The Daniel Bwala Interview and the Bigger Problem With Nigerian Journalism

Something strange and remarkable happened on an international television on the 6th of March, 2026.

Daniel Bwala, a media aide to Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, granted an interview with Mehdi Hasan on the “Head to Head” show on Al Jazeera. During the interview, which was titled “Nigeria: ‘Renewed Hope’ or ‘Hopelessness’?” the special adviser to the president on policy communications was meant to defend the Nigerian government’s performance on security, the economy, and corruption.

Rather, the interview soon turned into a heated conversation, and Bwala’s struggles as he faced intense questions from the interviewer, Hasan, during the show went viral and sparked widespread criticism on Nigerian social media spaces.

However, beyond the drama on the program is a very pertinent question that many Nigerians have been asking for years now: Why do Nigerian politicians frequently struggle when they are interviewed by foreign journalists?

It also opened the debate on the ineffectiveness of Nigerian journalists and their inability to hold the political class and leaders to account.

The answer may lie in the culture of journalism at home.

The Culture of Soft Interviews and Soft Landing

One major criticism that Nigerian journalists have faced is the propensity to ask Nigerian political leaders soft questions during interviews.

Nigerian journalists don’t ask interrogating or investigative questions. They always genuflect before Nigerian politicians and are grossly subservient to them. They are subdued and are afraid of offending them with questions. These politicians, in return, go to these interviews with a great superiority complex, a composure that suddenly flees into oblivion when they are before reputable international media and journalists.

During many interviews on radio and television stations across the country, politicians talk for long periods of time without interruption. And when some journalists summon some courage to ask a difficult question and they avoid answering it, the journalists hardly press further or demand clearer answers.

Many a time, instead of the politicians being quizzed with interrogative questions, the interview rather becomes a platform to dish out political messages and propaganda.

What Journalism Should Be in a Democracy

Journalism, however, serves a different purpose in a democratic society. It is the only profession that is recognized by the Nigerian constitution and charged with the specific and constitutional obligation to always act as a watchdog and hold leaders and government accountable to the people.

This accountability is weakened when journalists do not confront political leaders with facts and follow-up questions and demand answers. These politicians eventually become very comfortable, do whatever pleases them, and are ultimately unaccountable to the public.

The #EndSARS Scenario

During the #EndSARS protest in October 2020, the ability of Nigerian journalists to hold the political leaders to account was put to test.

Incessant reports of police brutality, which were mostly linked to the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a special unit in the Nigerian police, sparked widespread anger, mostly among youths, and triggered a nationwide protest.

After the fatal shooting events at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria, Nigerians expected journalists to demand accountability from the leaders.

However, they were disappointed as journalists failed to ask relevant and interrogative questions about the role of the Nigerian military or the decisions that led to the tragedy during their local interviews with government officials.

For instance, in the aftermath of the #ENDSARS brutality, no Nigerian journalist, even from among top media houses, could muster the courage to ask politicians or the governor of Lagos pertinent questions.

However, when Lagos governor Babjide Sanwo-Olu granted an interview to an international media organization, his tone changed. During an interview with Cable News Network (CNN), the anchor, Christiane Amanpour, confronted the governor with direct and probing questions about the tragic incident at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos.

After initially denying and stuttering almost throughout the interview, Sanwo-Olu later admitted that people were killed. And that’s not even the main issue. The main issue was that he had an inferiority complex and subdued composure displayed all over him when he came before CNN’s Amampour as he was asked interrogative questions. It was an embarrassing spectacle.

Contrast Between Nigerian and Foreign Journalists and Why Tough Journalism Matters

The striking contrast between the questioning style of Nigerian journalists and their foreign counterparts is very evident to see.

International interviewers are trained to ask direct questions, present documented facts, challenge contradictions, and demand clear answers from their guests. If a political leader deliberately avoids answering a question, the interviewer simply just asks the question again.

In saner climes and countries with stronger democratic institutions, journalists challenge their political leaders. They ask serious questions, even to the president.

For instance, in the United States, journalists ask the president hard, interrogative, and investigative questions. They put it to him/her (or them).

The other day, I heard a young journalist telling Donald Trump, during the question-and-answer session of a presidential press briefing, “I’m afraid, Mr. President, but that’s the argument of a 5-year-old.” Trump replied, “I didn’t start it. I didn’t start it.” Can a journalist try this in Nigeria?

Journalists are to interrogate political leaders about policies, contradictions, and failures. The goal is not disrespect but to ensure accountability of the leaders to the people that they govern.

Lagos Governor Sanwo-Olu’s interview with CNN’s Amanpour went viral because he appeared very uncomfortable answering the direct questions that were posed to him about the Lekki shootings.

When political leaders are aware that they would be scrutinized and accountability demanded from them, they would prepare themselves better, be more careful with their claims, and ultimately respect the people more.

