Friday 22nd July 2022, the organized body of online publishers in Kwara State (KOPAN) had a meeting with the Chief Press Secretary to the governor of the state.
Take home lessons from the meeting were indeed numerous, but i intend to share here my impressions of the C.P.S, Rafiu Ajakaiye.
It was particularly not a day I would have loved to leave my work desk for a meeting at the government house, but for awhile I had wanted to seek clarifications on some issues anytime I had the opportunity of meeting the CPS in a professional capacity.
If I had any expectations of a man living large, commensurate to the status of a government spokes person operating from a posh and comfy office, I was flatly disappointed.
The austere office, and the too ordinary looking man was not the Rafiu Ajakaiye I expected to meet. Soon enough, I found the saying true in this man that ” it is not the casket, but what is contained in the casket”
A good listener, keen observer with a pair of sharp piercing eyes as if he could look into the mind of the one opposite him. His words were soft spoken and deliberate in choice.
Many may know these about him, these are all obvious qualities in him. But what I believe is important for Kwarans to know at this time is if he is believable. Can we believe all that Rafiu Ajakaiye has ever told us officially and will be telling us as we approach the decision moment in 2023?
I asked myself after the meeting; do you believe all that the CPS said at the meeting? If I write here what I answered myself, it might be patronizing of the CPS. But I have the liberty to describe in the following words my impressions.
I listened to the gentle and persuasive speaker in him. And he spoke to our group not in rhetorics but extempore for over an hour in convincing
tones and straight looks.
Trust me, if I hear rhetorical statements, I can identify them from miles away. Those that are familiar with the Rextun Boss brand know this.
He spoke of the government he is a part of. The challenges and the successes; he was factual, and up to date.
Did I believe him? Yes I did. The atmosphere of the meeting was such that falsehood would stand out as a sore thumb if it existed.
Beyond instincts, statistics don’t lie. The CPS is an open book. It is easy to read through him that there is no propagandist tendencies in him.
His reports about the government he speaks for are his truthful representation of facts as they are.
My conclusion thereafter is that Rafiu Ajakaiye can be believed and should be believed by Kwarans seeking to know the position of things in the affairs of their state today.
