Reuben Abati earned a first class degree from the University of Calabar, a
\ncerebral writer he is also the recipient of several awards. Amongst them
\nis the Cecil King Memorial Prize for the Print Journalist of the year,
\n1998; Fletcher Challenge Newspaper Commonwealth Prize for Opinion Writing,
\n2000, and four times winner of the Diamond Award for Media Excellence in
\nInformed Commentary. For several years he penned informed commentaries
\nfor The Guardian Newspaper, which in turn affected national policies. He
\npersonified the motto of the Guardian newspaper which says that conscience
\nis an open wound that can only be healed by truth. He has been criticised
\nfor abandoning his ideals and joining the government. In this edition of
\nConversations with Abang Mercy, Abati opens up on why he accepted the
\nappointment and other issues of national importance.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: Given the criticisms, as the Presidential Spokesman, do you have any
\nregrets working with President Jonathan and the Nigerian Government?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A: I have no regrets, absolutely no regrets. As I have said in a previous
\ninterview, I would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to serve in
\ngovernment in any capacity, to accept the offer. It remains the highest
\nhonor that can be bestowed on anyone. Out of about 170 million people, it
\nis indeed an honour to be singled out for any particular kind of
\nresponsibility, to be called to national service. Considering the number
\nof people that I see who are perpetually hustling to be in government,
\nlobbying, playing the CV game, the biggest game in government and in town,
\nincluding the people who claim that government is this, government is
\nthat, there must be really something about public service. They all want
\nto be in government, it\u2019s just that they haven\u2019t yet had the opportunity.
\nEven people who have had the experience before, when they are out there,
\nthey feel like fish out of water. They don\u2019t want to be outside, that\u2019s
\npartly why there is so much desperation among those I have described as
\nyesterday\u2019s men.<\/p>\n
But wait, let me deal with my own case which is the question you have
\nasked me. I have absolutely no regrets and I don\u2019t bother myself about
\nwhat you call the criticisms. It\u2019s a free country; people are entitled
\nto the freedom to express their opinions but my point is that they
\nhave no right to determine the choices that other individuals make.
\nEvery individual will make his or her own choice and you can only be
\nknowledgeable to the extent of your exposure and that\u2019s why I have had
\ncause on this job to talk about a lot of ignorance being on display.<\/p>\n
And if there is anything I have gained so far, it is a lot of knowledge
\nabout the character of the Nigerian or by extension, about human nature.
\nThat\u2019s why sometimes when I react to some criticisms, I talk about
\nignorance, I talk about emotional responses because I have been\u2026I have
\nbeen involved and I can see it.<\/p>\n
Q: Amnesty International has called for investigation of deaths of Boko
\nHaram suspects in custody, Hundreds of people are dying in military
\ndetention from shootings, suffocation or starvation as you must have
\nheard. Why are BH suspects dying in Custody? Why has government not
\nresponded to such serious allegations?<\/p>\n
A: You are probably referring to a recent report by Amnesty International.
\nI saw the Amnesty International press release but I initially did not want
\nto comment on it because I felt that the Defence authorities should be in
\na better position to do so, because most of the issues raised dealt with
\nhow the security agencies have been handling the arrest and detention of
\nsuspects and all that. But what I can tell you straight on, from my own
\nrelationship with the Defence authorities and what I have been able to get
\nfrom their end, is that the report is not fair to our national security
\nagencies. It is a biased, one-sided report. If some objectivity had been
\ninvolved in its preparation, the conclusions would have been different.<\/p>\n
Over the years however, I have noticed that whereas reports of this nature
\nbear the imprint of international organisations, the main inputs come from
\npeople in Nigeria, not necessarily from foreign observers and
\ninvestigators. And these Nigerians who serve the purposes of biased
\ninternational organisations, have their own biases, their own partisan
\nviews. They feed international organizations with their own bias and, very
\noften, that bias is either sponsored, emotional or borne out of complete
\nignorance or mischief or as is the case, a thoughtless effort to promote
\nWestern stereotypes.<\/p>\n
In this particular case, there may have been challenges in terms of
\nplacement of suspects in detention facilities. But the context is that the
\nBoko Haram terrorists in their various onslaughts, targeted and destroyed
\nthe prisons and police stations. You will recall that in both Baga and
\nBama, the special target by the Boko Haram elements included police
\nstations, public infrastructure, telephone masts. In fact, either in Baga
\nor Bama, the terrorists set the prisoners free. Now, Amnesty International
\nsays Boko Haram suspects are not been put in proper prison facilities.
