Garba Shehu: One gaff e, too many

By Aliyu Usman

 

As people who are paid to speak on behalf of their bosses on regular basis, it is not unusual for Presidential Spokesmen to sometimes ‘mis-speak’ in their line of duty. However, Malam Garba Shehu is fast becoming a gaff e machine, owing largely to his penchant for putting his foot in the mouth. Recently, he described criticisms that trailed President Muhammadu Buhari’s Independence speech as the handiwork of professional critics who want to be settled. According to him, Buhari has put a stop to the trend of paying critics to keep quiet. For someone whose job is to explain, defend and rationalize government policies and programmes, this accusation was an unkind cut, especially when it is leveled against senior citizens and credible socio-cultural organizations.
This was not a one-off error because it falls into Shehu’s serial gaff es. Recently, he told the world that President Buhari was unable to resume offi ce because rats had invaded it. Following that expose, both the print and electronic media as well as online platforms, including the social media, have been bashing the presidency and Mallam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant who made it.
This was not the second time that the spokesman misspoke. In August 2016, when a trader, Joe Chinakwe was arrested in Sango-Otta in Ogun state and charged with intention to cause breach of peace after he was alleged to have named his dog “Buhari”, Shehu again goofed. The arrest sparked off alot of controversy as some commentators argued that Chinakwe has the right to give his dog whatever name he chooses to. Others said that Chinakwe demeaned the office and person of the President by naming his dog ‘’Buhari’’.
In addition, the controversy assumed a religious dimension when some Islamic clerics kicked against giving a dog a Muslim name. Most worrisome, some analysts argued that the arrest is a clampdown on freedom of expression and they saw the presidency’s hand in the arrest. However, instead of addressing these serious issues of national concern, Garba Shehu responded in a puerile manner. According to the spokesman, “people linking the president to this dog incident are just displaying their ignorance of the type of person he is”. He then went further to add that the president must be having a good laugh over the whole incident. In fact, the media aide revealed that the president enjoys reading cartoons in newspapers, especially the ones that caricature him. Mallam Shehu probably underestimated the weight of his words and its consequences on the person of the president.
The backlash that followed was vitriolic on both the social media and the mainstream. One user on social media described the comment as insensitive while Premium Times quoted the Economist’s Eleanor Whitehead as describing the arrest as turning Nigeria into a ” police state”. Two months later when Mallam Shehu’s principal made his famous ‘Berlin declaration’ that his wife belonged in the Kitchen, following Mrs Aisha Buhari’s famous interview with the BBC, where she lamented how the president was virtually held hostage by a few aides. Overzealously, Garba Shehu came to the rescue of his boss by explaining that the president’s response was an act of humour. In his words, the media aide queried thus, “my friends, can’t a leader get a sense of humour anymore?.’’
He pointed out that Mr. President laughed before making that statement and that , ‘’the president was obviously throwing a banter. Politics should sometimes be spiced with humour “. Obviously, Garba Shehu was not on the same page with his principal because Buhari reiterated his stance. Ironically, Garba Shehu has been around a long time and has seen it all as far as political communication is concerned in Nigeria.
He was in the trenches with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in his most challenging times during the Obasanjo administration. A former president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, he was the Director of the APC Presidential Media and Publicity team in the last election.

 

 

 

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