I Owe No Apology Working For President Jonathan-Reuben Abati

Special Adviser to the President on Media and
Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati,had an in depth
interview with the Nigerian Tribune where he

addressed his very vital role in the government,
and criticisms by former colleagues that he
changed as soon as he became part of the GEJ
administration .
How challenging has it been for you managing
the president’s media affairs?
I am not complaining. I mean, every work has
its own challenges. There is no work anybody
would be engaged in and there would not be
challenges. That, certainly, is not an issue. But if
I may make effort to answer your question, I
think one key observation in terms of what I
have experienced on the job is the fact that you
have to keep explaining things to people.
You have to keep reiterating issues all the time.
You can’t put out a statement or explain an
issue and assume that people already have
accepted your position or that they understand
or that your message has been communicated.
So, this is a major challenge.
Often, you listen to people, they make some
statements on television or they write articles in
the newspapers and you feel embarrassed that
these are issues you have already dealt with.
On that particular issue, statements have been
issued, the president’s speeches, statements
and positions have been distributed worldwide;
the only thing this particular person making
uninformed comments is required to do is to
just go online and do a little homework. You
know, these things are available online.
Without trying to boast, I think this presidency
has been very proactive in terms of trying to
provide information, in terms of documenting
the president’s activities, but you just see that
some of the more vocal persons in the public
domain refuse to pay attention. Either they
refuse to listen or out of mischief, they just
pretend not to notice or they just deliberately go
out of their way to twist information.
And the bigger thing is not just people being
deliberately uninformed; it is also about people
being deliberately uncharitable, mischievous,
mean.amazing and can be frustrating.
The challenge, therefore, is that you keep seeing
these things and you just have to keep
explaining, and clarifying, and pushing back,
even when it is clear to everybody that it is the
other party that is ignorant, unintelligent and
mischievous.On people saying he has changed
from being critical of the government before his
appointment
This is an old question. I have responded to this
question so many times. I don’t owe anybody
an apology. It was my decision to take, to work
for government, and in particular to work for
President Goodluck Jonathan because I believe
in him and I admire him. And having taken that
decision, I am not going to spend my time
apologising to people because as an individual, I
have the right to make a choice.
It was my choice to work for President Jonathan
and to accept the position of his spokesperson
and media adviser and I have absolutely no
apology and I have seen that for me, it is a
positive move because today, I consider myself
much better informed, because I have been on
both sides. I have lived the life of the outsider
looking at government, governance and society
from one observatory and I have also been
inside and I can see how government functions.
I don’t think any form of apprenticeship in
terms of exposure to public life can be higher
than working with the president of a democratic
country, working at the highest level of
authority. It puts you in a vantage position to
learn so much. If this was a course of study in
which a certificate is awarded, I think I should
be getting close to getting one, having taken so
many course units and learning so much.
I am talking about apprenticeship in a serious
sense, and the opportunity also to serve one’s
country. I don’t think anybody can put that
down by saying “you were once a social critic,
you shouldn’t be here.” No. In fact, I will
encourage so many other journalists and
persons in other capacities

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