\nWhat our security agencies have done is to set up special detention
\nfacilities in the areas where the declaration of emergency is in force and
\nprison facilities had been destroyed.<\/p>\n
An Amnesty International report that now begins to talk about the rights
\nof those same people who wanted to destroy the sovereignty of Nigeria, who
\ndestroyed prison facilities and law enforcement facilities needs to be
\nsubjected to the tests of truthfulness and objectivity. This government
\nhas made it clear that it is fully committed to human rights and the
\nobservance of best practices and the rules of engagement, even while
\ntaking the battle to the terrorists in their enclaves. But why is Amnesty
\nInternational not focussing on the rights of the majority of Nigerians to
\nlive in peace without being assaulted by Boko Haram terrorists?<\/p>\n
What is Amnesty International saying about the right of other Nigerians to
\nhuman dignity, and their right to the freedoms of thought and association?
\nI don\u2019t think that a thorough job was done. The Nigerian Security agencies
\ndeserve commendation, not condemnation, for what they have done so far to
\ncheck the menace of terrorism in the North Eastern part of Nigeria. It is
\nreassuring that the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, long before the Amnesty
\nInternational Report, had pointed out that Nigeria is prosecuting a just
\nwar against terror and that it is the Boko Haram that is guilty of human
\nrights abuses. That endorsement was based on direct observation and
\ninvestigation, and it puts the lie to the Amnesty International report.
\nThose Nigerians who for the purposes of filling their own pockets, write
\nfiction and put their own country down, so that they can get stipends from
\ninternational NGOs, should have a re-think. They need to search their
\nconscience.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: Is government confident with the economy?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A: Government is very confident that it is doing its best to improve the
\neconomy, with great benefits for the people. The growth of the Nigerian
\neconomy is not fictional at all, it is real, and that is why we are
\ngetting high scores from the rating agencies. But apart from that, the
\ngrowth is visible and measurable. Despite the global economic recession,
\nNigeria is one of those few economies that have been growing consistently.
\nThe growth rate is about 6.7% and there are projections both by IMF and
\nthe World Bank and others that Nigeria\u2019s economic growth rate will be
\nabout 7% by 2014. This is not what you call jobless growth. It\u2019s not
\nartificial growth. According to another recent report, Nigeria is said to
\nhave overtaken South Africa, in other words, the Nigerian economy is
\nrelatively doing better than the South African economy. You may ask: what
\nare the indicators? In this regard, we are talking in terms of the ease
\nof doing business, access to the market, the policy environment and
\npotentials for further growth and all that. Nigeria is moving ahead. And
\nthe ratings have indicated that Nigeria is a good market for business.<\/p>\n
The Nigerian economy is also growing in terms of what it brings to
\nthe table for the average man. Nigerians often forget that against
\nthe background of the past, we have made a lot of progress. Take
\npower, power supply has always been an issue in this environment, but
\nunder President Jonathan there has been an improvement, very
\nsignificant improvement with the privatization process already
\nyielding positive results. Those who are honest enough to say the
\ntruth have confirmed this.<\/p>\n
They have also observed that a lot has been done to improve public
\ninfrastructure. But if you feel that the transformation is yet to
\nreach your neighbourhood, and in this season when every owner of a
\nphone or an i-Pad is a citizen journalist, the temptation is always
\nthere to go on twitter, or to a blog and say what you like. But you
\nwill also realize in your heart, that what you are expressing is
\nyour own emotional bias rather than an objective assessment of the
\nwhole picture. The plain truth is that you have a government that
\nis working very hard to continue to move the country forward.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: Crossroads, was a popular column you penned, Patio\u2019s Gang was also
\nanother TV Show you were part of. What happened to the Reuben Abati that
\nused to be critical of the Federal Government?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A: Nothing. I see that every interviewer insists on asking this question
\nagain and again. And I think I have spent enough time responding to it.
