It is on record that the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has two Degrees: a Degree in Agriculture from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and a Degree in Law from the University of Maiduguri. It is also on record that the IGP on several occasions had been seen in the public reading speeches and responding to questions. Ironically, a video clip on captured the IGP repeatedly saying: “Transmission of the transmission. I mean effective transmission of apprehensive transmission. Sorry sir, the transmission….” What really happened IGP?
In assessing some of the comments and reactions that I have read so far, I believe that the most sensible thing to do in the circumstance is to advice everyone to be wary of jumping to conclusion and hastily apportioning to the media for the mayhem that is going on social platforms right now. Initially, they blamed the media for sending doctored messages to the public just to tarnish Idris’s image. Now, it is the senate that bewitched the IGP just to disgrace him for not responding to their summons.
It is critical that we look dispassionately with a sensitive eye at the issue in order to locate this shameful act, especially to the image of this nation.
In fact, one of the problems with most Nigerian leaders is speech presentation. Most of them normally contract people to prepare fantastic speeches for them. This is very abashed and unfortunate. Apparently, a country whereby leaders use position, influence and money to buy certificates, what do you expect? I am not saying what was captured in the video is true or untrue. Because police authorities and others have claimed that the video was doctored. The media have already been accused of not publishing the original or the un-doctored video.
The manifestation of mental laziness has really pushed Nigerian leaders into the wrong hand of speech writers that wallow in utopian mystic of redemptive messianism, or in crass fraud and grand deception, which in a way is permeating cases of unsuccessful speech delivery by some eminent and distinguished personalities in this country. I think good leaders should be mentally fit and academically normal before they can be allowed to rule. However, the case is always different here in Nigeria as a leader within the local context is determine by a family position in government, god fathers, pocket size and religion. These and many more are common criteria used in selecting leaders/allocating positions into offices in Nigeria.
In the ages of social media, great oratories still resonate with the masses. It’s still true and likely always to be true that great leaders are charismatic speakers. Leaders like Martin Luther King, Barack Obama, Randy Pausch, Socrate, Patrick Henry, Frederic Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Susan Anthony, Winston Churchill, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan and in Nigeria great orators in the likes of Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa, Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Rochas Okorocha to mention but a few have really demonstrated mental capacity which led to their success in leadership.
I think it is high time most Nigerian leaders imbibed this mental ability as a key area in dishing out leaders that will occupy key offices in this country. This is so because an empty head is a very big load not only to the neck but to the country as a whole. Indeed, it is a pity in the way and manner Nigerian leaders do table their speech to the public. Nigeria has an excellent record in history as far as education is concerned. Despite this, Nigerian leaders are often accused of poor and bad speech presentation which I think for this reason the IGP need to tell Nigerians what really happened. A stitch in time saves nine.
. Msughter of the Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University, Kano is a syndicated writer and political analyst and can be reached via Aondover7@gmail.com.
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