ACN Warns Abati Against Using ‘Foul’ Language

The Action Congress of Nigeria on
Thursday warned the Special
Adviser on Media and Publicity to
the President, Dr. Reuben Abati,
not to use foul language on critics
of the Goodluck Jonathan
administration.
The ACN said such "crude verbal
attacks" might boomerang on the
Presidency if left unchecked.
In a statement by its National
Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, the party said there
was a difference between a vicious
verbal attack and a robust response
to critics of the administration.
The ACN said, "Contrary to what
Abati may think, 'attack' and
'criticism' are not synonymous. An
effective presidential spokesman is
not the one who employs gutter
language to respond to critics of his
principal, or one, who makes more
enemies than friends for his boss,
but one who is able to convey the
activities and achievements of the
President to the citizenry with
dignified language.
"By virtue of what is believed to be
his sound education, professional
training and exposure, Abati should
be well placed to know how to tell a
man to go to hell and the man will
still be smiling!
"To be sure, the use of dignified
language by a presidential
spokesman is important because
whatever he says is believed to have
emanated from his principal.
"It is therefore unimaginable that
President Goodluck Jonathan will
resort to the use of the kind of
language that has been spewing out
of the mouth of his spokesman in
recent times.
"To the best of our knowledge, no
presidential spokesman in Nigeria's
history has employed such base
language in defence of his principal."
The party noted that using foul
language to describe the critics of the
President was "rude, crude, uncouth,
unconscionable and uncalled for."
The ACN added, "Dr. Abati, while you
are free to exhibit your bombastic
prowess, the rarefied realm of the
Presidency is not the ideal place for
that, because when those who are
being assaulted with such words
respond in kind, it debases the
Presidency and ultimately hurts the
occupier of the office. In a truly
global world, such unrestrained
response to critics of the presidency
also hurts not just the President but
the image of the entire country.
"Even if some critics use words that
Abati finds annoying and insulting or
engage in criticism that he deems
unfair, it is still incumbent on him to
avoid responding in kind, simply
because he is not speaking for
himself but for an institution. It is
therefore not enough defence for
him to say that he is responding in
kind to critics of his boss.
"May we also remind the presidential
spokesman that there will be life
after that office, and that he should
remember that in an era where the
power of the written word has
assumed more potency for various
reasons, it is important to be more
circumspect in tongue-lashing critics
of the President.
"We will like to advise and encourage
the presidential spokesman to learn
to use facts and figures to counter
whatever he considers an
unfavourable criticism of his
principal, instead of subsuming such
under verbal pugilistic."