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DSP, Omo-Agege & Lara Owoeye-Wise. |
In public
communication, response to an orchestrated attack especially from social media
should ideally be measured, self restraining and driven by purpose.
As I am not habitually
one to jump into frays in this case as a panicky rebuttal to a coordinated
social media attack on my person and character, my purpose here would be to
sacrifice my preference for silence in order to get up and pull away the
esteemed personality and exalted office of the Deputy President of the Senate,
Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, whom I have tremendous respect for and whose
personality and office are naturally caught up in the middle of the unforced
rumpus generated by my appointment. While i do not mind to take the hit, I
would not want the Distinguished Deputy Senate President to bear any stain by
association.
While i won't claim to
be a Politician as yet, I have nonetheless, put in over 25 years cognate
experience as a Media Professional in Print and Electronic Journalism
practice.
Indulging in
self-praise would amount to vainglory and self-conceit, I would however risk to
assume that my aforementioned professional track-record earned me the privilege
of being hired to work with the immediate past Deputy Speaker of the 8th
Assembly, Rt. Hon Lasun Yusuff of the APC until the 7th of June when the 8th
Assembly wound down.
This is a pointer in
one unequivocal direction, which is a combined loyal service to nation-building
in both the Media and public service.
The searchlight for
service I would also submit, came my way as a citizen of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria whose rights include freedom of expression in as much as it falls
within the confines of civilized endeavors, lawful boundaries, sublime
compliance, professionalism and the stimulation of intellectual engagement. These
I carried out with the use of satires and literary imageries: expressions which
were neither demeaning of our great country nor of her leadership. These are
posts i hold dear and desire to have endure. It is therefore unimaginable if
not laughable, that i would in panicky and dishonest move, "delete my
posts, numbering up to 11,000"! One, if I had up to 11,000 posts, that
must mean I had spent the past years doing nothing but indulging in endless
postsings. How would i have had such luxury of time within the pressure we work
under daily, managing my Principal on one hand, fulfilling my role as a family
woman on the other, and giving myself to other upbuilding social services to
better my environment and world? One more thought...If i had deleted 11,000 posts
within the few days of my appointment, how were my traducers able to send
mugshots of same deleted posts around and about? I have not deleted neither
have I edited even one of my old posts on social media since my appointment.
Please crosscheck.
As unfortunate as this
incident is, the umbrage against my appointment is an unfortunate showcase of
sobering reality to well meaning Nigerians that there is so much we need to do
on civic engagement as the future of Nigeria rests on the quality of our followership
which will produce future leaders. I bear this stark reality in mind as I daily
attempt to mentor the younger generation through my social media posts and my
character.
I shall resist the
urge to join issues on the salacious insinuation of any working/ intimate
relationship between Senator Dino Melaye and I. While there is no iota of truth
in this, dissipating energy on it equates to according undue attention to sheer
indiscretion from a group of people who probably still have a lot to learn from
the tenets of honour, graciousness, dignity, depth of perspectives and uncommon
ability to respect the sensibility of others, especially our fellow citizens.
Germane issues must always rise above laughable conjectures and must never be
made to suffer preposterous dimensions or such cluelessness emanating from
myopic inclinations.
By the way, Dino
Melaye represents my Senatorial district. The few interactions I have had with
him were usually at public events, occasions where i muster enough honour to expand
frontiers for my Principal and engage in robust political cross fertilization
of ideas. Should i have worked for Senator Melaye in his political ambitions or
even his party, I would have demonstrated some measure of honour to own up to
it and actually turn down this appointment as I do not posses what it takes to
be treacherous.
May I use this
opportunity to express profound gratitude to the Deputy Senate President for
considering me worthy to render my professional services to support his office
for the betterment of Nigeria and her people.
May I also observe
that in my capacity as Media Electronic and Social Adviser, the event of
yesterday has opened a sobering perspective that a lot of gap is open to be
filled in not just shaping the right narratives on social media but doing so
with an impressive demonstration of mental aptitude and pure intellect.
To those who rose up
in stout defense of my person, while i do express my appreciation to you all
for such display of decorum, I dare say, please "don't go yet", as we
have a lot to do together in showcasing to the outside world, that as a nation
with a teeming youth population, we can do better than continued indulgence in
pull-down mentalities as self appointed judges from self-induced cages and
prisms.
Thank you.
Lara Owoeye-Wise is
the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege on Electronic and Social Media.
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