\nPeople don\u2019t stop thinking because they are in government. They don\u2019t stop
\nbeing critical because they are in government. The only difference is
\nthat if there are things that you are not comfortable with, you don\u2019t have
\nto stage a public protest and carry a placard like those who consider
\nthemselves outsiders or sworn enemies of the state. Within the system I
\ncan express myself. That\u2019s why I am called an Adviser. I haven\u2019t suddenly
\nbecome dumb because I work for government.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: What is your grouse against Social media; you once described young
\nNigerians online as \u201cChildren of Anger\u201d.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A: I once wrote a major essay on the internet phenomenon. I think this was
\nwhen I delivered the Faculty of Social Science lecture at Babcock
\nUniversity, Ilishan Remo, a few years ago. Part of my focus in that
\npresentation was this internet phenomenon, online journalism, I tried to
\nprovide an assessment of it, raising questions as to whether it poses a
\nthreat to print journalism or not, as well as issues of ethics, freedom,
\nresponsibility, and the challenges of the digital information age. I had
\ncause to say a lot about some of the limitations of social media.<\/p>\n
But a few years later, on this job, I have found myself confronting
\nsome of the issues that I raised in that lecture. Understandably
\nperhaps, for there is no doubt that the Jonathan Presidency is
\neffectively the first internet age presidency that Nigerians have had.
\nThe internet didn\u2019t start in his time you know, under President
\nOlusegun Obasanjo the internet was there, and the social media in
\nNigeria was just emerging as a tool of socio-political engagement.
\nUnder President Yar\u2019adua too, it was beginning to find its roots. But
\nunder President Jonathan, social media has become an explosive,
\nunavoidable phenomenon such that as Spokesman to the President, I have
\nto deal with an entirely different kind of communications and public
\nrelations template. I doubt if any spokesman in this office before has
\nhad to deal with the same scope of internet penetration. Today,
\neverybody is a journalist. All you need is a phone, an i-Pad, access to
\nthe internet. You can set up your own blog, you can rely on BB, you
\ndon\u2019t need a licence, and you are free to utter whatever nonsense takes
\nover your head. And you can be arrogant about your own ignorance, hide
\nyour identity and tell lies, say things you\u2019d ordinarily not say in the
\nopen.<\/p>\n
The social media is a very strong platform for socio-political
\ncommunication, for debate, and for extending the frontiers of human
\nfreedom and interaction. I use it for my work, for publicity purposes
\nand as an observatory to monitor the tenor of public discourse, but I
\ncan tell you that it is an imperfect medium, the kind of boundless
\nfreedom that it offers, including anonymity, is being exploited by
\nsadists, psychopaths, mischief-makers, Luciferian characters and their
\ncheerleaders, to misinform the public, to cause disaffection and they
\ndo so without apologies. We may see it as a veritable symbol of
\nfreedom of expression, indeed the ultimate signification of democracy
\nbut at the same time it shows up the limitations of that freedom of
\nexpression in the sense that most of its Nigerian users have no regard
\nfor ethics or the rights of others to human dignity. When a platform
\nacquires a certain level of power that impinges on the rights of
\nothers, we must also insist on its being used responsibly. But the
\nquestion is: who guards the guardians? I think that is a relevant
\nquestion, otherwise the social media could do more harm than good in
\nmany circumstances.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: In a recent interview, you were quoted to have said most of your
\ncritics hang around government looking for favours? Who are those and why
\ndo you think people that criticise government shouldn’t be seen around
\ntheir government?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A: Well I think I have answered this question already, both in the course
\nof this conversation and in an earlier interview published by the PUNCH
\nnewspaper. I recall that the interview generated a lot of debate. What
\npeople must realise is that my position is quite a privileged one and I
\nget to see a lot of things. I have the kind of experience which people who
\nhave not been in this position are not likely to come across and so when I
\nmade that statement I was speaking from a position of knowledge. But it\u2019s
\nnot an issue I want to stretch any further because the kind of reaction
\nthat it has attracted, the volume of rejoinders that it has generated,
\nsimply indicated that I was saying the truth and that some persons are
\nreally uncomfortable with that truth. But what we are condemning is
\nhypocrisy, it is Janus-faced conduct. What we are condemning is crass
\nopportunism; friends at night, enemies during the day time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: What will you say to persons that say Reuben Abati was critical of the
