The Presidency Not Aware Why the Negative Reaction to President’s Picture.

Presidents are known to have their private lives. So, it is a common place to see pictures of a President playing golf, playing with a pet, singing in a concert. But almost everyone will admit that seeing a President sitting alone, not at dinner, picking his teeth with a toothpick is very odd.  It will be odd even for a private citizen.

It should be expected that many would cringe upon seeing the President of Nigeria relaxing on a chair and picking his teeth so dutifully. There are many angles to view the picture and come to the same negative conclusions.

First, the picture was taken in a private place and pictures of the President taken in such places are not placed in the public domain without scrutiny. So what this means is that a staff or family member of the President took that picture. It either means that there is no control over the private pictures of the President or that those in charge of such matters are so tasteless and careless they did not understand how the picture would be viewed.

Secondly, the picture is very poor. It lacks context and perspective. It shows the President sitting alone. So, it implies the President was without his family, nor friends, nor staff. The person viewing the picture cannot see anything that the President was doing or looking at. The picture seems to show the viewer what the President does when he is alone – he enjoys himself with some dry beer,  meat and spends time picking his teeth. And he likes to do it alone. Where are his family? Where are his domestic staff? Where are his friends? The picture suggests that he has none of those.

On the bigger question of the image of the President as a leader, the picture hurts him badly. It shows him as one who indulges in complacency, someone who eats and enjoys himself while the country is beset with countless problems. It does not show the President as a focused thinker concerned about the problems of the country. Instead, it shows him as a lazy fellow who has no problems in the world. Overall, the picture is a personal disaster for the president and quite a disappointment for the citizens of Nigeria.

The moral of all this is that pictures matter. Appearances matters. The way the leader is perceived goes a long way in shaping the mood of the people.