Close to a decade ago, Chief Duro Onabule, an Editor of the National Concord who also write a weekly column for the paper every Thursday, had an open confrontation on the pages of our national newspapers with retired Air Commodore Emeka Omerual, then Minister of Information for IBB's Military Government. It started when Mr. Omeruah accused the Press of unpatriotic act, publishing articles and news stories designed to bring down the government. Chief Onabule responded in his weekly column that no press is capable of bringing down a government that reaches out to the people and their needs. The tit for tat lasted for about three weeks, and at the end; IBB made Chief Onabule his Chief Press Secretary. Not everyone took kindly to the appointment.
Mr. Sonala Olumhense then the Op-Ed Editor of The Guardian Newspaper came out from his "Afghanistan" and cried foul. He saw treachery in the making. And he called the position "Press Boy" in his piece, rejecting the appointment as a ploy by IBB to silent and emasculates the press. He lamented that, as a journalist of the caliber that he is, Chief Onabule is of a greater use and importance to the Nigerian people than being a "press boy" to the President. That was it; as expected, there was uproar. The Guardian Newspaper was bombarded with letters and op-ed articles, some fiercely criticizing Mr. Olumhense's effrontery for labeling the position of Chief Press Secretary as "press boy". Others saw it differently, lamenting as well that the vacuum created by the exit of Chief Onabule cannot be occupied by another Journalist.
Mr. Olumhense controversial piece, received five op-ed piece in the Guardian Newspaper, three in support and two against. In hindsight, I wish it didn't happen. I was an ardent fan of Chief Onabule; I never miss his Thursday column. He was fierce, blunt, brutish, and fearless. He was never a philosopher or trying to sound intellectual; it was always straight on target from the opening paragraph to the last sentence. He writes like Thom Friedman of the New York Times. Dr. Abati is not Chief Duro Onabule. Abati is a wordsmith – overly verbose in his analysis, and often, I get bored reading him.
Dr. Abati came to the Guardian Newspaper at the time most of us who grew up with the newspaper from the very first day were already indoctrinated or used to the writing style and standard of people like Dr. Stanley Macebuh, Dele Cole, Lade Bonuola, Sonala Olumhense, Nosa Osadolor, Odia Ofeimun, Chinwezu, Pini Jason, Eleum Emeka Izeze, Godwin Sogolo, Chief Effiong, Jide Oluwajuyita, Professor Osafisan, Madunagu, Professor Ojetunji Aboyade, Dr. Yemi Ogubiyi, Sunny Ojeagbase, Mitchel Obi, Trigo Egbegi to mention just a few. Dr. Abati belongs to a different generation and a different era; in style, he is an essayist, to put it mildly.
Then, you could feel the youthful exuberance immediately in his articles – it was not too much about content, but pure analysis of developing stories as most columnists are doing presently. He was in a class by himself. He writes very well because he possesses the vocabulary to express himself – he doesn't look for words. Indeed he has a Ph.D. in liberal art. But he was not Odia Ofeinmun (Awo's Personal Secretary). He was not Stanley Macebuh, Ogubiyi, Bonuola, or Chinwezu (international exposure). And he was not Jason, Olumhense or Effiong (journey through the years), either. Like Aboyade, Ogunbiyi or Sogolo, he was not a scholar. He was simply Dr. Abati, a raw gem, straight out of the academic factory, ready to rumble. I admire him, but his, was never my run-after column or piece
I do not know much about Chief Onabule's history or journalist background prior to his arrival at the National Concord, but I can say without equivocation that his leaving the National Concord was a huge loss to Nigerians. Mr. Olumhense was right, the Nigerian people deserves Chief Onabule more than IBB's Military Government. As it turned out, it took the emergence of TELL Magazine and the unrelenting effort of our social and political activists for IBB to "step aside". President Jonathan is not President Babangida.
President Babangida was very much aware of who Chief Onabule is in the media cycle, what he represents, and the impacts of his writing in the larger society. In a nutshell, going by IBB's calculation, the issue was not much about what Chief Duro Onabule can do for him or his government as Chief Press Secretary, but what the Chief could do against him and his Military administration, if the Chief is left without restraint. That was the basis of Mr. Olumhense's outrage.
On the other hand, chances are that President Jonathan doesn't know much about Dr. Abati, who he is, his days at The Guardian Newspaper, or what he represents before he hired him. In addition, his hiring was not calculated to preempt any real or imagined onslaught from Dr. Abati.
Most importantly, IBB has been in the national military or political scene for more than 30 years before he became the Military President. He knows the geography of Nigeria in and out. He knows the top Military officers, the names of their wives, their children, and places of birth. He knows the top political leaders, their history, influence, strength and weakness. And he knows the business leaders and the industrialists. He knows the academics, the celebrities, the writers, and the young and the restless. You cannot say the same for President Jonathan. We know where President Jonathan was before he arrived at Aso Rock. He was not Musa Yar'Adua. He was not Baba, or IBB. And that is a big issue.
At the time President Jonathan hired Dr. Abati, Dr. Abati must have been at The Guardian Newspaper for close to 20 years, if not more than. And at that level, Dr. Abati was no longer the vibrant uncut gem from the classroom, but a very grown-up gentleman who, like IBB, know much about Nigeria and its people better than anyone else. With his academic background, he is no doubt a good fit for the position of Media Adviser to President Jonathan. In a nutshell, given President Jonathan's background and shallow knowledge about Nigerians and our political intrigue in general, he deserves Dr. Abati more than Dr. Abati's fans, or the newspaper industry deserves him. Dr. Abati did not betray anybody. He was a journalist who worked for a private newspaper. He was never a leader of an opposition movement. Of He has every right to accept the job of a media adviser to the President. The criticism is without foundation and his critics must find something new to write about.
Mr. Perseverance
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