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By Oche Echeija Egwa

Every visitor to Nigeria’s seat of power, Aso Rock, is first struck by the beautiful scenery of green and white; our national colours. From the entrance, Pilot Gate, white edifices and nature’s greenery are tuned in a welcoming symphony. The serenity of the Presidential Villa belies flurry of activities, mostly planning meetings, brainstorming sessions and negotiations on sundry issues, both national and international.

Energy for work hardly dissipates at the seat of power. Outcomes of meetings, movements and actions matter to Nigerians, hence on February 25, 2021, the Presidential Communication Team (PCT), an umbrella body that brings together leaders of all media departments in the Villa, chaired by Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, birthed the idea of a more regularized and formalized State House Briefing.

The briefing, usually held at the Press Gallery, creates a more predictable and measured meeting point between government officials, State House Press Corps and Nigerians.

The PCT, which comprises media aides in the Office of the President, Vice President, First Lady and Chief of Staff, meet every week to gauge the pulse of the nation, and decide on government officials that should be invited to the specialized interaction.

The invitation gives opportunities to public officials to ventilate, and bring clearer perspective on national issues. In the well-structured, no-holds-barred, meeting with journalists, progress on projects and services are explained, taking into cognisance the tripod vision of President Muhammadu Buhari for taking the country forward, security, economy and corruption.

The quality of the State House Press Corps animates discussions, especially at the question and answer session, with ranking journalists, both local and international, asking public officials penetrating and unedited questions.

Carefully chosen by various media houses, majority of the newsmen have more than 20 to 30 years experiences in news reporting, covering presidents, politics and governance, with some already brandishing well-earned Ph.Ds. Facing the battery of newsmen, public officials present their score cards and prepare for hot-seating.

Little over a year, 34 sessions of the specialized State House Briefings have been held. Not surprising, the Minister of Finance, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, was the first guest on February 25, 2021.

For close to two hours, Ahmed tackled issues on Nigeria’s development plans, double exit from recession, budget projections and constraints, inflationary trends and debt profile, and outlook on the economy, especially on job creation.

With a mastery of figures and facts on the economy, accompanied by the Heads of parastatals in her ministry, Ahmed illuminated discussions on why certain decisions were taken, and long term beneficial implications for the citizenry.  She assured the economy was on track.

Some public officials have had multiple invitations because of their peculiar portfolios. The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, had the highest number of appearances, three times.

The sense of urgency that trailed Coronavirus saw more invitations to the Minister of Health, who explained response mechanisms since COVID-19 was reported in Nigeria on February 27, 2020.

The minister clarified issues on partnerships with countries and health organisations, surveillance, treatment, vaccine administration and controversies, and sustenance of other health services.  The specialized briefing turned out a veritable platform for citizen sensitization and mobilisation to take the vaccines, and explain government actions.

Dealing with many sensitive issues like accessibility, authenticity and implications of different vaccines, Dr. Ehanire was accompanied by the Director General of NAFDAC, Dr Mojisola Adeyeye, Executive Director/CEO of NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib and former DG, NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu.

Due to the centrality of security in national development, more public officials in the sector have been featured in the specialized briefing.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Maj. Gen. Mohammed Monguno and Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, have been featured twice. Other guests include the Minister of Defence, Maj. Gen. Bashir Salihi Magashi (Rtd), Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa,  and Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa.

Armed with knowledge of the security networks, operations and challenges in the country, especially in his home State, Borno, Monguno showcased achievements in the North East, with many people now returning to their homes, schools and businesses re-opened, and gave insight into procurements of hardwares by the military, like the Tucanos, trainings on use of new security technology, deployment and partnerships. The NSA leaves the stage on an elevated note that peace and harmony remain realisable.

The NSA and security chiefs detailed efforts at fighting terrorism and banditry, imploring Nigerians to be more forthcoming on providing intelligence and trusting the security men deployed across the country. According to them, synergy and intelligence gathering are integral in winning the war against insurgents. The Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, also explained welfare of the police, reforms and re-organisations to meet the changing dynamics of crimes.

Top government officials that have been featured at the briefings are: Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami; Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare; Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika; Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, invited twice;  Minister of Water Resources, Engr Suleiman Adamu; Minister of Niger Delta, Sen. Godswill Akpabio; Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar Farouq; Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu and Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, who also featured twice, and Minister of Mines and Steel, Olamilekan Adegbite.

Other invited officials are: the Minister of State, Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, who has also featured twice, Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Mr Uche Orji and former Executive Director/CEO, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Segun Awolowo.

The invitations provided useful updates on infrastructure, like the landmark legacy project of the administration, Second Niger Bridge, road and rail projects across the country, and policy directions and regulations, particularly on subsidy in the oil sector, tax and reforms of licensing in mining.