\ngovernment for an opportunity to be appointed?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A: I insist that I do not owe anybody any apologies for the choices that I
\nmake. The truth is that this country belongs to all of us and people have
\nthe right to contribute to the development of their country at various
\nlevels. It is perfectly okay to remain in civil society, and criticise: it
\nis a form of contribution as long as you are not operating as a
\nportfolio-wielding NGI (Non-Governmental individual) or an SPV for some
\ndubious groups. If you also decide to become a direct participant in the
\ngovernance process by taking up a public appointment, I don\u2019t think that
\namounts to a crime.<\/p>\n
In Leadership training programmes, we used to teach students about
\nbeing change agents. The way to be a change agent is not necessarily
\nby standing outside and throwing stones, you can be a change agent
\nfrom within, and that is why at a time, the big opinion out there was
\nthat those who have been critical about government, who have the big
\nideas about how nations grow or fail, should be courageous enough to
\ngo into government. But once you do that, you see a small crowd
\nshowing up, blackmailing people, demonising them saying all kinds of
\nthings. This is really not an educated response. Your expression of
\nanger or protest may bring you undeserved attention but it won\u2019t stop
\nothers from making their own choices.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: Why did you say millions of those that were out to protest against the
\nremoval of Subsidy in Ojota were occupying their stomachs with Jollof rice
\nand wine? Was your comment to jest at the unprecedented outing by millions
\nof Nigerians or you actually believed that the massive crowd the world saw
\nwas rented?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A: I don\u2019t know how you arrived at the figure, millions of Nigerians. Did
\nyou conduct a census of the people who gathered in Ojota? This is how you
\npeople just throw up numbers and jump to wrong conclusions. I mean there
\nwas\u2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(cuts in): But the picture was very clear\u2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A:Which picture? Can you count people from pictures? Certainly there is no
\nway the camera can capture everybody and there is no way you can count
\nevery head in a photograph of indistinct figures; not even a television
\ncamera can capture everything but that is not the point. My point is the
\nprotest was hijacked by the opposition; at the time by the ACN and by the
\nCPC and people who borrowed the phrase \u201cOccupy Nigeria\u201d from the United
\nStates. There is a book on that kind of event. I remember reading OCCUPY
\nby Noam Chomsky, an extended essay on popular protest. It is not the same
\ntemplate we are talking about in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Many Nigerians are very good at borrowing slogans; they are very good
\nat borrowing other people\u2019s modes and the people who lead the process
\nare often times so poorly educated, they don\u2019t even know what they are
\ndoing because they are motivated by other considerations. That whole
\nissue about Occupy Nigeria; what happened in Ojota, Lagos clearly was
\npolitically motivated. At the end of the day, half of the people who
\nclaimed they were occupying whatever it was knew nothing about what was
\ngoing on. What kind of protest was that where people wore designer
\nT-shirts; musicians were rented, and a so-called rally became an owambe
\nparty.<\/p>\n
Who paid for those musicians, who provided the music, who provided the
\nfood? That was a case of some vested interests hijacking the protest
\nfor their own political ends; the thing must be properly
\nconceptualised. I hope someday, somebody will do a proper analysis of
\nit. Apart from the political opportunists, you also had the
\nrent-collectors, the marketers of empty petroleum vessels who did not
\nwant transparency and accountability in the downstream sector, who
\ntried to blackmail the government.<\/p>\n
Of course in due course, there was a disagreement between organised
\nlabour and the political parties because their motives were
\ndifferent, and that was when the protest started collapsing. That
\nprotest was not a protest against the Jonathan government, it was not
\na referendum against the Jonathan government. The whole of the South
\nEast, North Central, South South, North East, North West was
\npeaceful; nobody was protesting there. In many parts of the north
\nthere was no protest; the whole thing was reduced to this Ojota
\nphenomenon contrived by the ACN and its allies. That is why I said it
\nis not all kinds of protest that is honest protest. Some protests can
\nbe politically hijacked and we must be able to separate what the
\npeople are saying from what the opposition is saying and the
\nopposition does not necessarily represent the interest of the people.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: Dr Reuben Abati, many believe you\u2019ve been the most controversial of all
\nthe Nigerian presidential spokesmen, with so many contradictions, what
\nmakes your job difficult?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A: I take the being controversial part of your question as a compliment.
