By Kayode Ketefe
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Obafaiye Shem,
Lagos State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps
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The internet by now is bursting
at its cyber seams with the overblown gaffe of the Lagos State Commandant of
the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Mr. Obafaiye Shem, who
obviously could not recollect the website address of his organisation during a
live interview hosted by the Channels television.
The video of this interview,
derisively referred to as “My oga at the top” had gone viral while some
uncharitable Nigerians had even made it into a comical musical. I heard that
t-shirts, face caps and other sartorial items had been made with bold
inscription of “My oga at the top” in derisive allusion to the said
gaffe.
A pair of young enterprising
journalists of Channels had demanded the address of the website and in spite of
all the body language of the Commandant that he was at sea on this issue; and
his verbal cue that his “ Oga at the top” would be the one to
know, the importunate journalists insisted on disclosure, forcing the man
to promptly invent an improvised website address that he could not even bring
himself to finish pronouncing - it was really embarrassing.
Yes! A top office like a
state commandant should ordinarily be expected to know the address of website
of his organisation, but if he does not know, I think he should not be
crucified. As a state commandant, he has a lot of responsibilities thrust on
him in both managerial and administrative spheres that would rank higher in
order of priorities than for him to encumber his mind with information that
could easily be obtained by glancing at a document or clicking a mouse.
Is it not for this reason that
a governor or president usually has a lot of retinue of special advisers and
aides to help out on issues that he would be too busy to advert his mind to?
The Commandant’s blunder is
obviously a forgivable gaffe which ought not to be overblown beyond proportion.
It speaks to the reality of human frailty as all of us at one time or the other
have committed greater blunder.
Things like press interview,
job interview or cross-examination in court of law are like examination and
every examination is very oppressive. You would be too concerned not to commit
errors; Have you all forgotten that even a great man like President Obama
manifested the mortality of humanity when he mispronounced few wordings during
the administration of oath of office to him. The oath had to be re-administered
the following day!
What is more important to me is
whether or not the man has the capacity and talents to discharge his
professional responsibilities creditably well, not whether he could reel
out offhand the latest inventions from Microsoft or Apple.
I don’t understand the extent
of frustration some Nigerians have been driven to that they would
forcibly extricate mirth from fleeting inadequacies of fellow compatriots in
absolute callosity to their plight. Ironically if you asked majority of
these mocking Nigerians the websites of companies they work for, you would be
surprised that the majority would ignorant.
I had once attended an
interview when the panel of interviewers shocked me with an unusual approach.
Immediately I introduced myself giving personal date and my place of birth, the
first question that was hurled at was that I should name the King of my city.
I
had expected questions that would test my verbal fluency, quantitative skills,
substantive and procedural laws as well as current affairs on local and
international issues. Therefore my mind went blank and I told them the name of
the monarch was beyond my immediate recollection. The members of the
panel burst into laughter.
Eventually, I got the highest
score both in the written and oral in that interview. If I had been adjudged
incompetent and probably dismissed on the basis of misfiring on that
eccentric question, they would not have been able to know my abilities in many
other areas.
That is why till today I still
believe that the Ministerial nominee who was dropped by the Senate on accounts
of answering that “Needs are different from wants” when asked to say what he
knew about NEEDS (That is National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy)
had been harshly judged; that kind of assessment does not prove anything.
Lest I am misunderstood, I am
not making any case for misfits to be installed in public offices, on the
contrary I want the process to be so rigorous and comprehensive that
nobody who is good will be inadvertently rejected and vice versa.
We would all remember how some top
military officers, during one of the past military regimes, would visit public
institutions and accost any worker with the demand to recite national anthem or
national pledge.
Inability to do this fetched summary dismissal from
work! I adjudged this to be sheer callousness, how can you brush aside the
whole of a person’s skills and competencies acquired through many years of
formal training and judge him by a mere ten-second recital of a
ceremonious mantra?
I believe in total and
compressive assessment of a person, not frivolous appraisal, to determine the
person’s suitability, worthiness and overall credibility. That is why I believe
explosion of jests and callous ridicule being heaped on the Lagos NSCDC
Commandant is absolutely unfair.
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