not be the last. You are in power and many things both true and untrue will be said about your principal’s administration. Reacting with enforcement agencies is a show of superiority. You need not to fall into trap of further temptation for posterity purposes. This is my candid advice, sir. I wish you and your principal the best of luck in the coming election. Let peace reign.
Yours sincerely!
*Busy Brain is an award-winning writer, journalist, columnist, and public relations specialist.