\nIt means that my method of operation has been very impactful. I must be
\ndoing something right to attract so much attention. As you probably know,
\nthis is a country where people feel very uncomfortable when they see
\nsomeone who can stand up on his feet and who is confident and resolute and
\nwho takes a position and stands by it. Other people who think that they
\nalso have opinions, challenge you, and you respond to them and then you
\nhave a controversy. If that controversy generates a healthy debate, then
\nit is perfectly in order. About contradictions, I don\u2019t know what you
\nmean about contradictions. I don\u2019t see any contradictions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: My earlier question is so we understand you; you were on Channels
\nTelevision shortly after the Presidential pardon to former governor
\nDiepreye Alamieyeseigha defending the President\u2019s decision. To think that
\nin 2005, you wrote a piece and you said \u201cFor His Excellency, the Executive
\nFugitive of Bayelsa state, it is over. Resign now, get on a boat across
\nthe border, and run\u2026\u201d When compared to your stand today, isn\u2019t that a
\ncontradiction?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A: There is no contradiction, and this is what I keep telling people who
\njust look at one phrase, one line, one statement in a whole essay and they
\ngo to town just to demonstrate that they are making the best use of the
\nlimited education that they have received. Now when I wrote the piece
\nagainst the former Governor of Bayelsa state, that was when the issue was
\nstill very fresh and he didn\u2019t want… go and check the dates, he didn\u2019t
\nwant to submit himself to due process. He was trying to evade the law;
\nhence the use of the word fugitive. I wrote the article to say no, that
\nwas unacceptable. If you have been indicted, you should have your day in
\ncourt, you can\u2019t run away from the law because if we allow everyone to
\nevade the law, there will be no good society for people to live in.
\nHence, that article and I stand by the content.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Subsequently, the man eventually had his day in court, he was brought to
\njustice, he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. He served his term.
\nThe purpose of law and justice, and the principle of crime and punishment
\nhad been served. It doesn\u2019t matter the weight of the punishment. What
\nmatters is the fact of conviction, whatever happens tomorrow you are still
\nan ex-convict. When President Jonathan granted him state pardon and it
\nbecame very controversial, I made a point. I said look in jurisprudence or
\nthe theory of crime in other jurisdictions and even our own, the state can
\nin its wisdom grant various kinds of remission, it can be state pardon, it
\ncan be suspension of sentence, it can be parole to a person who has been
\nconvicted. They have it in the UK, the US and elsewhere. You are talking
\nabout contradictions. I cited the example of President Bill Clinton who
\neven granted state pardon to his own brother and his former Secretary who
\nrefused to testify against him in the Whitewater case.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
There is always a tendency to controversialize state pardons, and anywhere
\nit has been done, there have been controversies, the classic case being
\nPresident Gerald Ford\u2019s grant of state pardon to President Richard Nixon.
\nGerald Ford was vilified, but years later, he was vindicated.<\/p>\n
I am of the view that the ultimate purpose of punishment is not to destroy
\nthe individual; it is perfectly in order for convicted persons to be given
\na chance of reintegration into society. How this is done is partly a
\nmatter of discretion and also a matter of law. In the Alams case,
\nPresident Jonathan followed due process and acted strictly within the
\nambit of the law. And I made it clear on Channels TV that these are the
\nissues, but many people are emotional about such issues. We are now in a
\nseason when even educated people choose to be emotional because they have
\nbecome politicians, and it is expedient to be contrarian.<\/p>\n
Yes, this man has been granted pardon, he has been reinstated in
\nsociety, he has become in the eyes of the law, novus homo, a new man,
\nhis sins have been forgiven, but state pardon does not amount to
\nforgetfulness. The stigma, that was the word I used, the stigma of
\nbeing an ex-convict, can never be erased from the mind of the public.
