''Fani Kayode is physically an adult but mentally an infant'' - Gov Shettima

 

Media Aide to Governor Kashim Shettima, Malam Isa Gusau on Sunday reacted to a statement issued by Media Director of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organization, Femi Fani-Kayode, that APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, Shettima and APC spokesman, Lai Mohammed were opposed to the effort to release the captured Chibok schoolgirls and also supporting the activities of Boko Haram.

Gusau in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Sunday, described Fani-Kayode as “one Nigerian that is physically an adult but mentally an infant”, adding that “we all know that going into exchange with an infant is like having a dialogue with a blind, deaf and dumb.”

 “This is why it is thoughtless for any serious minded person to exchange words with Femi Fani-Kayode not to talk of someone like Governor Kashim Shettima who has too many serious issues he is competently handling with patriotism which he was not only exonerated but also commended by a Presidential Fact-finding committee on the missing Chibok schoolgirls that was set up by the same Presidency Fani-Kayode works for. 

 

And this in addition to the Governor being the one that secured admissions into an International school for the escaped Chibok schoolgirls and granted them scholarships, for which and other efforts, he is highly respected by those who know him or have come in contact with him in Nigeria and within the International community”.

 

Shettima’s media aide further noted that given his antecedents, the same Kayode is likely to reverse himself in the near future.

“Governor Shettima laughed when he read Femi Fani-Kayode’s statement; it provided him a little comic relief at a time we are all in agony following Saturday bomb attacks in Maiduguri. 

 

We are not worried because it is only a matter of time, we are sure that in the near future, sooner than we probably expect, the same Femi Fani-Kayode will sing and dance ‘Fuji-gabe’ with praises for Governor Shettima, he will come to contradict what he said today and he will do so without the slightest shame because he has none. 

 

“He is known for saying ‘A’ in the morning, ‘K’ in the afternoon and ‘Z’ at night, so we will wait for him to contradict himself and he will surely do so because that is him, he can’t avoid being who he is. We will not have any conversation with him”, Gusau noted.

 

Shettima’s spokesman however advised the Presidency and the PDP to do a good analysis of the harm Kayode is doing to President Goodluck Jonathan’s chances.

 

“From my little experience and understanding of media relations, I think President Goodluck Jonathan would have had an image that is better managed under Mr Ima Niboro than under any hawk. 

 

The reason is that, President Jonathan is essentially a persuasive and emotional speaker and he was presented as such by Niboro in 2011 because Niboro wasn’t an attack dog so the President’s identity wasn’t contradicted and that was why many Nigerians became emotionally attached to the President. 

 

I voted for Jonathan in 2011 while I was in Port Harcourt in charge of the Niger Delta for the Daily Trust. Many of my colleagues knew I had soft spot for Jonathan as an underdog from a humble background like many of us. 

 

We saw in him a harmless, polite, humble, easy going and honest Nigerian that was being fought by mightier powers and this was what came to many minds whenever the President was speaking ahead of the 2011 elections. However, the President lost his identity since Niboro who understands him better was taken out. 

 

Those with him now have confused Nigerians about his identity because they are hawks, always on the offensive, in some cases, blatantly insulting people and this made Jonathan to loose his identity as a persuasive and harmless leader that should have massive public sympathy who was hitherto seen as a victim of onslaught. 

 

The likes of Femi Fani-Kayode didn’t take time to understand the President and present him as that persuasive person that fits him, in a manner that would win public sympathy for him, they have turned him into the opposition, it is known in political circles that those who are weak go for the offensive out of desperation and fear while those winning defend, this is whyin most cases, the incumbent is on the defense as a supposed winner while the opposition attack out of desperation.

“Unfortunately for the President, Fani-Kayode has changed him into the attacker, making look the weaker candidate. They have confused his identity and this is the reason that no matter how persuasive he tries to be now, most people perceive him with confusion because virtually everybody that speaks for him and the PDP ahead of the elections is on serious offensive. 

Not a single person tries to win people with tactical persuasion, all of a sudden, they have all forgotten that Jonathan won the 2011 elections by being emotionally persuasive, by absorbing series of manoeuvring and political attacks as an underdog, by employing so much restraint in speeches coming out from his supporters and that made Nigerians stand for him. 

 

Today, however, all his supporters say all kinds of things, they perpetually attack opponents in a manner that shouldn’t be associated with a sitting President, some of his promoters even use open threats against voters they need.