For the past 24 hours, the media space has been rife with a one-sided, if not narrow interpretation of a statement made by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President-elect, Federal Republic of Nigeria, during his visit to Rivers State to commission completed projects, on the invitation of Governor Nyesom Wike.
In the widely publicised speech, the President-elect, in his response to Governor Wike’s request for refund from the Federal Government for funds expended by the state on FG-controlled infrastructure, initiated a grammatical maneuver that only few beings with enormous literary audacity can dare attempt.
According to him, “The demand you made for refund, I owe you nothing, it’s your road. You are the one living on this road. I commend your effort, and you have to lobby me to collect it,” he quipped.
Those who know the Jagaban know that he doesn’t talk anyhow, and that he is a master in the art of social interaction. In fact, as a student of communication, I believe that the last line “you have to lobby me to collect it” was deliberately added so that communication simpletons, would not gloat eternally over an illusory rift between him and Wike.
Grammatically, if the statement had read, “I don’t owe you nothing”, then it would have been a double negative, meaning “I owe you something”. However, the President-elect perhaps intentionally skipped “don’t”, maintained his ground, and added a positive light at the end of the speech via the last line, to still give it the needed camaraderie vibe. Very intelligent!
The communicator of this viral statement is a master communicator, and it would be too simplistic to judge his commentaries based on one’s parochial reasoning.
To properly situate the statement made by the former governor of Lagos State, one must approach it using pure logic, with less emotions. The English language has certain logico-grammatical rules embedded in it except in colloquial usage and understanding.
In the final analysis, the Jagaban Borgu, was only making a serious, yet friendly call to the negotiation table. He expressed himself as someone who thinks deeply about things before acting, yet doesn’t allow his deep reflections, or external influences to affect his judgement.
One of the fundamental issues in politics is the allocation of scarce public resources, and Governor Wike has fired the first salvo in that direction. The response from the President-elect, irrespective of the controversial narratives being woven around it, is beyond the errors of simplistic conclusions.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Solomon Nmam Okocha writes from Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
