For Daniel Bwala, a baptism of fire

Since his appointment as Special Adviser to the President, Media and Public Communications was announced on Thursday, November 14, Daniel Bwala has moved from one controversy to the other. He will go on record as the presidential spokesman who started from day one on a faux pas, spent his first week in office retracting his introductory statements and forced a major reshuffle of the President Bola Tinubu’s media and communication team that saw him re-designated and downgraded.

After what many consider a betrayal of Atiku Abubakar whom he worked for as presidential campaign spokesman in 2023, the appointment was for him a dream come true. After spending so much time in the public space trying to justify his return to the All Progressives Congress he serially disparaged and a President he so virulently opposed as candidate during the 2023 election campaign, there was reason for him to feel some triumph. But rather than celebrate, his first week in office – during which he tasted a bit of the bitter intrigues that spew from the nation’s seat of power, has been a nightmare.

He actually ignited the fire that burnt his fingers. Following his appointment Bwala had, in a tactless display of ignorance of how the Tinubu political machinery works, announced himself gleefully as the official replacement for Ajuri Ngelale, erstwhile Presidential spokesman who was muzzled out of office two months earlier. After the self-glorifying briefing of State House correspondents in the Presidential Villa, he capped the introduction by declaring “I only came to introduce myself to you and the role that was given to me by Mr. President, and I told you that role was once occupied by Ajuri Ngelale.” He went on to light up the internet with a tweet.

The blunder touched many raw nerves in the State House. Not only did he invoke the better-forgotten spirit of Ajuri Ngelale, he literarily inherited whatever fights he left behind. He also went on to offer an unsolicited explanation on the issue of where Sunday Dare, former Minister of Sport who had earlier been appointed Special Adviser like him, works from. Dare, he declared, works from the office of the Minister of Information, which implied he does not belong in the President’s core communication team in the Villa. Such indiscretion!

If others who belong to the inner caucus of the President’s team would stomach such impudence, Bayo Onanuga, who is believed to have supplanted Ngelale was not amused. It did not surprise many, therefore, that he went into overdrive shortly after, to put Bwala in his deserved place. When he issued a statement which not only re-designated Bwala as Special Adviser on Policy Communication but sandwiched him in-between himself and Dare, it was clear he was responding to the former PDP man’s audacity. The statement also explained that “Mr. Sunday Dare – hitherto Special Adviser on Public Communication and National Orientation is now Special Adviser, Media and Public Communications.”

The picture was clear: Daniel Bwala was not the President’s spokesman – because “there is no single individual spokesperson for the Presidency” – but one of the three spokesmen for the President. As the statement said, the changes were to enhance efficiency within the government’s communication machinery but it is obvious that it consolidated Onanuga’s leadership of the President’s media and communications team and positioned Dare, his former staff at TheNews where he was Editor-in-Chief, ahead of Bwala.

The power play was not lost on Bwala and rumours were rife that he may even exit as quickly as he entered. So, what to do? He did the only thing he has perfected in the past few years after he abandoned active law practice for the murky waters of political brinkmanship: he ran to the news studios for an interview. Listening to him on the Channels TV Politics Today, Bwala looked sober and pitiable as he all but offered Onanuga and the cabal that holds sway in the Villa, a public apology. He praised Onanuga to high heavens, as ‘a statesman and brilliant journalist’ and not one with whom he was out to rub shoulders with. Hear him: “My own is, if he says ‘go and carry that table,’ I will just do so; that’s my job.” The brilliant chap had learnt the first lesson.

Once viewed as a brilliant lawyer and principled man, Bwala who now grovels around the Villa, has indeed gone full circle and many believe he is still unraveling. In his few years in the political space, he has become notorious for betrayal as his actions appear driven by personal gain rather than ideological consistency. Originally a member of the APC before he defected to the PDP in 2022, citing opposition to the APC’s Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, he has engaged in frequent and high-profile shifts in political allegiances. He was a vocal critic of President Bola Tinubu, but no sooner did Tinubu become Nigeria’s President than he shifted position, departed from Atiku Abubakar’s camp and re-aligned with the APC in a political move that is clearly opportunistic rather than principled.

Indeed, Daniel Bwala has gone full circle. While he has framed his transitions as efforts to support national unity, many have seen through the smokescreens of his rhetorical cover for personal greed and political expediency. While he has succeeded in talking his way right into Tinubu’s office, he still faces what many betrayers face: his presence is welcome but it would be foolhardy on his part to expect to be trusted.