Two days ago, on Sunday, a panel of seven acclaimed journalists conducted the first media chat with President Bola Tinubu. It was the most extensive panel in history yet adjudged the least interesting and exciting. The President came prepared to defend all his policies without a tinge of emotion. He emerged as a better and more articulate Speaker. Unfortunately, the panellists lost their vibrancy in getting proper answers to their questions and were scrutinised in public.

According to the Moderator of the chat, Dr Reuben Abati, who has described himself as a Veteran of Presidential Media Chats, “Nobody asked us to submit questions; President Tinubu didn’t say what you were going to discuss. We did not see him until he walked onto the set.

“I like that sitting next to him; he has settled into the job. He is not all the things we used to say during the campaign period; he knows what he is doing. He spoke with a lot of confidence. I was shocked that they didn’t even prepare him.” – Reuben Abati on Arise TV, a day after the maiden President Tinubu’s media chat.

However, Dr Joe Abah, an internationally recognized expert in governance and institutional reforms and the current Nigeria Country Director of DAI, has the following perspective about the media chat: “I’ve just watched President Tinubu’s media chat, and here are my thoughts.”

1. When a President invites you into their home for a media chat, a certain level of decorum is expected of the interviewers. You can challenge this but with decorum and facts.

2. However, when HE throws a challenge, good interviewers should accept that challenge with relish. They should do so to get an insight into his mindset for the benefit of the public.

3. So, on the cost of governance, when he said he needed all his Ministers, they should have asked him why he felt he needed a Ministry of Livestock Development when he already had a Ministry of Agriculture. Why couldn’t the Ministry of Agriculture do whatever it wanted the Livestock Ministry to do?

Why does he need a Ministry of Police Affairs when the IGP, by law, reports directly to him and the Nigeria Police Council is empowered to make policy for the Police Force? Why does the Police Affairs Ministry have a budget of over N1 Trillion?

What has happened to the Oronsaye Report implementation that he set up a committee and gave them 12 weeks in March to report?

4. When he said his Ministers were all delivering and challenged them to name any that weren’t, it was a golden opportunity to tell him what the public thinks and to hear his views. It would also have exposed where the Ministers might be working but failed to communicate. For instance, he said Prof Pate of the Ministry of Health is excelling. They should have asked him precisely what he was doing.

They should have asked what the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy has achieved in 18 months and relayed the surprise of many that the Minister of Power survived the recent reshuffle.

When he said that our internet provision is not where it should be, they should have asked him what the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy is doing about it.

5. When he said he had ensured the financial autonomy of Local Governments, they should have asked him why the FGN was not complying with the Supreme Court ruling and sending monies directly to LGAs?

6. Overall, I think that the interviewers were somewhat star-struck, perhaps because it was the first one. There were too many interviewers, with everyone having to be allowed to ask a question to represent their media house. That meant there was little interactiveness, even when the President offered opportunities for robust exchange.

On her part, Mrs Ayo Obe noted that the President was asked about medical care and replied by talking about something else! She observed, “None of you could name a minister who is not working and limited cutting the government’s cost to the number of ministers.

Adedapo, a tax and finance expert, said, “The President demonstrated brilliance in his responses, showing that he is entirely in charge and well-informed about the state of affairs. My key takeaways from the interview are:

1. Increased Direct Engagement: We need more opportunities like this to hear directly from the President. Perhaps such media chats could become a quarterly or bi-annual tradition.

2. More Probing Questions: While it was commendable that the journalists asked relevant questions, the depth and rigor were below the standards they typically uphold on their programs. They need to maintain similar energy and critical analysis during these high-profile engagements; it does not have to be confrontational.

Achike Chude’s opinion: “The presidential media chat was not about the decisions taken by President Tinubu but about how he felt about these decisions and their impact on Nigerians. A lot of Nigerians cannot carry out meaningful social existence. Tinubu, in his chat, seems not to understand the gravity of his reforms on Nigerians.

A Legal Practitioner, Kenneth Okonkwo, said: “The worst statement the President made during his first presidential media chat is scoring himself ‘excellent’. President Tinubu has done the worst job by any president since independence.”

President Tinubu’s Closing Statement to Nigerians:

“2025 is a promising year. I won’t take you for granted. I am here to serve. I will do it with all my heart. I seek your cooperation and understanding. I understand the troubles you have been through. We are on the right path. Let’s maintain focus.”

Highlights from Tinubu’s Media Chat