Daniel Bwala, Hypocrisy And The Burden Of Defending A Failed Regime -By Hajia Hadiza Mohammed

When Mr. Daniel Bwala got the nod for an interview with Mehdi Hasan of the Al-Jazeera he probably thought it was an opportunity to defend the regime of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu that he serves as the spokesperson and as is usual of him to launch an attack on the opposition but he never knew that he was set up for a sucker punch. The interview did not go the way he expected. He was drilled about his past remarks about Tinubu, his principal and it was a show of shame as the Al-Jazeera correspondent used video evidence to expose Bwala’s lies. And now his gaffe is trending in the international media.

Interestingly, instead of Bwala to show regret for his gaffe, he made further blunder in his post interview comments where he had confessed that the interviewer should have told him in advance that his past criticism of Tinubu would be part of the interview questions to enable him prepare adequately for it. But again, this sounds ridiculous coming from media personality like him. He should have known that Interviews in journalism are not expected to be take-home assignment; they are not supposed to rehearsed performance otherwise the essence of testing what the interviewee believes or knows when confronted in a real life situation is lost. By complaining that he was not forewarned by the interviewer, he has inadvertently revealed that his previous interviews in the Nigerian media were all scripted performance. And for him not to anticipate question about his past activities and comments in a high profile interview with an international media organization reveals a great deal about him.

I do not in any way sympathize with Bwala even though it is a fact that you can’t defend Tinubu government without looking very stupid; for clearly, the hardest job to do right now in the country is to defend the Tinubu’s government for its failures and inconsistencies, because since Bwala’s emergence in the political scene his conduct has been that of hypocrisy, crass opportunism and crude survivalist maneuverings. Originally, he was part of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the regime of Mohammadu Buhari but in the build-up to the 2023 presidential election, he defected to the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) using his objection to the Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket as his reason and then got himself aligned with Atiku Abubakar, the PDP presidential flag bearer and became one of Tinubu’s most vocal critics. And less than one year after, Bwala who launched attack on Tinubu, questioning his credibility and victory in 2023 election returned to Tinubu’s camp and became as one of his image makers. And this dramatic volte-face is not only shocking; it is making Bwala become a byword for hypocrisy and political pettifoggery in Nigeria.

Indeed, Bwala and others like him who had criticized Tinubu’s shady past and now do the ignoble job of defending his ineptitude will go down in the political history of this country, as people who chew their words. By condescending to defend one he had said was of ignoble character and coming openly to defend his failures shows that he is insincere and cannot be trusted. It shows that he values self-interest above principles and can trade principles for gratification. Daniel Bwala is not interested in good governance but personal gain. He is careless about what he says or does and oblivious of the fact that people records facts and that actions have consequences. If a public figure like Daniel Bwala is not wary of what he says in public space then he is not worthy to occupy a public office.

But before we single out Daniel Bwala for crucifixion, let stop and ponder about it. Is Bwala alone in this game of political harlotry and mercenary?  The answer is no. Nigerians play politics without ideology and principles. The rule is self-interest and self-preservation. That is why people can cross-carpet from one party to the other at the snap of the finger. People are defecting to the failed ruling APC not because the party has done well but for the reasons of self-gratification. In Nigeria, national interest is sacrificed on the altar of primordial interest.

Another critical thing to note in the Daniel Bwala interview slip-up is the Tinubu’s mafia-style strategy of buying those that have opposed him in the past in order to silence them. Tinubu may not hire the likes of Bwala, Reno Omokri and their ilk because they have anything to offer but silence them and mock us Nigerians. He may want to demonstrate that if those who once said that I’m not are now singing my praises, it means that I’m doing well. I have said it for the umpteenth time that Tinubu is not interested in good governance or performance but to hold on to power since he believes, albeit erroneously, that it was his turn to lord over us. Nigeria the choice is yours whether to allow him to continue to lord it over us or vote him out.

Hajia Hadiza Mohammed

hajiahadizamohammed@gmail.com 

An actress, social activist, politician 

London, UK