Thursday, May 29, 2014

10 P.R IDEAS TO SAVE THE GOODLUCK JONATHAN ADMINISTRATION



According to a report by Sahara Reporters, which has since been debunked by the Presidency, the Goodluck Jonathan administration had offered a London P.R company $800m for crisis management, in other words try to make them look good for re-election with the report claiming the deal was brokered by usual suspect, Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison Madueke.
          
If the Federal Government wants to seek counsel to improve its image IN Nigeria, it should look no further THAN Nigeria.

 Whatever the case may be, I am here to tell the Federal Government to withdrew any money, because I am willing to give my counsel for free here with 10 ideas to help the image of Mr. President and if they do hire me we can talk about a fraction of that supposed $800m. I am saying this here now, so that when they do hire me, you dear reader won’t say I sold out. You have been told!

If this was the beginning of the president’s regime, I would’ve asked him to introduce a 5 year plan. This will show that he has visions beyond a single term and if implemented might secure his re-election, but alas we are at the 11th hour, so that won’t work! So he must consider the following and quickly:-


1.Reduce the price of fuel:
People will see right through this, but it doesn’t matter. It is still a sign of goodwill. We are not asking for a drastic drop in the price of fuel, Lord knows the likes of Diezani may not allow it. A simple drop from N97 to N89 will do the trick; an N8 difference. To make an elaborate show of it, the president should announce that he has ordered the price drop to be official on the most important date of our nation’s history, October 1st, a gift to his nation to undo the New Year’s gift he gave us back in 2012 when he hiked up the price.

2.Inaugurate a Peace & Reconciliatory committee:
Our girls may not be back, but it doesn’t mean we can not make plans for the aftermath of the end of Boko Haram. It shows the president is optimistic and not completely clueless. There is a whole region that will have to deal with the aftermath of this war and someone has to apologize, which brings me to the next P.R move:

3.Face up to failure:
President Goodluck Jonathan needs to address the failure of the army, the JTF and ultimately that of his government. A personal admission of failure and guilt ON national TV- we don’t want to hear it from Reuben Abati or Labaran Maku –will make the president look good and not like that man who didn’t give a damn!

4.Seek the help of the African Union:
Did you see how Rwandan President Paul Kagame just shamed us in France?! A whole Nigeria? AH! As thankful as we are for foreign help (read: Western imperialism sometimes disguised as help), the fact that we keep running Westward is the reason why we are still a small country. The fact that we jump our neighbours to go oversee in solving internal conflicts says a lot about our mentality. As a matter of fact, it is acts like this, dare I say that help fuel the ideologies of Boko Haram, this West-Is-Right mentality. It is a sad inferiority complex that we have lived with for years. We are not rejecting their help, but homegrown solutions can be less embarrassing. So President Jonathan will call on the African Union to help #BringBackOurGirls or at least bring back some African dignity. That’s a P.R coup right there!

5.His Niger-Delta support force:
Quite a number of prominent Niger Deltans have made it clear that there will be war if their brethren, President Jonathan is not allowed to contest or even worse, if he is not re-elected. He now needs these people to show the rest of the nation why! They can not say it’s because of the money the Federal Government has been giving them under the amnesty deal, because let’s face it that will have to credit the Yar’adua regime and not their cousin-brother (what is a cousin-brother anyway?) and at the same time that will discredit the grand conspiracy that Boko Haram is a Northern creation to remove brother Jonah from power. NO! Instead, they should show the country and the world the clean up of the oil spills, that the Jonathan administration has pledged to carry out… oh wait, what’s that?! We’re not sure even if that has happened yet? There are no pictures? Are you serious?! Okay, well then I guess those from the region clamoring for his re-election and threatening hell or high water should not spoil our P.R campaign! Shush children!

6.Inaugurate New Oil Board:
Still on oil issues, we know foreign companies have always had a big stake in Nigeria’s oil even going far as dictating how we operate. Well, now the President can make them happy by giving them an official seat at the table rather than all the strings-pulling that they do behind the scene taking the Nigerian populace for fools just because they have our leaders in the palms of their hands. This board, let’s call it, The Nigerian Foreign Domestic Oil Board will consist of all foreign oil companies as well as major ones in Nigeria, each to be represented by their heads. This means our Nigerian counterparts will sit at the same table as those who just come and leave with our money… and oil. Also on the board will be Mr. President himself and his Vice. One person who will NOT be at that table is Diezani Alison Madueke. Technically, she should be, but the president can not be seen as carrying her around like a personal handbag. So he will issue a statement saying the Petroleum Minister while not a member of the board… at the moment, will report to it and the vice versa. It will show the president can make oil decisions without her… till when three months later he puts her on the board without fail! We have to expect it. Some things you can not do P.R for!

7.West African/French Support:
If the president wants the support of fellow West African countries and to establish himself as a powerhouse in the region a la former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, he should bring up the long proposed West African pipeline, which supposedly is to run from Nigeria all the way to Ghana. Why is this of importance? Well, I’m glad you asked. The pipeline is to run through Benin and Togo, two former French colonies and we all know French interest in the region is quite high (perhaps more than any former Colonial power). Plus President Goodluck Jonathan and his new mistress President Hollande of France were recently at their honeymoon the conference in Paris on tackling insurgency in the African region (or how next to carve Africa)! This will help further cement their relationship, because we can not pretend that solving an African problem really needed African leaders to be flown out the continent without some economic deal being discussed! Viva La Republic.

8.Probe the NNPC:
Yes o! Mr. President needs to clean up house… or at least pretend to. If he is not willing to sacrifice Diezani Alison Madueku, well then whoever was in charge of making sure $20bn was never accused of been taken, should go! It is sad and evil to fire innocent people, but hey this man needs to look good. Chaos is a ladder and someone has to fall.

9.Honour Ahmad Salkida:
If you haven’t heard of Ahmad Salkida, well then sit down children, open your ears and shine your eyes. Salkida just might be one of a handful of people truly responsible in helping bring back our girls. The fact that the president had to request for him all the way from Dubai where the man lives in self-exile, should tell you of his importance. Salkida is the only man who has been a reliable go-between the Federal Government and Boko Haram in the past five years, having grown up in the region. In the past he was even suspected of being a member and seeing as how our government didn’t value his importance and noticeably his protection then, the man went on exile. He momentarily might be the most important piece of this puzzle. Rather than continue to let this man live in self-exile where his efforts will be forgotten by our present history-less generation and continue the stereotype that all Northerners are Boko Haram, the president should honour Salkida at the next National Honours among his usual gang of cronies who shamelessly accept awards as if na only them waka come Nigeria! Salkida is a true Nigerian hero. You don’t need P.R to tell you that! One man went where the Nigerian army couldn’t enter! Give him an honour!

10.Introduce the Board of Higher Education:
No one likes ASUU, but they have become a necessary institution. Even worse, no one likes being idle, for idle youth likely lead to non-idle Boko Haram insurgents. So to avoid more tertiary shutdowns, President Goodluck Jonathan announces he is inaugurating a board to deal with the nation’s higher institutions. It may even wipe out ASUU, in which case ASUU will have to hire me to keep them alive… which I won’t for all the years I had to stay home, but I need a job after I’m done with the president, so I’ll keep my options opened.

          So there you have it, my P.R plans for President Goodluck Jonathan! Olivia Pope has nothing on me! I bet that supposed $800m looks like a waste now!

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