Let me quickly state that I have approached Uncle Lere, being an Ekiti man, for referrals as I look for sponsorship for my Ekiti International Theatre Festival.
I have had to come out openly cos of his penchant and that of his principal to remind Nigerians of things like that in their response to critical analysis of positions that they find touchy
We now know how Dele Momodu eats, how Dr Abati had come to beg them for money, how others have come to beg them for school fees and other inanities that should never be part of public discourse as we struggle to save the Nation.
I have never begged nor met Wike in my life and very unlike him, my father was closer to Amaechi’s father in poverty as he was never GM in any business and my wife does not even know the road to LASTMA office talk less of NDDC office where Amaechis wife is said to be a big industrialist and in University i didnt even have a ‘spoke’ talkless of driving a Benz, so you can see that if Lere and his oga turn their sights on me, ill just be turned into suya in their hands
But that said, I think Lere is doing a great disservice to the pure art of spokespersonship and it is for people like him that I am working on a Masterclass for spokesmen very soon.
Abuse, use of foul language, shamelessness, and the easy use of profanity can never be the best in this profession.
The elegance and beauty of didactic response, the fluency of diplomatic retort all aimed at punching holes in opposition positions or driving home a point are all being lost by the moto-parkish contributions of Mr Lere as spokesman to the overtly hyper-sensitive Mr Wike
I cringe watching him. He seems to revel in gutter fights and holds no respect for persons nor the office they hold
For him, all is fair in a ‘fight’ and that is the issue. It is not a fight, the push towards spotlight positioning in public discussion can not be a fight.
It’s a push for public acceptance using facts as the main weapon and often delivered in the very best language that would further enhance your stand
Can we compare the sweet flow of MKO Abiola with his proficiency in the use of proverbs? Or the dainty engagements with members of the press by the late Doyin Okupe, who, as a medical officer, held the position as spokesman very glibly and intelligently.
What we see in these two, Lere and Wike, is just bullying.
They have mastered the art of bulldogging in public speak with the sole aim of throwing in fear and rushing the opponent to submission with the use of vile words, rushed submissions which gives you no chance to respond and a no holds barred approach which leaves values like ethics, respect and nobility in the gutters as they move in
Watching Lere on AriseTV is like watching the worst of American rough wrestling
He is verbally aggressive, verbally abusive, does not allow for dual engagement as he seizes the oxygen in the room and, in between bouts of anger and screams, takes away the narrative and wrestles it to the ground with all sorts of innuendos, half-truths and more abuse.
This position, studies have shown is usually deployed to hide insecurity, inability to engage in a cerebral manner or when you are faced with defending a very bad case so you go on the offensive very aggressively so as not to allow a breather which can be lethal in the opponent’s hands
The effect of this strategy is very short-lived as it now in a mid to long-term negatively impact on the audience as they no longer are shocked or even believe what you have said abt the opponent
What has Dele Momodu’s eating habits got to do with the issue at hand or the issues he raised?
Calling Ireti Kingibe shameless and alluding to sexual irresponsibility or that she doesn’t pay her staff salary would only martyrize her at this point, cos we all know that every woman is ‘ashawo’ in a dog fight.
All she said was that the LG elections will show that Wike is not liked by Abuja voters and instead of countering such a light jibe with an elegant response, she gets abused and called shameless
How all these would help in a free and fair election beats me, maybe he knows something about the generality of elections that has nothing to do with they being free and fair hence this very bohemian approach towards public speaking and politics
Abuse and disrespect of personalities can never be a fine grain in public discourse and engagement
This tactic alludes to a dangerous fact that we are in a jungle where the rules of decency no longer hold and where the mores of the jungle hold sway.
Its barbaric nature, its disposition to carnage and its disrespectful aura can only be resisted by decency in society.
This can never be a decent and responsible way to engage – this is the Lere-Wike way of political engagement, which, if I am to say the truth, is even working against them.
Public speaking or spokesmanship is a fine art of eloquence, fine writing, diplomatic engagement, spinning facts in a poetic way that elicits gentle persuasion intending to win public support and adulation
This one that we are seeing is the ‘agbero’ version that only just drags us into the gutter and muddles public discourse, and it must be resisted.
People like Victor Oladokun, Soni Irabor, Prof Yemi Osibanjo, Ambassador Kingibe, Donald Duke, to mention a few, are very brilliant public speakers who leave you hanging and wishing to hear more.
Observers like myself remain very very worried and concerned at the boundless vitriol that is daily released in the name of public engagements, hence this writing.
In conclusion, my father was a poor man who lost his job early, making me hawk bread in Shomolu to earn a living and in University I squatted at the famous Independence hall in the University of Ibadan and I failed form four three times and had to be kicked out of school and I used to spend most of my time on brothels in and around Shomolu and….
Let me kuku yab myself before they come at me in their usual style mbok
Uncle Lere, this is not spokesmanship, it is ‘agberosim’ pure and simple.
Thank you
Come and beat me
Duke of Shomolu