BY MUHAMMAD M. ALI, MARCH 21, 2024 | 09:40 AM
A 35-second video clip was circulating on social media from last week showing Gov. Babagana Umara Zulum speaking emphatically towards a cleric for betraying protocol - sitting where he is not supposed to.
The video generated a lot of reactions from Nigerians. Many interpretations were drawn from the governor's reaction.
However, the whole drama would not even have happened if one man (not the governor or cleric) had done his work properly.
In the video, the governor asked why only the cleric was sitting on a seat while his seniors, including the Chief Imam of the state, were sitting on the ground. Before the cleric could properly explain himself, the governor further explained that he knows the cleric as a recalcitrant violator of protocol and warned him to start respecting protocol or face the wrath of the law.
First things first, by virtue of reaction, people are divided into two - you can either be diplomatic or undiplomatic - and whichever one, there has always been consequences of it. In reacting to this situation, a diplomatic personality may simply overlook it, and where necessary to talk, he will rather find time, privately, to do so or alternatively unleash his mind in a joke, but the message will always be very clear.
An undiplomatic personality, however, will rather tell you, there and then, to your face that you are wrong. Gov. Zulum is that type of personality, and of course, you don't expect him to be otherwise, being an academician who is known as a disciplinarian.
At the University of Maiduguri, a student of Gov. Zulum was telling me how the governor would take it as a personal affront should anyone victimize his students. He would put all his energy into solving the problem of his students. That is Gov. Zulum, he said. Even when he assumed the seat of power as the governor, he declared zero tolerance for thuggery and any indiscipline in Borno. His first hundred days in office were also not without many such dramas, including putting his life on the line to visit all the 27 local government areas of the state, including the unsecured areas, to see things for himself. During such visits, Gov. Zulum made several confrontations, preaching for punctuality and discipline. Many civil servants were suspended upfront.
Recently, he also had to deal with some youths who tried to impersonate the deputy governor of the state by trying to sit and take a picture on his official seat. Gov. Zulum regarded that as despicable, vile, and outright disrespect to the governor's office, and he could not let such action go without a case for precedence and deterrence.
I am not Gov. Zulum's spokesman; in fact, I am not even his fan - but I will not allow my personal interest to cloud my judgment. Truth be told, I also found fault in the way the governor spoke without controlling his anger, but we must not be constrained only to a small picture of the whole drama. Those examples above indicate that there is nothing so special about that tongue-lashing between the governor and the cleric to warrant a panel of scrutiny by the public. My worry here is not even why it has to be subjected to public scrutiny but how the panel forgot to see the bigger picture of the whole drama - which is due protocol and respect for the number one citizen in the state, and certainly is not about whoever is in that seat. The culture and tradition of leadership say that no matter how high your position - as a cleric, businessman, or rich man, you are absolutely under the authority of the first citizen of the state. This must be understood very clearly, even to help us reset this myopic thinking that because you relate with the former president of Nigeria, you can disrespect your state governor. Disrespecting your governor is not within your right or privilege as a citizen.
This brings us to the thing, where it done properly, this drama would have been avoided. That missing thing is the duty of the governor's protocol office, who are supposed to be at the funeral venue, at least 30 minutes before the governor's arrival. Where have they been to let such drama unfold out of their carelessness? The first thing to consider in protocol settings is the security of the venue, followed by transportation, and then how the guests will be received; where and when, etc.
Except where the governor is not the type to follow protocol, the Chief Protocol Officer in that government house should be the one to face public reprimand, not the governor. These are all his faults. He is supposed to see this coming; sort it out with the host. Options would either be changing the place where to receive the governor—if it is necessary to allow the man to sitting on a chair where the state governor would be sitting on the ground; or change the settings of the venue ahead of his arrival. It is about Prof. Zulum—who will one day vacate the office; but the office of a governor. The best thing anyone can do as a governor is to ensure that the office retains its integrity and respect after he or leaves it. So this is quite important for the protocol office, and I sincerely hope that the chief protocol officer will learn to do his work properly next time. If anything, protocol operations failed the governor but the governor was up to uphold the integrity of his office. A governor elected by the majority vote deserves an undiluted respect from everyone in all situations except in instances where he grants immunity or certain privileges to some.
By and large, another most important point to stress is the fact that the governor's reaction has covered the uncultured behavior of the person, who as a bona fide citizen of the state is supposed to respect the office of the number one citizen of the state under our current dispensation, be he whatever. Granted, he may have a special case; he may be sick or something, but doesn’t he have other options? He could one) come for condolence when the crowd is light, two) he request to sit outside, away from VIP spots three) send a delegation and stay at home until he is fully recovered. What struck me the most is not that he sat majestically on the sofa even as the governor was there; but he did so much ahead of that when the Waziri of Borno and Chief Imam, senior state officials in every sense, higher in rank and authority than him in the traditional structure, were seated aground. That was the first anomaly—and I thus leave you to analyze the situation with your conscience.
Muhammad M. Ali, an unrepentant Pan-African, write from Maiduguri.
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