How not to manage information, the Lai Mohammed example

By now, Nigerians should have heard quite enough about the Chibok Girls series; from demonstrations and counter-demonstrations; to their innocence and their defilement; and to the rescue and the next cue. And now, the Lai Mohammed cameo.

After quite a while of being incommunicado on sundry national issues, Alhaji Mohammed has come out to try explaining away the ‘strategy’ of government towards rescuing the famed Chibok girls from the clutches of their abductors, deep in the Sambisa forest, or wherever else they might eventually be reported or discovered to have been kept.

I think it is quite unfair that the Information Minister will come out and dish Intelligence of how the Federal Government had attempted, and now intends to rescue the girls, including the misdirected, and perhaps the disjointed moves at negotiating their freedom.

With no prejudice to the gains of this government on the war against insurgency, I think the particular episode of the Chibok Girls’ rescue had never been impressively handled by both the previous and sitting governments.

Fundamentally, the Information Ministry has not lived up to its responsibility of informing Nigerians of the doings of government, not even of the achievements; and has more to do in communicating effectively and convincingly enough to earn the confidence of compatriots. And that transcends the issue of the Chibok Girls; extending to the issue of this gripping economy.

Very quickly, let’s take a look at the kid gloves with which Alhaji Mohammed is handling our Information dissemination, particularly the latest briefing on the Chibok Girls:

We’ve begun fresh bid to rescue Chibok Girls.

Alhaji Mohammed painted the picture of having everything about this issue figured out and under grasp, even pre-May 2015. Nigerians gave benefit of the doubt when he started this enterprise, but having confessed that this government miscalculated all along gives us a new mind set.

The previous efforts to bring back the girls were frustrated by infighting among the insurgents and middlemen.

Did Alhaji Mohammed take it for granted they will tow his every whim? This is a revelation, confirmation, rather, that government had been wasting scarce financial resources on false, unproductive leads. And who won’t exploit the situation when they see there’s so much money to be thrown around with no clear-cut blueprint.

Nigerians need not wait forever for you to get it right while you make the trial and error of rescuing these innocent ladies?

Revealing strategy to the public is yet another no-no. Even the tactics of prosecuting the project was gladly and glowingly expressed, potentially swelling the tribe of jobbers who will queue, or re-queue for the fresh largess, now knowing your direction, or confusion. And this approach had failed repeatedly; it’s been tested and busted, helping the sect pre-empt efforts and plan their own counter-strategy.

Rescuers do not commence their engagement by disclosing to the public how they intend to rescue hostages; like Nike, they Just Do It! We need not know how, for now. How you did it can always be explained, stop explaining to us how you will do it.

Information Management, how is Uncle Lai bungling?

-‘Dele Dele-Olukoju is a Marketing Communication strategist and publisher of the online Marketing Communication Digest. He writes from Lagos, Nigeria