In an interesting departure, yet deliberately structured for more clarity on the economy and security, three governors were featured on the State House Briefing: David Umahi, Governor of Ebonyi State, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum, Borno State and Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State. Umahi highlighted the security and economic challenges in the South East, and successes recorded in integration and harmony, while Zulum shared more depth on the development in the North East, with huge successes in infrastructure, rehabilitation and re-integration of families. Most topical, was the issue of repentant terrorists that surrendered their weapons!

El Rufai brought journalists up to speed on developments in the North West, particularly Kaduna State, spotlighting the efforts of security outfits to tackle myriad security challenges, and unfolding political issues in the governing party, All Progressives Congress (APC).

Barely few weeks after the inaugural briefing, an exceptional guest took the hot-seat on March 15, 2021. Former Minister of Finance, and Director General of World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, after a “thank you’’ courtesy call on President Buhari, spoke  on the implications of her position for Nigeria and Africa, taking questions on Nigeria’s share of global trade, developing Nigeria’s services sector, COVID-19, attracting investment, training and capacity building, safe schools and AFCTA.

Answering a question on Dangote Refinery, which is the largest single-train refinery in the world, Okonjo-Iweala said: “I wish we had done it years ago. If we had done it years ago and encouraged Alhaji Dangote, who is doing a good thing, we would be producing our own fuel today.” Questions rained and flowed like river. Okonjo-Iweala answered cheerfully and masterly.

Unlike other press events at the Villa, the special State House Briefing draws strength from frequency, timeliness, accessibility and unrestricted conversations.

Every session is streamed live on social media, like the State House Youtube channel, and comments and questions from the public are instantly integrated. Some media houses, like the NTA and AriseTV, have taken the liberty to air as a whole or some parts of the interaction, while the reports by journalists usually flood websites, blogs, social media handles, broadcast and print media, generating more discussions.

Interestingly, government officials, journalists, organizers, and the public now eagerly wait for the next opportunity to engage on the weekly interaction, with likely chances of going viral in the media. And as the conversation grows and becomes more predictable in the Press Gallery, the State House Briefing has achieved the goal of the PCT, creating and sustaining understanding between government and the people.

Oche Echeija Egwa is an Assistant Director, Information, in the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity.

By Tunde Akanni, PhD

The news of the victorious emergence of our very own Temidayo Adenike Oladiji, FAS, renowned professor of biochemistry, as the first female, new vice-chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure stirred up an uncommon, ecstatic excitement in many of us.

As a friend and colleague we now reckon with as a family member, we were more than proud.

But almost immediately, I remembered Ile-Ife. I remembered the ancient community in relation to a similar announcement for the great citadel of learning, OAU Ife, beclouded by strange decibels of confusion.

Some folks who claimed to be Ife people wanted an indigene, by all means, to be VC. It didnt matter to them if their preferred candidate who did not make it this time could emerge next time around.

They staged marches in their community going as far as the university campus to flaunt their fetish fangs, but the deed had been done and could not be undone. The university councils decision was final!

Beyond resounding condemnations that the unpopular protesters in Ile-Ife attracted to themselves, the historical reality of FUTA countered the ethnic jingoists.

The sitting VC then, Prof Joseph Fuwape, hailed from Ile-Ife, but no one ever bothered about that. FUTA had been on the path of greatness and all everyone wanted was for the leadership to sustain this and possibly boost it.

Unfortunately, the Ife violence merchants seemed to have infected some pseudo-scholars, ironically in FUTA. In the same spirit with the minority Ife locals or so it seemed, Professor Oladiji stood condemned as the winner of the just concluded appointment process.

Most distastefully, they found sheer illiterate collaborators in some media with passive or absent-minded editing. Otherwise how do you describe such media lapping up same headline with same story far from aligning with the headline?

More disturbing really was the fact that even a particular title that had some of its journalists punished for a similar recklessness in the past got caught up with this! You will wonder for eternity why a news organization supposedly run by trained professionals will deliberately position itself in the path of progress of an ambitious university like FUTA.

Who is not in awe of the excellent job of public image management by our good friend and colleague, Adegbenro Adebanjo? What about the indomitability of FUTAs academics, by all means, active researchers combined with the alumni who have been relentless in upscaling the profile of their university globally?

Expectedly, the informed voice of ASUU FUTA called out to controvert the earlier rancorous intervention smacking of unmistakable ignorance by folks not familiar with university tradition.

How capacity deficient? How else could the council have told the story of how Temidayo Oladiji triumphed over her rivals in the contest for the VCs seat? How much more can we say FUTA needs Oladiji now more than any other time?
From accomplishing groundbreaking researches and winning internationally competitive grants across assorted disciplines of Agricultural Science to trendy engineering feats, FUTA has been recurrent.

