Written by Nwoba Chika Nwoba
In Nigeria, office of the Governor or President is a huge task that requires a lot of hands and brains to shoulder. The responsibilities the either offices comes with are such that one person can’t take to account, hence the nomination of many people in the government who serve either as Commissioners or Ministers; Special Assistants or Special Advisers; Head of Service, Principal Secretary, Secretary to Government, Chief of Staff, Press Secretary and others alike.
It’s not in doubt that most of the public speeches of Governors and Presidents in Nigeria aren’t rendered extempore, but written, edited and rehearsed ahead of time of delivery to public. The Governor or President is expected to go through it before the actual time it’s to be delivered to his consuming audience. The question here now is, who writes the speeches since we know that a Governor or President lacks the luxury of time to pen down such voluminous write-ups? Indubitably, 90% of the Governors and President don’t write their speeches themselves. Apart from the pausity of time, most of them lack the intellectual wherewithal to pen down presentable write-ups. The speeches are always lengthy, so, it’s guessed that they lack the luxury of time and intellect to write them.
Now, who writes the speeches? Well, to the best of my knowledge as a versed party spokesman and as someone who has worked at the Ebonyi State Government House’s Press Unit for a period of year and having participated in the official scribal business of the unit, I can tell you that the speeches a Governor delivers aren’t written by him. There’s just a little exception. The exception clause came in as a result of my knowledge of the fact that a former Governor in Ebonyi State, Chief Martin Elechi used to write most of his speeches and press releases himself. He’s a lettered politician. He writes and speaks in polished English grammar. He has also written and published volumes of books and diaries. This account made me give the caveat of exception to the fact that some Governors may be writing their speeches themselves, though a little number of them.
In most cases, Press Secretaries write the speeches and press releases. For press releases, the Chief Press Secretary writes. For speeches, the Governor or President may find delight in the writing prowess of the Secretary to Government. He may prefer his Principal Secretary to anyone else. He may also prefer the Commissioner for Information, or employ a writer and station the person in his office for such a purpose. Certainly, anyone assigned with such a task must be close to the government so as to be able to know what’s happening in the system and then be able to relate it to the subject on which to write a speech for the Governor or President. The most important things here are that such a designated writer must be abreast with the happenings of the administration and as well be a nice writer. After writing, the writer’s name isn’t appended on the script. It’s assumed that the President or Governor wrote it himself.
Writing speeches for such a class of leaders is always more of a creative task than a mere scribal engagement. It’s so because the writer is writing the mind of another person. He writes as if he’s to deliver it himself. The precision has to be there. Speechwriting is an adventure for the powerful in terms of experience, literacy and affinity to the workings of the government as well as the character of the person in whose instance the speech is written.
Summarizing, it’s instructive to know that Governors or Presidents don’t write their speeches themselves. Apart from the fact that most of them do not have the luxury of time to do so, they’re also not well versed in the art of putting things in black and white. Some of them even fumble reading the prepared speeches. As a speechwriter for leaders, one has to avoid jawbreaker vocabularies and use of colloquial expressions for the sake of the reader. The writer has to be wary of poor punctuation mechanic. Punctuation is the soul of every writing. When it’s applied erroneously, it diverts the messages intended to convey and, therefore render them null and void.
The writer also has to avoid disjointed plot arrangement in a speech. The ideas and thematic focus have to flow unhindered. Once it’s not flowing, the message is defeated.
It’s also advised that leaders go through their scripts before mounting the podiums to deliver them to avoid embarrassment as it often occurs. Going through one’s speech ahead of delivery arms one with proper reading mechanics while facing the crowd. Speechwriting is a creative engagement, so, leaders should be wary of those they assign the responsibility of writing speeches for them to avoid poor delivery which comes with embarrassment.
Nwoba Chika Nwoba is a published poet and public affairs discussant, and wrote in from Ikwo LGA of Ebonyi State.
