Mohammed Idris
On May 2, 2026, he turned 60. A diamond milestone. But rather than the noisy clatter and fervid celebratory frenzy common among politicians on such birthdays, Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, was sober. And that’s who he is. Urbane. Temperate. Calm.
Idris is about Nigeria’s 9th Minister of Information in the 4th Republic. An office once graced by some Nigerians, from the good to the not-so-good. And we’re talking about Nigerians like Dapo Sarumi, Jerry Gana, Chukwuemeka Chikelu, Frank Nweke Jnr., John Ogar Odey, Dora Akunyili, Labaran Maku, and Lai Mohammed. Some of these eminent Nigerians defined the office they occupied. For some, the office defined them. Some displayed basic communication skills of a public speaker and public policy manager; others simply made a ship wreck of what is traditionally a job built on the pedestal of public trust and public good.
Nigeria’s long years of military rule and fitful democratic interjections have made it almost impossible for the citizens to appreciate the beauty and suavity of good public speaking. Even the minders of public information have been sucked into the alley of brashness. You must be vulgar to have value. Rash and impetuous to appear to be effective. The 4th Republic has witnessed a horde of vocally abusive public office holders. Some occupying and still occupy critical offices. Some functioned as spokespersons for government, federal and state. Garish with their tongues and caustic in their writings, they mistook effective perception management for hubris and haughty slapdash. At the end, they damage the narrative. They distort the communication loop. They stir cognitive dissonance among the publics. And breed public distrust in lieu of public trust. Conflating propaganda as public relations is the most disingenuous communication model anybody could ever adopt to build relationships. It never worked and will never work. It’s akin to infusion of toxins into one’s veins.
This is the 21st century. Exposure to knowledge and technology has made propaganda less effective. This is no longer the era of 20th century Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda for Nazi Germany, who gained notoriety with the manner and passion he promoted the ideology of Nazi Germany. Nigerian Information ministers who tried to copy the template of Goebbels ended up with ignominy. In office and out of office, their notoriety was writ large. Odium was their badge as much as revulsion became the shadow that trailed them.
Not so, this Idris. He came as a quintessential public relations professional. Public relation is not a resort to abrasion. It is simple storytelling. And Idris has been telling the Nigerian story; the story of President Bola Tinubu’s government. An outstanding communicator and relationship builder, Mohammed Idris remains largely relatable. Media-friendly and accessible. He combines emotional intelligence, proactive storytelling and a benign calm ‘steeze’ even in the face of provocation. Neither abrasive nor provocative, he ponders the path; weighing the consequences of every action, every word – spoken or written. He is not intrusive, neither does he stare down on the vehicle of communication, the media. To him and for him, the media is a development partner and should be so treated. He welcomes knowledge and constructive criticism. He is simply a class apart. Detached from the old cantankerous order with its full complements of raucous twaddle and impetuous posturing. Some of Idris’s predecessors were needlessly pesky and imperiously petulant. They, by themselves, elevated their position as government spokespersons to imperial potentates, full of power and accountable to none. Yet, they ought to be accountable to the people and to the government they speak for. That’s responsibility. Being responsible is not an expression of weakness. It is on the contrary a show of both strength and competence. Whenever you see an aggressive information manager, check, you’ll see undeniable vestiges of insecurity and lack of capacity. You’ll see unprofessionalism and abuse of ethical values. A descent to the gutter; a waltz through the junkyard.
Tinubu’s Information minister, Idris, is not of this kind. He holds his head high without any nuance of biggity. He speaks with firm dignity. He communicates hope, softly and gently without losing the tenor of authority of his office. Never one afraid to engage his community, the media. In the media ecosystem, he is ever present and actively involved. Events by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), International Press Institute (Nigeria chapter), Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), among others. He shows up. He engages with the finest professional gaiety.
Since his appointment in August 2023, he has built relationships, locally and internationally. Prior to that time, public trust in public communication has faded significantly. Idris has reversed this unsavory trend. With a calm resolve and courteous appeal, he won many hearts, made friends for the government and the country. He avoided the toxic web of propaganda and its self-inflicted downsides. He flipped the page in public messaging. He re-connected the dots between the media, the publics and the government. He admitted government’s error where necessary. With this, he earned the trust of the media. And it’s all too clear that he is now the beloved of the same media that some of his predecessors chided and hauled brickbats at.
At critical points, his communication skills in crisis management were put to test. In all, he crested the turbulence, navigating through the landmines with calculated calmness and cultivated temperament. Removal of oil subsidy, the Samoa Agreement Nigeria signed with the EU on June 28, 2024, among other controversial policies of the federal government. Idris did not deprecate the media for misrepresenting the facts. No abuse. No foul language. He quietly reported the ‘offending’ media house to the National Media Complaints Commission (NMCC), the media Ombudsman. The matter was professionally resolved in a win-win for the government and the media house. This case did not only provide materials for scholarly inquisition into the existing body of works on disinformation and misinformation, it has also become a reference point of how to manage public communication crisis amicably without recourse to the court of law.
At 60, Minister Idris has wormed his way to the hearts of many media professionals of diverse genre including this writer. He has taught through practice that in the business of perception management, propaganda and noisy chants do not win the race. Adherence to ethical values and professionalism does. A belated Happy Birthday to you, Mr. Minister.
