Leaders of all colours and hues, in politics, big businesses and or Foundations of their owners and religion, hardly acknowledge positive write ups about them, except the sponsored ones (often signed by someone whose standard of the language is way below the one used in crafting it). Very often, the media handlers claim to have ‘spent’ some huge amounts of money on the article writers. Oftentimes, they told the boss of taking very  ‘good care’ of the writer, adding the lie that the write up was, anyway, ‘initiated’ by them.

And a lot of the time it is NOT the truth, because they have done nothing of the sort. The only thing they do promptly is to alert the writer of a  ‘mistake’, ‘mixup’ or ‘error’ in his effort’ as if it was done deliberately.

Even the not so high ups are not free of the ‘disease’. They also feel too important to acknowledge it. Maybe their own is informed by sheer ignorance of the value of publicity or because it was done for them free of charge.

The recent signed statements by the Dangote Group’s Anthony Chiejina, forced me to revisit Mark Antony in the famous Williams Shakespeare play, Julius Caesar. The Roman General and one of the close friends of the murdered general colleague and Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar, uttered the evergreen sentence: “The good is oft interred with the bones”, meaning, ‘the good deeds are frequently buried with the corpse of the doer’. 

The good deeds are forgotten and only the bad ones are remembered, appears to be the culture of human beings all over the world. It is no less in Nigeria. Perhaps, even more so on these shores, where the habit of too much hassada (the Arabic or Hausa word for self consideration all the time, without wanting anyone else to get) thrives. The English word ‘jealousy’ may not be enough to describe the habit.

Although the authorship of the Shakespeare works are still debated in some quarters, it is safe to assume that it has long been one of human traits to quickly forget a good deed or even be unaware that it has been done, but to easily remember only the ‘bad’ (ones). The play appears to suggest that the trait has been with humans over the ages.

It is to be noted that the success of individuals, organisations and or its owners, is not entirely due to their strength, ability, knowledge, know how and acumen to do things flawlessly. It is due to the favours and mercies of the creator.  

On many occasions, this writer encountered the trend where this ‘deadly’ disease of ‘hassada’ manifested by the statement and or actions of the people working in the publicity departments of some leaders, organisations and or  Foundations . Many of them are my supposed friends or acquaintances.

One of them, a very good friend who once slept on my bed in my bedroom, works in a really big government corporation. When yours faithfully called his mobile phone number about one month ago, a female voice answered that the number belonged to someone else, which is untrue.

Another one claimed that what I was doing about his boss was no big deal, since I was ‘working’ for the government’. The claim was not true, as I was no more working in the government since the advent of the present administration about one and a half years ago. And I told him so.

Still one other was only quick to point out to me my ‘mistake’ in the incorrect spelling of the name of his overall boss. I had written five favourable articles about his boss without him ever acknowledging the efforts. The ‘mistake’ was made by the autocorrect app in the phone, but was, in the same write up, spelled correctly. I admitted to making the mistake for not proofreading thoroughly before sending, anyway, when I replied angrily to the ‘charge’.

It is said about the media practitioners that some of them often dislike their former colleagues or even disagree with those belonging to their onetime profession, when they get some big appointments. That the moment the money they have ‘made’ ended, some of them often go back, shamelessly, to the colleagues they had abandoned.

When the table appears to turn against them, while riding high in their new places, they quickly come out or give media statements denying or disagreeing with what was said of or about them or their establishments, in the media, conventional or online. The recent media statements by Anthony Chiejina, the Dangote Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, are but examples of what I mean.

In the first instance, the Dangote Group Chief, Branding and Communications, said the media reports alleging that the Refinery had backtracked on its earlier position on the NNPC was not true. That what the refinery had said and expressed concern about was the NUPRC’s “reluctance to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation and ensure that we receive our full crude requirement from NNPC and the IOCs”.

 In the second statement, the Chief spokesman of the group said that the Dangote Refinery had not fixed the pump price of its petrol at N600 per litre. A newspaper was said to have reported that in its hard copy edition of Tuesday August, 2024.

At the risk of sending out the the wrong impression, let me state again, writing on individuals, particularly very important personalities (VIPs), sometimes attracts the suspicion that the article was a PR, therefore paid for or would be paid for later. Some other times, the writer is accused of ‘encouraging’, corruption in the country, for writing an encouraging article on politicians who supported their constituents in a big way.

Well, it is what is called ‘occupational hazard’, if one’s conscience is clear, as mine is. I once dared ANYONE who ever gave their money to me or directed someone to do so on their behalf, to come out and say so. The challenge still stands.

Besides, I said acknowledgment NOT appreciation, and there is a world of difference between their respective meaning. I rest my case.

May God make it possible for us to always live above board and above suspicion of other people.

Malam Malumfashi wrote from Katsina.