by Alexander O. Onukwue

The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo did not send Mr Osita Okechukwu to express his opinion on the issue of medical tourism; hence, it must be interpreted that Mr Okechukwu, the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), must have been speaking on his own.

Suppose that should be accepted, what exactly then was the DG unto?

Mr Okechukwu, perhaps unbeknownst to him, was occupying a triple personality when he was making that address at the Health Dialogue. In an official capacity, he was the representative of the Vice President at the occasion, and he made personal observations as DG of VON and private citizen. Thirdly, and maybe the particular one he was not conscious of at that time, Mr Okechukwu was also ‘representing’ President Muhammadu Buhari at the event, by virtue of bearing the Igbo name adopted for the President during the 2015 season.

But the three personalities appeared to have played three distinct and diverging roles, with the Buhari phase coming off worse. It is not clear that he had in mind the Mr President’s medical vacation as the reference for criticizing the thousands of Nigerians who go abroad to seek medical treatment, but those who have read the statement have quickly put one and two together.

As the head of a media organisation, it should be expected of the DG of VON to know the impact of such statements made at conspicuous moments, inevitably sparking conversations that suggest diverging views between the president and the vice president. The official handle of the Presidency have had to post random photos of the President and VP taken today, just to reassure everyone. But that won’t necessarily stop the inquisitions into the level of symmetry in communications between both teams in the Villa.