\nDespite the pardon, has that stigma been erased months after I
\ngranted that interview and offered that defence? So this is my point
\nand I am not going to shift just because some people are unhappy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: In your piece titled \u201cThe Hypocrisy of Yesterday\u2019s Men\u201d. What is the
\ndifference between Yesterday\u2019s men and today\u2019s men?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A: Again, you must contextualise it. My message to the people that I
\nreferred to as yesterday\u2019s men, and you may add the word women, because I
\nsee that some of them are female, is that look, when you are called upon
\nto serve your country, it is not your birth right to do so no matter how
\nintelligent you may be; no matter how smart you think you are. We are in a
\ncountry of more than 170 million people. You may be an expert in a
\nparticular area.<\/p>\n
There are people who are also talented in other areas and people will
\nhave their own opportunity at different times. You don\u2019t say because
\nyou have left the government and because you have not been recognised
\nor because you have lobbied for a position you have not been given or
\nbecause you think that you deserve a certain level of recognition
\nthat you have not received, you then begin to attack the government
\nof the day. If you are criticising honestly, well, no problem. But we
\nhave witnessed, post-Obasanjo government, a group of egoistic
\nknow-it-alls and wannabes who think that they alone know how to run
\nNigeria. They had their opportunity, and they should be thankful for
\nthat, because really, who are they?<\/p>\n
I met one of them on a flight to London, He was so cheeky. He said he
\nwas waiting for when I will also become a yesterday man. He doesn\u2019t
\nget the point. My point is that when you are no longer in government,
\nmove on; get a life, don\u2019t get trapped in a vortex of withdrawal
\npsychosis; to do that to yourself amounts to self-abuse, and sheer
\ningratitude. Don\u2019t turn yourself into an accidented personality who
\ndoes not even know how to be grateful for favours received. One of
\nthem wrote a book in which he abused the same man who brought him to
\nlimelight; and claimed credit for everything.<\/p>\n
Well, wake up please. The fact that you were privileged to have been
\nappointed by President Obasanjo to serve in a particular position does
\nnot confer on you a celestial Solomonic garb. It doesn\u2019t even grant
\nyou the right to say that nobody else knows anything or that nobody
\nelse can run government. It is such arrogance that I criticise. Don\u2019t
\nmisunderstand me. I am not opposing freedom of expression. I am
\nagainst hypocrisy, opportunism and charlatanism. The lesson of it all
\nis that when people are offered public positions, they should be such
\npersons who have real background; they should be people we can say
\nthis is where Mr X is coming from, this man or woman has real
\nfoundation, and can survive in or out of government. But here we are,
\npeople taste the opportunity of public appointment and they can no
\nlonger imagine life without it. There should be life after office;
\nthis country doesn\u2019t belong to any individual; you play your role, you
\nmove on, and you stop hanging around. Am I making sense?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: There is widespread high level corruption in the Nigerian government,
\nespecially with the many scams we see, what would you say are the
\npositives for you since began your present assignment?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think there will ever be any government in Nigeria and people
\nwon\u2019t talk about corruption. It is a standard slogan, or better still, it
\nis an inherited problem. The question to ask is: what is being done to
\ncurb it? And I\u2019ve had to respond to this question on many occasions to
\nsay that the Jonathan administration has been doing a lot to block
\nleakages, to block wastages, to put an end to rent-collection and through
\ninstitutional reforms under the transformation agenda.<\/p>\n
It seems however that what Nigerians are looking for is blood; they
\nwant people to be beheaded. They want to hear that Mr X has been
\ndragged along the streets of Nigeria, pulled along by a truck and
\nhumiliated. They want to hear that Mrs Y is in detention and is
\nbeing humiliated. Perhaps, a bit of drama, without the finesse of
\ndue process sometimes helps in dealing with matters such as this,
\nbut today, you have a President who says governance is not about
\ndrama. It is about laying serious foundations. It is about building
\ninstitutions, and getting those institutions to do their bit. Yes,
\nwe can catch the thieves but you must also make sure that you block
\nthe opportunities for the thieves, and their ilk to continue to
\noperate.<\/p>\n
In terms of the drama that people are looking for, this government
\ntakes on cases, identifies indicted persons, but those cases must
\npass through the criminal justice system. The police will have to do
\nits job, the EFCC will have to do its job, the ICPC will have to do
\nits job, and the courts have to play their part. We have a President
\nwho does not interfere in that process. We have a President who does
\nnot dictate to the institutions and that is why for example he
\ndoesn\u2019t dictate to INEC. When there is an election and the opposition
\nwins he will be the first to congratulate the opposition.<\/p>\n
