It appears that many leaders and indeed even some of the general public, do not fully understand the role of a current affairs interview/show chat host. I’m talking here in particular of Rufai Oseni, who has come in for a barrage of criticism recently.
Oseni has regularly lambasted governance, and in particular the use of a divisive repeat slogan (‘let us breathe’) allegedly mocking the plight of Nigerians, in particular amidst hardships around fuel price and forex problems.
I’m not making a political statement here, but merely pointing out the nature of the current affairs interview/show chat host environment, and the intensive live probing nature that goes with the territory. I’m not sure what some people expect when they go on Rufai Oseni for a live show.
Nigeria hails itself as a democracy, and if someone seeks engagement with a submissive TV channel, perhaps they should have become a politician or public servant in China, North Korea or Russia instead.
If anything, Osenis’ style is lenient when compared to peers in democracies elsewhere. Anybody that saw Stephen Sackur on Hard Talk (UK) with Joice Mujuru, the former Zimbabwean vice-president, will know that he didn’t mince his words.
Now, those that like to score social media metrics, by appealing to sectarian rhetoric sponges, came out on a prejudicial note, fuelled by the obvious ethnic divergence between Sackur and Mujuru…
… but as Prof. Ndubuisi says in a Nigerian context, before reading me (my content) you have read ‘Ndubuisi’.
Mujuru fell out with (then President) Robert Mugabe in 2015 and created her own party …But… How could she claim to champion freedom and democracy when she had been Mugabe’s cabinet ally most of her adult life? How could she avoid responsibility for Zimbabwe’s economic collapse, or the Gukurahundi massacre of 20,000 civilians, or the destruction of hundreds of thousands of slum dwellers’ homes?
Why was Zimbabwe’s biggest diamond field known as “Mrs Mujuru’s anthill”?
We do not get powerful people to acknowledge their contribution to bad actions by wasting airtime with ‘fandom’ interviews that stroke their egos.
When coming on this kind of show, participants must realize some things.
It does not matter if you are the leading global entertainer, the leading global sportsperson or the President of the most powerful nation on earth.
You are stepping into a Lions Den, and newsflash – You are not the Lion!
Most things go wrong when interviewees don’t control their ego, and let their ego, pride and vanity control them. You have to understand you attend as a ‘small’ boy or girl, not as an Oga or Madam. This countenance needs to be instantly impacted upon the interviewer – powerful Nigerians suck at this. In this ‘land’ that will last only the length of the airtime, you need to accept you ‘junior’ the interviewer, even if you have title, position, and are old enough to be their grandfather or mother.
Some people are really good at handling situations where interviewers or show hosts have unorthodox or combative engagement styles.
A great example of this is the interview for charity between Sacha Baron Cohen and the celebrity couple David and Victoria Beckham (commonly known as ‘Posh and Becks’). Baron Cohen plays a number of fictitious characters, the most famous being ‘Ali G’.
He conducted the interview of Posh and Becks while in the character of Ali G.
Being a known celebrity and handling the unknown situations that comes from Baron Cohen’s bizarre ad lib while in the ‘Ali G’ character is not easy. My personal favourite as a rebuttal, is when ‘Ali G’ provoking Victoria asks (about her son) ‘Do you want him to grow up to be a footballer… like his Dad.. or a singer… like Mariah Carey? … and she calmly answers –
‘I’d like him to grow up to be a footballer like his Dad… and I’d like to grow up to be a singer, like Mariah Carey!’
In the more serious sphere, I’ve seen some people handle quite hostile interviews very well… The best I’ve known (names that most people would know) would be ex US President Barrack Obama, UK ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair, and ex UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. This is not otherwise a reflection of their professional performance necessarily.
Leaders can do their homework and understand the engagement style of a host before agreeing to become a guest on a show or current affairs program.
There is a difference between being direct and candid on the one hand to being rude and offensive on the other. I can’t say I have watched all Rufai Oseni interviews, but from what I have seen, I can see no evidence of the latter.
However, it is important we recognise that people in Rufai Osenis’ position have a duty of service to the Nigerian citizenry. If guests come on the program with cases to answer, then there are questions to be put. It isn’t rude to put them.
To not put them, would be a case of Rufai Osenis’ failing the Nigerian public.
An article in Peoples Gazette however, has claimed all media personalities in Nigeria are politically partisan. ‘… people who sing Osenis’ praises are overt or covert Obi supporters and those who are censorious of his journalism are overt or covert Tinubu supporters’.
To what extent this is true, remains to be seen.
I do not see any problem with his conduct. He is not there to shrug his shoulders and say ‘It is well’.
The public already fulfil that role en masse
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All reference sites accessed 04/11/2023
tribuneonlineng.com/i-think-like-a-scientist-not-as-a-partisan-person-rufai-oseni/ lindaikejisblog.com/2023/7/let-us-breathe-its-not-funny-arise-tv-host-rufai-oseni-berates-nigerian-senators-for-mocking-poor-and-suffering-nigerians-2.html en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacha_Baron_Cohen en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HARDtalk 20 years of HardTalk video: youtube.com/watch?v=tzDgWBy9acg youtube.com/watch?v=wjRj9nBGaAE Kofi Annan in 2018 thecable.ng/rufai-oseni-nigerian-presidents-are-like-monarchs-theyre-hard-to-unseat gazettengr.com/farooq-kperogi-partisan-comparisons-of-channel-tvs-seun-and-arise-tvs-rufai
