OF STATEMENTS, REJOINDERS AND MORE REJOINDERS

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Oluwatobi Odeyinka, Politics Editor

The Yoruba people say, when shigidi longs for disgrace, it requests that it is taken to the stream. The Faculty of Art Legislative Council is initiating a disgraceful game with the Press, but their folly would not be condoned.

Leadership entails responsibility; good leadership sits firmly on credibility; it holds dearly honesty. The FLC, since it resumed this semester, has demonstrated a high level of uncouthness, deliberate disrespect for and attack on the Press, even though this is unwarranted. A fortnight ago, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mohammed Solahudeen lied against my person in the “hallowed” chamber. The Speaker said he invited me to the penultimate sitting, but I or other members of the Press refused to honour his fictitious invitation. I was appalled when I saw the fallacious concoction of a resolution being circulated by the Spokesperson of the House, Hon. Olasoji Akindejoye. When queried in a personal chat, the Speaker said it was “a mistake or a case of misunderstanding” from the spokesperson of the House.

Well, as explained by the Speaker, the pandemic is a plausible excuse not to invite members of the public to the sitting, to avoid a large gathering. However, should the Press also be denied an invitation? Mr. Speaker, rather than humbly acknowledging that he forgot to send an invitation, he did what his role models in the mainstream Nigerian politics would do – told a lie to cover up his malfeasance and that of his officers.

To set the record straight, on March 9, ahead of its first sitting for the semester, the Speaker informed me about the sitting, where he invited the press. He stated in our WhatsApp chat that the House may not hold weekly sittings, due to the pandemic. He noted that the sittings would be occasional and the Press would be notified.

In the past, the notification for sittings used to be public, and the Press responds as members of the ‘public’ even though this is senseless in a democratic setting. It is like the Nigerian Senate holding a plenary without inviting any of the traditional media. This may have informed the crude argument of the House when it stated in its resolution that “it is not the duty of the House to invite the members of the Press….”

I would excuse the Speaker, the spokesperson, the Clerk, and the Deputy Clerk, on the assumption that they had only followed the undemocratic footsteps of their predecessors. However, the Press would not stomach such disregard again.

Save for my busy schedule, I would have volunteered to take the Spokesperson on a few classes on the principles of Public relations. I could help him understand the overlap between PR and media practices, and why the Media/Press is one of the most significant PR publics (a technical term for audience) that a qualified PR practitioner cannot afford to ignore.

The business of legislation is one that is people oriented; the essence of holding sittings, whether weekly or fortnightly, is to deliberate on issues that concern the students’ community of the faculty of Art. Is it not laughable that the machinery that shapes public opinion through writing; the body that performs the primary function of informing and educating the public; the fourth estate of the realm that acts as an intercessor between the people and political leaders – is considered unimportant and ridiculous by our ‘honourables’?

Public Relations is my forte and I feel the compelling urge to share a few lessons with the Spokesperson of the House. PR is not centered on writing resolutions, statements or rejoinders; the crux of PR is to maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and co-operation between an organization/institution and its publics. I can only imagine how a public relations officer would achieve this by metaphorically telling the Press to go to hell.

Asides from PR, reading for comprehension is one skill that is important in legislation. Seeing the honorable members will be reading a lot of pubic-related materials, understanding is key. In the last rejoinder signed by the Speaker and the Spokesperson, the House noted that the Press referred to the Clerk of the House as “ignorant”. The line in the article being referred to read “…However, the truth of the whole scenario was that the Press was not informed about that particular sitting, all thanks to Madam Clerk, who was either ignorant of her responsibilities or decided to toy with negligence….” For comprehension, the line simply made speculations on the clerk not knowing she was supposed to send invitations or probably knew and decided not to send any, as the plausible reasons for not duly sending out invitations to the appropriate quarters. No one called the Clerk’s person ignorant.

Again, a press person wrote an opinion piece on their observations in the sitting. It is understandable and normal to disagree with someone’s opinion; if you think that the person’s opinion is illogical, you may present your own superior logic. But it is indeed dishonorable to attempt to bully the writer and throw insulting jibes at the Press. And that, the Press will not condone!

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