Opinion: A President and his image-makers

by Oluwatosin Fatoyinbo

DrDoyinOkupe1

 I do believe that one of the President’s biggest mistake is the choice of his image makers. With all due respect to the President, Labaran Maku, Doyin Okupe, Reuben Abati and Reno Omokri are publicity misfits.

Image making in today’s world is a big deal. Businesses and organizations spend billions annually to promote their image. A company like Coca-Cola for instance spent about $2.6 million on adverts in 2006 alone despite the popularity of the brand. I often wonder why they need put up advertisements when coke is the third most popular brand in the world. I believe only unborn babies and people living in really obscure and uncivilized places won’t know about coke yet they keep advertising. That’s pure waste of money you would think but its not true. There is the need to remain in people’s consciousness the sole benefit of taking that product above all others. The need to inspire complete trust and confidence in the effectiveness of the product.

It’s therefore not strange that even governments bought into the advertising buzz, made even more pronounced by the advent of social media. Time and resource is been spent by government and its agency to create a good in the mind of the populace. Presidents, governors, legislator and ministers the world over employ scriptwriters who check the propriety   of each word to be spoken in public. This is because a single wrong word among a thousand right words destroys the beautifully crafted speech. Image makers are thus expected to be men and women who pick their words carefully knowing full well that once spoken, words can never be retrieved.

It’s unfortunate that among the many things complained about the administration of President Jonathan, one particularly disturbing at this very shaky time is his image makers. I do believe that one of the President’s biggest mistake is the choice of his image makers. With all due respect to the President, Labaran Maku, Doyin Okupe, Reuben Abati and Reno Omokri are publicity misfits. They cannot even promote their own image, talk less of speaking for the President. In times of crisis, people need to be told what inspires them to keep faith and depend on the ability of the government to come good. These men have made matters worse in the last three months with their utterances. The President will be better off if these men simply keep their lips sealed. Reno created a parody account, Maku accuses every #BringBackOurGirls protesters APC members, Doyin Okupe keeps attacking personalities rather than address issues and disappointingly, Reuben Abati issues contradictory statements. I loved Reuben Abati and I still do, I just can’t understand what has gone wrong with the logic with which he used to write.

I hate making comparisons but sometimes its inevitable. When you consider that Chief Obasanjo had Prof Jerry Gana, Frank Nweke Jr and Chukwuemeka Chikelu as his image makers at one time or the other, you wonder where President Jonathan gather his spokes persons from. These men were obviously not perfect but you cannot place side by side with Maku, Reno, and Doyin Okupe. If these are the men in charge of the President’s speeches, then I’m not surprised. When a President speaks, he should inspire people to dream more and do more for the country. The only speech that inspired me personally was his campaign advert; the popular ‘no shoe’ media blast. None of his other speeches have been anything to be inspired by.

I ask if the President is satisfied with the output of these men, then there’s no hope for his already dented image in the next one year. Despite all his mistakes, I somehow remain a fan, don’t know why, can’t explain why. But my vote alone won’t make him President come 2015. His chances are already slim and Maku, Reno and Okupe  are only daily adding fires to his low ratings among the populace.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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