We were all in this country at a time when if there was an election,
\nwhat people would be trying to do was to find out who was the
\nanointed candidate of the president. Under President Jonathan nobody
\ntalks about the anointed candidate, everybody just waits for the
\noutcome and you can be sure that the outcome is the true outcome, not
\nwhat the President has enforced. The highest level of corruption in
\nthis country is political corruption. And this president has not been
\ninvolved in any form of political corruption. If anything, he has
\nprotected and promoted electoral integrity, I think he must be given
\ndue credit for that.<\/p>\n
A second level is corruption within the judiciary. We were all in
\nthis country when there were allegations about the presidency buying
\njudgements, dictating court rulings. You cannot accuse this
\nPresident of buying judgments and should it now be the case that
\nsome of the cases in court are delayed, you still cannot blame
\nPresident Jonathan. You can only urge that the strengthening of the
\ninstitutions should continue apace so that these relevant
\ninstitutions can be more proactive and efficient and can deliver
\nresults more expeditiously.<\/p>\n
Now, with regard to the building of institutions, take the
\nintroduction of a National Identification Number. The whole purpose
\nof that exercise is to eliminate corruption, to eliminate ghosts on
\nthe payroll, to establish true identity. We live in a country where
\npeople are not even properly documented. We once had a national
\nidentity card programme but it failed. Nigeria is probably one of the
\nfew countries in West Africa where if you accosted somebody on the
\nstreet and he is from maybe Togo or Burkina Faso he can tell you that
\nhe is a Nigerian and you cannot prove otherwise.<\/p>\n
Within the civil service system, this President has also introduced a
\nbiometric verification system. If you don\u2019t go for that verification,
\nyour salary will not be paid but Nigerians don\u2019t know this. And the
\nPresident does that because he doesn\u2019t want to hear that there are
\nghost on the payroll.<\/p>\n
Look at the fertilizer sector. It used to be the headquarters of
\nscam: fertilizers scam, seeds and tractors scam. This government has
\nput an end to corruption in that sector. Again, the fuel subsidy issue
\nthat generated the protests in January 2012, it was all about checking
\ncorruption in the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: What does your work entail on a daily basis? Do you sit to advice the
\nPresident Jonathan on what to do and what not to do as it concerns the
\nfreedom of the press and national issues generally?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A: I am a Special Adviser. I think the title speaks for itself. I work
\ndirectly with the President. I am his direct appointee; his personal aide,
\nI think that answers the question.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: How has it been for you working with President Jonathan and how long do
\nyou see yourself in this role?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A: The second part of your question I cannot answer. As I said, I am
\nPresident Jonathan\u2019s personal aide. I serve this government at his
\npleasure and for as long as I am here, I will continue to serve to the
\nbest of my abilities. But as for how it has been, yes it has been very
\ninteresting, very exciting. It is a great opportunity to serve and also to
\nlearn a number of lessons about society, human nature and the business of
\npublic communication.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: As a very literary person, do you still have time to read books? What
\nbooks have you read lately?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A: There is no way a man like me can survive without a library otherwise I
\nwill begin to sound the way I don\u2019t want to sound, so you can be sure that
\nwherever I am, whatever I do, there will always be a library close by; a
\nvery active and well equipped library. Reading is a way of life for people
\nlike me. What books have I read lately? Presidential Power and the Modern
\nPresidents: The Politics of Leadership from Roosevelt to Reagan by Richard
\nNeustadt; The Presidency in The Era of 24-Hour News by Jeffrey E. Cohen;
\nBreak-Out Nations: In Pursuit of Next Economic Miracles by Bushir Sharma
\nand Emerging Africa: How the Global Economy\u2019s Last Frontier can Prosper
\nand Matter by Kingsley Moghalu.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: With the varied experiences you have gained, do you see yourself going
\nto teach in the university, to transfer your expertise?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A: Well I used to teach in the university, I was teaching actively up till
\n1999. I left Ogun State University to work at The Guardian, but I remained
\nactive in the Department as a visiting lecturer, teaching classes and
\nsupervising research essays. But in my final year as a law student at
\nLagos State University, it became difficult to combine so many things at
\nonce: law studies, journalism and scholarship. I had to let go of the last
\none to enable me concentrate. So I gave up, I think I supervised
\nundergraduate theses for another year and I also taught at the
\nuniversity\u2019s satellite campus in Lagos, but when the satellite campuses
\nwere scrapped, I finally gave up. I couldn\u2019t combine travelling on the
