By Muhammad A. Bello, fsi, fsdu
More than a month before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu got into office in 2023, music rave of Nigeria, David Adedeji Adeleke (OON), aka Davido released his song “Unavailable”. And, the bug stuck in the public sphere after the president was sworn-in. It remained so until a few days ago when a riot act was read to public office holders to go out into the public domain and let Nigerians know what the government is up to and what it is doing. The marching order became promising after the president rejigged his cabinet on Wednesday and brought in fresher political leaders, among them Sunday Dare.
Dare, for many who know him over the years, has been AVAILABLE. He is a consummate communicator. He is accessible and, uncommonly, also stretches the limits of decency, to reach out to all by way of personal communication or written verbal messages. An intrepid reporter, who was undeterred by the military’s rabbit hole, Dare, from the day he braved uncertainties and fears of capture; and ventured on a sojourn to chronicle the travails of late Gani Fawwhinmi at Gashua prison, projected the stuff he was made of as fearless diurnalist: a GUERILLA JOURNALIST like many of his colleagues who removed Abacha’s dark shades and peppered his eyes with truth; and Nigerians with overwhelming truths.
Out of the trenches, after fleeing abroad, where he burnished his academic credentials and earned laurels from Oxford and Harvard, a friend’s recommendation from one of the Scandinavian countries got him a job at the Hausa Service of the Voice of America. Although a thoroughbred Yoruba, Dare’s primacy of Hausa language and through that his understanding of its culture, repositioned the place of Hausa cosmology, pantheon and customs: indeed everything the language stands for. Overall, while in DC, Dare set the bar high. He hired fine Hausa speaking journalists, managed humongous fund transparently, paid stringers dues promptly and robustly, provided working facilities (computers and other equipment); hitherto unavailable on the stringers lean or non-existing paraphernalia; and, for me, the spectacular penetration of the creeks of the Niger Delta by sending, without the US Department of State approval, of one of his broadcasters to cover the activities of Ateke Tom (now Amananyabo of Okrika), then the infamous leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force. When the broadcaster returned to DC with his ‘loot’- a video of his encounter with Tom, Dare’s professional standing with his employers hit the roof. But alas, while his star was still shining in the US, he took a plunge, abandoned global fame and the high pay that accompanied it (the mighty dollar). He left DC to work with late Prof. Dora Akunyili. Later, he went to work with former Gov. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in Lagos. By the end of his engagement there, he has cut his teeth, very sharply in public communication and orientation, so that by the time he became Executive Commissioner for Stakeholder Management at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in 2016; and afterwards, a minister in the administration of Muhammadu Buhari, he left an indelible mark on the nation’s horizon, particularly in the public psyche. His footprints manifested in the founding of the Social Media Clinic (SMC), a Media/Information Technology program for digital educating of citizens towards building a responsive society, propelled the sale of the 2.3 GHz spectrum frequency in 2014; while managing the NCC’s interactions with public and private sector stakeholders: an icing of the cake for his current role, in which he will operate from the ministry of information and national orientation, thus putting him on a well deserved pedestal from which to further inform, motivate and win over Nigerians for the onward journey of the current administration towards renewed hope.
Far from being the “baddest”, a la Davido, who initiated a “rage process” in unfolding his hit song, Dare, no doubt, will strengthen connections, influence decisions, and motivate change. He would, nonetheless, mess up rumors like Davido by enabling capabilities to progress in the working world and in life. There is no gain saying the truism that his ascension to this new office is predicated on the government need for public communication in Nigeria. For him to triumph in this undertaking, he would need to support the collection of inputs and feedback on the views of Nigerians on governance, assemble concerns, collate needs, and outline opinions of stakeholders and citizens.
He would do a lot of good for his principal and his administration by ensuring that the government remains connected, responsive, and aligned with the needs and expectations of the public.
Although, Davido’s “streets”, will complicate the rendering of his tasks, but there is certainty, judging from his past feats that he would have time for the delivery of the daunting duties of interface with the public and reset of the minds and attitudes of Nigerians to stay attuned to the deliverables of his “Leader and the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
May you be AVAILABLE to Nigerians. May fame not take your freedom to get Nigerians proud again!
Bello, resides in Abuja.
