Teni’s body language

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‘Body language’ has suddenly become a very important topic in Nigeria. Nigerians heightened this non-verbal mode of communication in 2015. That time, it was celebrated as the onset of a blissful regime. It was body language galore at the outset of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. A few weeks of what looked like increased electricity supply in parts of the country, shortly after President Buhari was sworn-in, was attributed to ‘Buhari’s body language’. Late May through to June and July 2015 was the body language patch for governance in Nigeria. Soon after, Nigerians became curious and wary because there was no appointment of ministers for months on end. Then, while we were wondering what would happen, some highly-placed officials in the new government were clearing grass in IDP camps with insanely humongous amounts of money. Then, things began to unfold. Nigerians saw their true colours as body language faded. Nigerians were left jaded. Today, Somebody’s body language is trending. We’re back to body language.

Not a few Nigerians are currently on the case of Teniola Apata. She came to the front burner moments after she stepped up to receive her national honours from the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari. Then they swooped in her. Teniola’s angry critics are of the opinion that she did not show that there is a difference between Miss Teniola Apata, a Yoruba lady and Teni The Entertainer, the singer and songwriter by which millions know her. She has been under fire, especially in the social media and in some other quarters for displaying “arrogant body language.” She is being villified by a section of Nigerians for not displaying the Omolubi ethos of the Yoruba when she received her national honour of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) award from President Buhari on Tuesday.

Teni came to focus from among the healthy crowd of 447 or so Nigerians and foreign nationals that received various categories of national honours on the day. When the video of her ‘impudent’ show emerged on the social media, some Nigerians watched the video more than once to be able to pinpoint exactly why the lady has been under fire. I am one of those Nigerians. I watched the video multiple times to make sense of the hullabaloo over Teni the national award recipient. News media gave Teni’s turn of the event various headlines. Some of them said she refused to take the president’s offer of a handshake. Some said she looked too serious and did not smile. This, they said showed that she did not like the award and was not obliged to take it. Some accused her of not genuflecting before the president thereby openly showing disrespect to the office of the president and commander-in-chief of the federal republic of Nigeria. Some other commentators said as she walked away after collecting her insignia, the swag with which she waked was filled with arrogance and impudence. The commentaries and perspectives are plenty. Vanguard said “Teni after receiving the plaque for the award of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) from the President walked away without paying any obeisance in a manner presumed by some Nigerians as rude.”

One of the earliest commentators that felt utterly riled by Teni is Adamu Garba. Mr. Garba, a former presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) describes himself on Twitter as “husband, father, grandson of Almajiri”. Adamu Garba said on Twitter on October 12: “The attitude of Teni to our president and commander in chief, by disrespecting his revered office is typical of Obidients. Peter Obi’s supporters hates (sic) the system, the law and the values they aspire to take over and govern. A waiting doom and Armageddon for Nigeria. Never ever!” He continued: “Not just Teni, anyone who is happy or deems it fit to disrespect the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should be ashamed of him/herself. The presidency is a scared office. Anyone who berates that office is an illegitimate, ungrateful Nigerian citizen.” Adamu Garba, from his hostile submission and anger, looks like he has much more locked inside of him than what he thinks Teni did wrong while receding her award. Although he did not say specifically what Teni did wrong that annoyed him so much, he however saw Teni’s attitude which takes us back to body language. Garba also didn’t say why he has chosen to leave the track of the national honours event and decided to herd Nigerians into the Peter Obi support group because of the body language of Teniola Apata.

One online definition of body language says it is “a type of communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use of space.” Since Adamu has seen from Teni’s body language that she is a supporter of Peter Obi, it would have been fair to all Nigerians if he treated the matter on hand instead of spreading his anger across political lines. The mess of Adamu’s angry tweet is splashed to even the most unexpected of places. Since I have taken Adamu Garba to represent the face of all those who are infuriated by the attitude of Teni and have refused to say exactly what she did, I think we should beg them to “je ebure” and “use hand to massage the stomach.” We must urge them to look at the video again and help those who are still lost as to the lady’s true offence.

Some have said she was protesting. Their contention is that President Buhari has dealt with the country in so much, in so many ways that millions of the citizens are angry. Members of this group hold that it was fit and proper for Teni to be angry, and that the best place to exercise her anger at how things are going in the country is at the awards ceremony. But is Teni angry? Was she protesting anything? Did she disrespect the president? Was she arrogant and spiteful? The accused, when she saw reactions to her MON award on the social media, was said to have said she was going back to sleep. She didn’t understand the accusation of her unacceptable countenance.

One of the things I found awkward in the whole Teni saga is that all of us, in our various submissions and biases, have forgotten to look at the body language of President Buhari. We rather chose to feast on the body language of Teni. Hers is more pronounced because she came, took her award and moved back the way she came. We do not know if the awardees had been briefed to be brisk and save time. Part of such briefing I would assume would be the unstated fact that the president cannot be kept standing for longer than necessary since he would attend to hundreds of awardees. The president’s health and wellbeing is also part of it all. Perhaps, the “no time to check time” syndrome was one of the ingredients added into the admixture of information made available to the awardees. Most Nigerians lack such information.

Now, body language has become important. Nigerians are now seeing it, taking note of body language and are taking it seriously. There are enough evidences to show Nigerians that body language looks like one of the reasons Nigeria is at the current sorry pass.

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