\nOshodi-Badagry expressway with another weekly Lagos-Ago Iwoye shuttle.<\/p>\n
I miss being a Specialist. Before this present job, I kept up by
\nwriting essays for academic journals, and it used to be exciting
\nreceiving letters of acceptance, now and then, and getting published
\nin serious journals. But for almost three years now, I have not been
\nable to do all that, and I am scared about losing the skill to engage
\nin specialised, rigorous discourse.<\/p>\n
However, I would like to see a situation within the education system in
\nNigeria whereby persons who have had exposure to academics, who have an
\nidea of how that environment works but who then go to the corporate
\nworld or who go to serve in government are encouraged to return. Even
\npersons who are not necessarily scholars but who have just had very
\ngreat exposure in politics or in business should be engaged by the
\nuniversity system to share their experiences and mentor the younger
\ngeneration. That is how it is done for example, in the United States.<\/p>\n
An Aliko Dangote, or Jim Ovia, or Mike Adenuga should end up as
\nProfessors of Business, and Obasanjo should be teaching Politics and
\nGovernance, all our retired military Heads of State should be either
\nfull time or visiting lecturers at the Nigerian Defence Academy. We
\nhave to learn to keep people busy, and make them give back to
\nsociety, instead of this current system whereby gifted, experienced
\nand capable persons are allowed to hang around like invalids.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Q: You once expressed your views about “Naija music” and its debilitating
\ninfluence on Nigerian youth; do you still hold this view?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A: Was that the content of that article? I know that was another very
\ncontroversial piece that I wrote. I think that the piece was more on the
\nmatter of art, functionality and aesthetics. Aesthetics was one of those
\nfavourite courses that I took as a student and later taught others. And it
\nis at the heart of performance studies which is a whole field of
\nspecialisation, study and research. At the time I wrote that article, I
\nwas talking about standards. I was talking about quality; I was talking
\nabout form, shape, sound and sense; in general about art and
\nsignification. I saw at that point in time, these were serious issues in
\nthe emergent tradition in the musical sphere, spear-headed by a young
\ngeneration of auto-tune inspired artists. Quite a controversial piece.
\nFor almost three months, Jahman Anikulapo, then editor of The Sunday
\nGuardian published rejoinders that can translate into a lengthy book on
\njust this matter and people kept writing, including angry young men who
\nthought Reuben Abati was old school who didn\u2019t know the difference between
\nori e fo ka sibe; and lorile o di gombe. And I just laughed because I was
\ndoing my job as someone who is an expert in that field, and who is
\nentitled to a choice of critical modes: ascriptive, analytical or
\ndescriptive.<\/p>\n
I was saying that when you looked at many of the songs and musicians
\ncoming up at the time, the whole thing was like a revolution then,
\nthere was a lot of effort but very little talent. This young man
\nwould come up and drop one song people will be dancing, and
\nscreaming. I don\u2019t want to mention names so it doesn\u2019t look like am
\nputting people down. But a critical look at many of those albums
\nindicated that it was all sound, and no sense, and very little shape.<\/p>\n
What I did at that time was to say look, yes many of these young men
\nare doing very well, they may be commercial successes and they have
\nenergy but they are not musicians at all because all I see is sound,
\nvery little sense, and small talent and I said many of them will not
\nlast at all with their auto-tune driven artistry. And I compared
\nthat to what I considered real music, the kind of music that will
\nendure. I said we had a moment of too much artificiality in terms
\nof creative expression and this was something to be watched. I
\nidentified quite a few people that I considered real musicians among
\nthe younger generation. And I think I have been proven right.<\/p>\n
Over time some of the examples I gave at that time as people were not
\ndoing music have disappeared from the scene, their once popular songs
\nhave been effectively forgotten and may never be remembered again.
\nThe ones that I singled out for commendation are still in business,
\nand have grown and they already have songs that have been
\ninternationally acclaimed. My point takes us back to Horace: \u201c ife is
\nshort, art is long.\u201d If you are a true artiste your work will live
\nlong but if you are just a commercial wannabe, yes you will reign for
\na while, you will make money, and attract the finest girls in town,
\nbut your art may not survive. I have been vindicated and I remain a
\nkeen watcher of the creative industry. Those who were commenting on
\nwhat I said, who were saying I didn\u2019t know what I was saying, calling
\nme names, blackmailing me, I didn\u2019t take them seriously because then
\nor now, they cannot question my bona fide.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reuben Abati earned a first class degree from the University of Calabar, a cerebral writer he is also the recipient of several awards. Amongst them is the Cecil King Memorial…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive","category-interviews"],"yoast_head":"\n