The Leaked Information of The President's Broadcast Speech.

Credit: Opera.com

After four weeks of lockdown that has kept me home, I was really looking forward to the presidential broadcast of President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday evening. 

There have been some informed speculations about what the President was likely to say based on the public outcry over the effects of the restriction of movement in particularly Lagos, Abuja and Ogun states, which I also know may be the right decision to take, but I preferred to hear from the horse’s mouth.

So, when I took my seat before the television as the President began his broadcast with my telephone ready for tweeting some major points, I assumed that what was being read was news to everyone, except for the aides of the president and those who took the decision.

Just when I was waiting for the preamble of the speech to be over for the President to get to the major decisions, particularly the expected relaxation of the lockdown, I received a forwarded copy of the speech in a WhatsApp group I belonged to. 

I know some people or media organizations usually have advanced copies of the speech, but I didn't recon that it had become free for all before the broadcast started. 

As I was trying to think of how the sender who is not a staff of any major media house got the copy he forwarded, I got a call from a cousin who asked why the copy of the president's speech some his friends claim to have before the broadcast was released.

As far as he was concerned, it was not right for just anyone to have the speech when it was still being read by the President.

True. I however explained to him about the old practice of giving advanced copies to media organizations to print overnight to coincide with usually morning broadcast.

I'm aware that the practice had continued even with the changing media landscape which now includes the digital media, irrespective of the time of the broadcast. 

The standard practice is that there is an embargo of when the speech must not be published or broadcast.

If this was what happened in this case, the mass circulation of the speech ahead of Monday night broadcast calls for a review of the old practice. What is clear is that it may be difficult to ensure an embargo with such address, especially if it contains some sensitive decision which is not supposed to be known ahead of the broadcast.

And as if to underscore the importance of allowing the President to read his final copy before it is circulated, the address that was earlier shared on various platforms was amended in the broadcast.

The date for the commencement of the relaxed restriction of movement is May 4 not 2 as in the first copy. So, there was there was initial confusion about which date was right since some people didn't bother to listen to the broadcast having read the first copy.

The first copy had no fix time for the lockdown in Kano, but in his address the President announced two weeks.

There were also some amendments and corrections in the final copy the president read.

While those who released the first copy to the approved persons might have meant well to ease the work of the media, those who leaked it to the public simply betrayed the trust expected of them and breached the embargo.

Normally those who got the speech officially knows that they can still be sent an updated copy if any amendment was made. But how can the first copy be withdrawn from circulation now when it has gone viral, no thanks to the emergency 'journalists'

The Cable newspaper however suggest that the wrong copy in circulation was the draft prepared by a member of the presidential task force on COVID-19 sent to the office of the Secretary of the government of the federation (SGF).

It might have been reportedly copied from a Microsoft document with the original text and edits including repetition of many words and phrases.

When journalism used to be practiced by real journalists alone, ethics of the profession and unaccepted practices were known to all. Unfortunately everyone is now either a publisher now or an information sharer.

Everyone wants to be the first to share information even when they don't know the source. What was the point of anyone who is not a journalist or a media organization being in a hurry to circulate the president's speech?

I hope the lessons have now been learnt by all concerned. Media aides need to realize that they cannot guarantee that their embargoed press releases or speech will not be leaked. 

People who get information also need to avoid hitting the send button each time they get any information.

And if the leak was from the office of the SGF, it’s time to checkmate any possible future leakage. What happened on Monday is an embarrassment that should not be allowed to happen again.