By ‘Sola Fagorusi
The easiest current affairs question any primary or secondary school student would trounce is one that requests for the name of the president of Nigeria. The answer would be chorus – Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Social media users and buffs would remember how the doctrine of necessity emerged and changed the story of the incumbent’s emergence in the post-bedridden Yar’adua era. By 2011, in what was termed a controversial election nevertheless, the Ph.D. holder and former Governor of oil-rich Balyesa state emerged as president. The tenure of the president expires by 28th May, 2015 but the body language is clear. He still wants to be president after that date. And of a truth, nothing is wrong with that. Forget those rude posturing by the some cliques in northern Nigeria and criticisms from progressives in the south-west and eastern part of the country. The constitution allows the president two terms. And he is entitled to being elected given chapter VI, section 137, sub-section B of the 1999 constitution.
However, it is high time the president took a good selfie; possibly one with a smart phone with high resolution. I will suggest he takes the selfie the Ellen DeGeneres way. A selfie for the uninitiated is that picture taken with a hand-held device, most times a smart phone and thereafter shared on social networks. Selfies are usually taken at stretched arm length or with the use of a mirror to bounce off the image(s). Often times however, selfies are solo photos of oneself. Social networks like twitter, instagram and Facebook are the dump yards of selfies. Ellen DeGeneres, Oscar host broke records earlier this year when she had Bradley Cooper, an actor to take a selfie featuring several A-list stars. The picture was tweeted more than two million times on twitter. Besides being the most retweeted selfie, it is also the most retweeted tweet on twitter.
So why should the President take a selfie? There is a social psychology to selfies. It is a self-image and it allows for closer introspection. It allows us decide how we want to be seen since the photographer is the same person as the one being photographed! Dr. Goodluck Jonathan therefore needs one. Nigerians and members of the international community are united in thoughts that this is not the best of moments for Nigeria. Until now, we had our issues, we had our failed and failing institutions but not massive insecurity like it is today. Before now, our lives were not threatened but today that has changed with the several instances of kidnapping, ritual killings, strikes in education and health institutions, bombings, unemployment, stampedes and a host of others. Let the president gather on his sides his cabinet before he sets his smart phone to work. Let him have Labaran Maku, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Abba Moro, Akinwunmi Adeshina, Bala Muhammed, Nyesom Wike, Boni Haruna and his sea of ministers be his A-list of political actors as he takes this all-important selfie.
The president may need to look closely at the picture and also read opinions about his team afterwards. He will be told of the ministers simply occupying spaces, he would be intimated of those who are managing to colour his administration. He would see some of his Ministers who are only flicking their tongues over their lips given the next commonwealth they plan on stealing. He will see some who possibly do not understand what public service is about. Those are the categories that have refused to know that their inactions are actions that cause untold hardship. He will find the same man who planted non-explosive bombs at stadia around the country and eventually led to the death of about 20 young Nigerians and has yet refused to honourably resign.
Aso rock is not the right place for the kind of Selfie I suggest. Mr. President should get on the street of any of Nigeria’s capital for this all important selfie. As to retweet, Mr. President need not worry. It would be the most retweeted selfie in the world. We have the population. We will beat DeGeneres to the record. What are we Giant of Africa for if we can’t make a success of such simple assignment. If the president takes the selfie on the streets he would see at the background the hordes of unemployed and disenchanted young people. He may possibly also find on the street millions of polytechnic undergraduates who have had their schools shut for more than six months now and thus roam the street. He will also find the police officer pounding away on the citizen he is meant to protect; or the naval rating who takes delight in shooting unarmed citizens. Mr. President should please take a selfie at the mouth of Sambisa forest in Borno state. He would feel and possibly not see the fear that resides in the forest and this is the same place where about 200 girls who have been forcefully torn from their parents and relatives are now resident.
We all remember in December, 2013 when President Barack Obama of the United States, Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom and Denmark’s Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt took a selfie on the request of Obama at the memorial service for late Nelson Mandela. It’s the turn of President Goodluck Jonathan to take one and let him seat back and listen on on the hyper assessment of his administration by tweeps and dedicated Facebook users. The president may also find some few instances of good efforts of his administration in his selfie but the failures overwhelm his effort. Depending on what the president believes, he may also find ghosts in his selfies; ghost of thousands of Nigerians who died simply because the government refused or ignored protecting them against the vendors of death.
The technology that allows for selfies leave room for us to decide what we want to see in our pictures. If these images are to change then the president needs to do more than being a good man. He needs to provide good leadership. The president needs to be told that the world has moved on beyond issues of power, good road and provision of basic needs. Nigerians would love to debate more exciting subjects on social media. We certainly would love to get into arguments as to why we think our prisons are a paradise and so ain’t a good form of punishment!
Maybe this assignment is above the ken of the president; maybe not. Although a few would criticise the president for being vain if eventually he takes a selfie but then the president would have more people back his view at honest self-assessment through the simple use of a selfie. Whether or not the president listens to me, the truth is that almost nothing can be hidden again in this new media age!
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‘Sola Fagorusi
Sola Fagorusi is a youth development advocate, freelance writer, accomplished debater cum coach. The Obafemi Awolowo University graduate has about 10 years experience in social entrepreneurship which straddles leadership, good governance cum anti-corruption and adolescent reproductive health. The Leap Africa alumnus is also a trained peer educator, a DESPLAY alumnus and co-facilitator. For 2 years now, he has been a technical consultant and lead judge on the Intra-Faith Peace Youth TV Debate Project facilitated by Youngstars Foundation and the British High Commission. To read his full profile, click here. Follow Sola on twitter: @solafagro