As a mentor and father to some engineering budding stars including a doctoral student in environmental engineering in England with a Commonwealth Scholarship up his sleeves, I have more than a passing interest in engineering and allied researches in which FUTA has come to distinguish itself.

Time, again, has come for the ambitious university to move higher up on the scale of global ranking. And I make this valid claim based on my evaluation of the profile of the energetic, young VC just clocking 54.

Lets do this again together: Born Adenike Temidayo Folayan, the Biochemistry scholar belongs in the category of first generation of what has come to be known as Better by Far University.

It was the same generation that produced the incumbent, high performing Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Lokoja, Kogi State, Prof Olayemi Akinwumi.

Young Adenike bagged a Second Class Upper Honours degree in Biochemistry in 1988. Notwithstanding the hard-hitting economic policy of the Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP, Kwara Breweries in Offa could not resist the brilliance exhibited by the young graduate in the course of examining their potential recruits.

She was hired immediately. More than 25 years after leaving the brewery for the academia, Prof Oladiji keeps researching about food, gloriously sustaining the good memory of her humble beginning at Offa.

Check out the list of research products developed from herbs by the new FUTA boss: AHRI Sweet Basilspices(listing with NAFDAC); Pangas Anti-anaemic supplement (being processed for regulatory approval); Blosorg Supplement (awaiting regulatory approval); Iron-fortified tomato and pepper paste(awaiting regulatory approval)

Since joining her alma mater, the University of Ilorin, as a lecturer, diligent Oladiji, in addition to being faithful to her primary responsibilities of teaching and researching, has served in several other capacities most meritoriously earning her multiple distinctions and research grants. How else could anyone have been sufficiently prepared for VCship? Take a glance at this:
I Dean, Faculty of Life Sciences 2021 Date
ii. Dean, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Kwara State University, Malete (Sabbatical) 2018- 2019
iii. Director, Central Research Laboratories 2016 2018
iv. Director, Centre for Research Development & In-House Training 2013-2016
v. Coordinator, Intellectual Property Technology Transfer Office 2012-2015
vi. Deputy Director, Centre for International Education 2012
vii. Board Chairman, National Water Resources Capacity Building Network, University of Ilorin Centre 2013-2016
viii. Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Unilorin STEP-B 2013- 2015
ix. Acting Head of Biochemistry Department 2008 2010
x. Assistant Hall Mistress (Female Hostel) 2002- 2004
xi. Hall Mistress (Female Hostel) 2014 – 2018
xii. Member, Senate, University of Ilorin 2004-2007; 2011 to Date
xiii. Sub Dean, Faculty of Science.
A Guest Professor at the University of Gambia since 2012, she was at different times a Plenary Lecturer, Uka Tarsadia University in India and a Fellow of the Israeli Agency for International Development Cooperation in addition to being 1989 Federal Government of Nigeria Scholar as well as being a winner of the 1995-97 winner of the University of Ilorin Staff Development Award. It was therefore no wonder she emerged the lead researcher for the over N17 million Naira NNPC Renewable Energy Research Project in 2019. That was even after leading multiple research projects supported by TETFUND.
Though a scientist, Prof Oladiji is as much a public intellectual in a society notorious for partriarchy. In 2019 alone within a very short space of time, she delivered two highly celebrated public lectures. She was the guest speaker at that years valedictory ceremony of the popular Adeola College Offa. Soon afterwards, she did another major address at the Hooding Ceremony of the College of Pure and Applied Sciences of Landmark University, Omun Aran, Kwara State, to mention only two.
Perhaps most interesting about Oladiji is her clean triumph over typical Nigerian pettiness bothering on religion and ethnicity. Farouk, a professor of telecommunications based in Dutse once confessed to me how motherly, Oladiji was, to her wife when she was supervising her for a postgraduate programme. She was a mother to our daughter as well as the mother of the baby, my darling wife.
A most cosmopolitan Prof Oladiji also effortlessly deploys basic Islamic greetings to the admiration of many Muslims on account of her sociability and her vast educational exposure across all the continents. My personal interaction with her frankly betrays a personality without airs in spite of being so heavily credentialed at her age.
Its FUTAs turn to benefit from the thoroughness, speed and vigour of the Midas touch of the world class scholar they never had its like before having been brought in from outside FUTA and especially from a university that has remained the envy of others for several years netting awards from local and international quarters. For instance, Unilorin, Oladijis cradle and base till date, remains about the most internationalized university in Nigeria.

I can only enjoin FUTA to harvest the best from one of the best of the nation’s best in the university system. (Flowerbudnews)

(Tunde Akanni, PhD, former Distinguished British Chevening Scholar, Associate Professor and Acting Head of Journalism Dept, LASU doubles as the Director of Digital Media Research Centre, LASU.)