Bala Ibrahim
Like in every business or professional practice, there is a risk called occupational hazard, which comes as a danger or threat to the physical or psychological health of the practitioner.
For those of us in the business of image making, through the deployment of persuasive rhetoric techniques, to improve the brand of someone or something, the risk is mostly associated with what we say in the course of doing what we think is good public relations.
What we say today, may be used against us tomorrow. And denials can come with dangerous consequencies.These hazards can be physical, and may cause short-term injuries. But sometimes, they may be psychological, wherein they cause long-term dis-ease.
Yes, disease, because they can compel the desertion of comfort from us, for long. Pursuant to his appearance on the Head to Head interview with Mehdi Hassan of Al-jazeera, on the 6th of march 2026, our friend and colleague, Daniel Bwala, stands the risk of catching that disease of psychological occupational hazard. May the Lord help him fast, ameen.
The position of this article may be misconstrued by those who may wish to wear the thinking cap of mischief, to view it from the perspective of the party I serve, because, I am the National Director Publicity, of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
If they do that, I would not sue them to court, because, they have the liberty to think, under democracy. But I must make haste to state that, the article is my own personal opinion, free from the position of the party.
And the constitution of my country has given me the right to make open my opinion. And as a friend and colleague of Daniel Bwala, I would like to make a suggestion to him.
Based on that show with Mehdi Hassan, on the famous Head to Head of Al-Jazeera, which has evidently gone awry, methinks, Daniel has unmistakably denied himself in the open.
And Bwala has brought to himself a brouhaha that would continue to brew all through the campaign season of 2026/2027. Legally, there may be nothing wrong with it.
Thank God, Bwala is a lawyer, so he knows better than me. But morally, there is everything wrong with it, and I am a journalist and a PR consultant, so I think I know much about the ills of conflict with conscience, in the business of image making.
From that interview, Bwala’s conscience ought to be brutally bruised. The contradictions were too glaring to ignore. And take it or leave it, such display of contradictions would inadvertently rub off on the image of his principal, who is the President of our country, Nigeria.
In a principal-agent relationship, the agent’s actions and reputation directly affect how the public perceives the principal, as the agent is considered an extension of the principal.
The image, reputation, and credibility of an image maker, significantly impact the credibility of their principal.
For a principal that is busy introducing reforms that are aimed at improving the country, particularly the long standing poor public perception, and with another round of elections approaching, shows like these would be the most unwise thing to promote now.
I was compelled to write this article, by the multitude of enquiries from readers, pursuant to a cliché I wrote earlier. And the cliché goes thus:
When the facts change, you can change your position, so said John Maynard Keynes. But denials dent dignity, directly.
And the loss of dignity leads to the loss of decency, which is an essential ingredient for the command of respect in the practice of Public Relations.
In sane situations, resignation may reinstate that respect, for future use. Only the absurd will stand adamant.
The ambition of this article therefore is, to appeal to my friend and colleague, Daniel Bwala, to do the needful, by stepping out of the queue of the absurd, please.
