Viewing the President through blindfolds
Penultimate Monday, President Bola Tinubu presided over the 24th meeting of the Federal Executive Council at Aso Rock Villa. By tradition, journalists covering the President and the seat of power—print reporters, TV correspondents, videographers and cameramen—typically march into the council chamber to capture the opening moments for their various media houses. Call them establishment shots.
It is a symbolic ritual that gives the public a brief glimpse of their leaders at work. However, an unusual instruction filtered through this time— only those with cameras would be allowed into the chamber.
The first concern for the TV correspondents was the lost opportunity to communicate with their cameramen/women about which shots to prioritise in real-time. After all, cameramen and women do not operate in isolation from their reporters. For those in the print media, the usual headcount mentioning which ministers are in attendance was no longer feasible. More so, there was no way of piecing other details that show that the storyteller is writing from first-hand observation. They would have to piece the story together from a distance, relying on the memory and partial shots of the cameramen to determine who was there and who was not, rather than witness it for themselves.
Three days earlier, reporters securely watched the President from behind a metal grill as he posed for photographs with participants of Senior Executive Course 46 from the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru. Although the barrier provided ample distance from the Head of State, a security agent, likely low-ranking personnel, zealously shooed away reporters to prevent them from “peeping” at the President.
Clearly, the personnel in question has little or no idea what the term “reporter” means. There is no reporting without observation. There is no observation without an object to observe. And asking reporters not to “peep” at the president is akin to asking doctors to desist from carrying stethoscopes, or accusing chefs of tasting the food they prepare. It is part of the grind. No one expects those watching over the Head of State to wear blindfolds. Therefore, most reporters believed it was an isolated error, which a more enlightened personnel would never have fallen for.
This phenomenon, of course, is not peculiar to Aso Rock alone. In the United States, White House correspondents who have covered the “leader of the free world” over the decades either did so from his bedroom, office, or behind metal grills. It all depended on the big man.
Historical accounts reveal that Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson had more open and friendly relationships with the media, which saw the latter even taking interviews from his bedroom. However, President Richard Nixon’s team did not see it that way and the legacy filtered through the years. As veteran journalist, Judy Woodruff, once observed, “How is it to cover the White House? It is the most stimulating turf. You are on the frontline of history. On the other hand, you don’t have great access.”
Nonetheless, that dynamic has evolved over time. And even when keeping the number one citizen safe remained a priority, those observing him were given the honour of doing so because they remained the eyes and ears of the nation.
In his address to the American Newspaper Publishers Association—titled The President and The Press—on April 27, 1961, President Kennedy said, “Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed—and no republic can survive…And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment—the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution—not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasise the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply “give the public what it wants”—but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mould, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.”
Thankfully, though, the Monday episode did not end that way. The next Federal Executive Council meeting was held on Wednesday. And things appeared to return to normal. Security officials ushered reporters into the council chambers to do their bit in telling Nigerians that the President is kicking and discharging his duties as he was elected to.
A day later, President Tinubu approved the employment of 774 National Health Fellows, an initiative led by the Federal Ministry of Health to foster sustained improvements within Nigeria’s healthcare system.
“You’re hired! Your selection is more than a recruitment,” Tinubu declared during the programme’s launch at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja. He said the National Health Fellows initiative was part of several platforms provided by his administration to empower Nigerian youths, enabling them to excel and contribute to national development. The President also encouraged the fellows, pioneers in the health service programme, to fully embrace the opportunities and view themselves as future leaders of Nigeria’s health care system.
