Shamelessness as politics

Shamelessness as politics

By Ayisha Osori

Embarrassment.

Shame.

Kunya.

These are a few of the words used to describe the feelings that many Nigerians had after watching Daniel Bwala on Mehdi Hasan’s Head to Head (youtu.be/ygdNgnTzl6A) on Aljazeera that aired March 6 2026.

Kunya – is the Hausa word for shame i.e., a distasteful emotion that comes from being aware of having done something wrong or foolish. Like leaving a fly unbuttoned or realizing hours after a meal that you have food debris stuck between your front teeth.

None of these examples capture the scale of deep, personal embarrassment that I had from being part of that conversation. Within minutes, I felt a chill. Then I felt hot. Then back to cold and the swings in sensation came sometimes with the bursts of laughter from the audience and I felt hundreds of pinprick-like sensations over my body and felt as I listened, a semi hallucinatory haze upon me. Honestly, I have, until now, never felt such shame in my life; maybe I have lived a fairly sheltered one for which I am grateful. This experience made me realize that despite what I say about Nigeria, in private and public, I still love Nigeria. That can be the only explanation for how terrible I felt at the antics and utterances of Bwala, Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication.

As Nigerians pour over the 40-minute video, write, and create the usual memes, I feel compelled to share my thoughts.

It is not only about how Bwala trivialized the insecurity that has cost many lives, or downplayed the breathtaking brutality with which Nigerians are frequently attacked like the massacre (premiumtimesng.com/news…) of between 120 – 160 people in Kaiama, Kwara state that happened just days before the interview with Mehdi was recorded. It is not his inability to give any clear answers, nor is it about the evasiveness of his responses and his theatrical attempts at deflection; as a friend put it, ‘This guy has never done anything other than exude buffoonery’. It is also not merely about how he has disgraced the government he represents – showing clearly what the Tinubu administration thinks of Nigerians and our collective efforts at accountability.

As I sat there listening to Bwala’s deflections and denials about the reality of Nigerians and his past statements and comments about Tinubu, all I could think is…what type of person is Tinubu to appoint this man as his spokesperson? That was the thought that raced through my mind and the possible answers added to the instant fever that gripped me. Faced with the knowledge of all the very public indictments Bwala has made about Tinubu’s character and antics, why, out of over 200 million Nigerians (if you believe our population estimates) did Tinubu think: here is a man that can represent me and speak for the Federal Republic of Nigeria?

This a presidential spokesperson who said at one point as Hasan pushed him on a question, asking ‘why’, ‘why’ ‘why’? Bwala responded with: ‘because Y has a long tail and two branches”. I wanted to enter the ground. For an audience that had been cackling all evening, the room fell into uneasy silence. This has been cut from the final edit, but I share so those of us who suffer kunya on other people’s behalf can know just how bad it was. This nonsensical response that we used as children should have no place where a government official is discussing the insecurity that has claimed so many lives in Nigeria.

So, why is Bwala in this position?

The first consideration is that Tinubu is a person who enjoys, immensely, the power that he can have over man and his behavior. It is why he can bring into government men who have said awful things about him, albeit things that are in the public, and make them eat their words. Tinubu can command them to swallow their vomit in the same public and they do so gladly. This solves the mystery of the Fani Kayodes, and Omokris in this administration. Some of us think eating our words in such a way is the ultimate humiliation…but we could be wrong. Bwala obviously does not consider his outing on Head-to-Head a disgrace. He has shared links to the video on social media with his considerable following of over one hundred thousand followers. We, ordinary Nigerians, are not his audience. His audience is for the person who appointed him. ‘See. See how I dance naked, without a care in the world. Oh, what wouldn’t I do for you’.

Which brings me to the second consideration of ‘why’ which is what Tinubu rewards and according to stories flying around, the financial perks are allegedly immense. Our lives are only part of a game that Tinubu and those he surrounds himself with play. He is a man that demands loyalty and obeisance and that matters more than aptitude or integrity; matters more than how the common wealth is being looted or how power is being abused by his appointees. It maybe that persons with integrity cannot really be loyal in the way that he demands. This explains those around him, the ever-growing group of deplorables: the Wikes, Akpabios, Umahis, Bagudus, Matawalles et al.

Finally, the third consideration is that Tinubu too has no shame. If he did, he would not appoint into office, as spokespersons, ambassadors etc. people who are on record as having characterized him as a person unfit for public office. Definitely not fit for the highest office in the country. He does not care that by pulling them into his orbit of power for perpetual humiliation he continues to reinforce the things his appointees have said about him, keeping those insults in the public – like Bwala’s, ‘even if you give Tinubu 30 years nothing will work’. Everything is politics to these people; at the cost of our lives, our well-being, and the progress of our society. And if everything can be sacrificed on the altar of politics then Shame is the first to die.

So yes, lets laugh (or cry) about Bwala, accept (or reject) his shame (or the lack thereof) but the real questions, the hard ones, about the future of Nigeria should really be about Tinubu.