If Nigerian journalists do their job & properly attribute stories about what Buhari putatively does and says to his spokesmen—and to ministers and heads of gov’t agencies—Buhari’s dementia-inspired physical and symbolic absence from governance would be dramatized, and perhaps Nigerians can appreciate the depth of his disaffiliation from the country.
Buhari NEVER says or does most of the things that are often attributed to him. He doesn’t even know about the deaths he is always quoted as condemning or being shocked about—or about the appointments he is often alleged to make or terminate.
Headline casters should adopt the universal journalistic practice of news attribution by attributing stories to people who actually originate them.Examples: “Spokesman says Buhari condemned killings in Zamfara,” “Minister says Buhari fired NDDC board,” “Spokesman says Buhari shocked by kidnap of schoolchildren,” “Buhari’s Twitter handle says Nigeria will rebound,” etc.
Don’t attribute anything to Buhari unless you actually see him saying or doing it. Maybe a memo with his signature can be attributed to him. Although his signature is often manipulated or forced by dodgy aides (because he has lost his sentience), at least you can justify attributing information from signed memos to him. That’s the only way to dramatize the absurdity of a “president” who never talks directly to citizens, who never grants interviews to journalists, who never addresses news conferences, who never gives live broadcasts even in momentous moments, who is perpetually babysat & mollycoddled like a toddler, and who physically & metaphorically picks his teeth while the country he supposedly presides over burns and falls apart.
Farooq Kperogi, Ph.D
@farooqkperogi
Dec 13 2020
