Perhaps, not many Nigerians knew who Mehdi Hasan was until he encountered Daniel Bwala, spokesman of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, on March 6. Quickly after that media interview of the year, videos of it went viral in various shades and interpretations. The video was revealing, entertaining, shaming, educating and highly informative of the way Nigeria is being governed.
Hasan, a 46-year-old British-American broadcaster, journalist and founder of the media company Zeteo, had taken on the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Policy Communication. The interview which took place at Conway Hall in London, was for the Al Jazeera programme, Head to Head.
As Bwala sat on this hot seat, the journalist’s questions came in a barrage, pointedly at what the special adviser said previously about the president before switching camp. From indications, Bwala saw it as a perfect time to burnish Tinubu’s image as he had balanced to reel out a choreographed speech on how glowing the president’s programmes had been. He was caught off guard when torrents of his weighty aspersions on Tinubu before he pitched camp with the president hit him in quick successions. They were like strokes of a headmaster’s bulala falling on the buttocks of an erring school boy.
Accusations and accusations came, but Bwala denied them all. A pity, his denials could not fly in the face of overwhelming evidence before the audience.
“Tinubu and his people created a militia, who said those words.”
“Tinubu and his people never created a militia,” he replied.
“So why did you say they did on January 22nd, 2023?” Mehdi fired back.
It went on and on until the usually confident and firebrand politician lost it. Panic, trepidation got hold of him. He had been crushed under the weight of his own past words.
His undoing, mainly, was to have denied the facts. That made him a shameless liar. Had he admitted those facts and covered up with an I-now-know-better posture, he would have walked out of the hall holding his head high. Why did he not prepare for such questions? Journalists in Nigeria had taken on him and his past utterances, albeit in a different style. If local journalists used rubber bullets, Mehdi fired live ones that crushed the presidential aide.
The show was an exposition of the ugly side of Nigeria’s politics which feeds basically on barefaced falsehood. The Nigerian politician tells you he is in Owerri. He may have jetted off to Abuja a few hours before. In the afternoon, he eats lunch with the opposition party. At night he is having dinner with the ruling party. They promise heaven during campaigns but give hell as soon as they get into office. They are the proverbial wall gecko that can’t be held by the tail. Painfully, Bwala told the world through Mehdi that no Nigerian politician is worthy of trust.
The encounter speaks to the need for a public figure to maintain a good measure of consistency, to rise above pettiness and stomach wants, and to tell the truth regardless of who is involved.
Bwala rushed in a statement, thereafter, and tried a damage control. He admitted having been unprepared for the challenge of his past instead of the subject of security, economy and corruption in Nigeria as they had indicated to him in the invitation.
“I refused to swallow the pill of Mehdi’s ‘opposition research style journalism’” he stated.
He claimed he still harboured admiration for Mehdi who had demolished him like Igbo houses in Lagos. This sounded unbelievable.
Mehdi made some of us raise eyebrows over the brand of journalism he practices. Should we call it interrogative journalism, as in a policeman grilling a suspect? Does he cut the image of a prosecutor out to nail the accused? Should we see him as an activist? Or, do we agree with Bwala branding it ‘opposition research style journalism?’ Is he a terrorist armed with a microphone?
His bullyish, intimidating style makes him less friendly to subjects. His ability to use simple facts obtained through painstaking research stands him out of the crowd of news-hunters. No doubt, journalism appears to be an all-comers business, where everyone who can speak and write feels like an authority that can dictate to a newsman how to go about his job.
The beauty of the job is that it offers room for uniqueness in style. As a living profession, it evolves. It accommodates valid changes, while also upholding strict adherence to ethics. However, any journalism that does not engage its sources resourcefully is not worth the time. Success, here, is measured by the ability to elicit information from sources, especially the ones that are deliberately held back by the source.
Nigeria’s journalism, just as the country’s police, had been fashioned to protect and launder the establishment, the powers that be. It lost its confrontational character of the colonial era when power went into the hands of the military. Over time, it became the norm to window dress rather than take facts for what they are, and then walk home with brown envelops.
Those sympathetic to Bwala and the government he represents would not smile at Mahdi, but they should learn the essence of candour in public affairs. What is universally right gains global acceptance expressly. It would not need impunity to force it down people’s throats. Nigerian equivalents to Mehdi is Rufai Oseni of Arise News, and Seun Okinbaloye of Channels. Somehow, Nigerian journalism looks Lilliputian in comparison with what the likes of Mehdi do.
At home, the politicians are tigers. They delight in talking down on the journalist doing his lawful duty. Bwala, may be, underestimated the television lion he confronted. He least expected that kind of outing and is wishing to return for a second round. Under a normal government, Bwala would either have resigned or got fired after the interview. He made a mess of the entire country, specifically the Tinubu administration. Nigeria, however, runs an uncommon government.
The candid note is that the video has become a treasure, a kind of box office hit to critics of the present government and many Nigerians screaming for change in the way things are done in the country. Will the country change? Does a leopard change its spots?
Dr. Odu can be reached through [email protected] or SMS 07064052031