However, when interviews turn into friendly discussions rather than critical examinations, the public loses an important tool for transparency from their leaders.

Why Some Journalists Avoid Tough Questions and the Bigger Problem

Perhaps Daniel Bwala is not the real issue. The issue is systemic challenges that the Nigerian media faces.

Nigerian journalists work under difficult circumstances. The Nigerian press ranked 112th out of 180 countries in 2024 in a press freedom report by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. In 2025, the Nigerian press dropped even lower at 122nd, which further lends credence to the worsening conditions for press freedom in the country.

Several factors influence how interviews are conducted in Nigeria:

Political Pressure

The Nigerian government often tries to gag the media, and journalists who challenge influential politicians with uncomfortable questions may be intimidated or denied access.

Economic Pressure

Many media houses struggle financially and depend on the government’s advertorial patronage and revenue. Also, because of low salaries and delayed payments, many journalists become vulnerable to political influence and/or “cash-for-coverage” arrangements.

Media Ownership

The government, many politically exposed persons, and those who have business interests with strong ties to the government own many media organizations in Nigeria. This can negatively impact editorial decisions and hinder objective and unbiased reportage.

Some media experts have repeatedly warned that economic pressure is one of the biggest threats to editorial independence in Nigeria.

Safety Concerns and Access Journalism

Journalism can be dangerous in Nigeria. The harassment, attacks, and arrests of courageous journalists who try to demand accountability create an atmosphere where some journalists choose caution over confrontation.

The One Courageous Journalist

There is, however, a Nigerian journalist who has developed a reputation for demanding accountability from politicians, irrespective of how influential the person is.

In Nigeria, only Rufai Oseni of ARISE TV tries this type of journalism. Oseni is known for challenging politicians directly during interviews and pressing them when they attempt to evade questions.

His style has earned both praise and criticism.

Critics often label his questioning style as aggressive or disrespectful. They don’t like him, and he is labeled “rude.” The other day, some people went to protest in Ebonyi State in southeastern Nigeria, claiming that Rufai asked the minister of works, David Umahi, insulting questions. They demanded an unreserved apology from Rufai and gave him a two-day ultimatum to tender it publicly to Umahi. What a shame!

Meanwhile, Rufai’s supporters say he represents the kind of accountability journalism Nigeria needs.

Back to the Bwala Debacle

Bwala, in trying so hard to be defensive of the Tinubu administration during the interview with Hasan, murdered the word “context” with all its meanings and connotations.

When Bwala came to ARISE TV, one of the anchors, Rufai, asked him similar questions that Hasan asked him, but instead of answering them, he deflected the questions, gave excuses, asked deflective rhetorical questions that were irrelevant, started saying irrelevant things, created shouting bouts, and tried to bully the TV hosts. He never answered those questions.

On the “Head-to-Head” program on Al Jazeera, Bwala tried such gross incompetence again with Hasan, apparently unaware of where he was — not before a Nigerian journalist — and shamefully, too, and was brutally flawed.

He kept saying “I am not aware,” “I don’t agree,” and “context matters” to all the facts that were put before him, including his own statements, but failed very woefully, or rather shamefully, to counter them with his own verifiable facts. He denied his own words repeatedly to the amazement and dismay of the audience present and, by extension, the global audience.

Tinubu’s Comic Revenge?

One cannot help but think that President Tinubu is perhaps doing Daniel Bwala, Reno Omokri, and their likes dirty. They did him dirty, saying all sorts of things against him.

Bwala had previously said that the human brain works effectively until one joins the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigeria’s ruling party.

In an X post in November 2022, he wrote, “The human brain is unique and miraculous. It works and functions optically 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year, until you join APC, then it stops working.”

Now that Bwala has joined the APC and is working for President Tinubu, one wonders whether this has become his reality.

When Tinubu became the president of Nigeria, they came back to him looking for political crumbs. Tinubu accepted and gave them appointments that sent them out to defend him and clean up the mess on his name that they themselves created, perhaps all just to make them eat their own vomit.

This gives the semblance of a deliberate act by President Tinubu to ridicule them. But they lack integrity, have no shame, and do not care.

Final Thoughts

The Bwala’s interview with Hasan on Al Jazeera may fade out from the news and social media — after all, Nigerians move on very quickly to the next distraction — but the fundamental issue that it has exposed will remain.

A country cannot demand accountability from its political leaders if its journalists are afraid to ask real, direct, and difficult questions. Journalism is not meant to comfort power. It is meant to speak truth to it and hold it accountable to the people.

Journalism is empowered by the constitution!

And until Nigerian political leaders face the same level of scrutiny at home that they encounter with foreign journalists, moments like this will continue to repeat themselves.

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Uchenna Esibenne writes from Lagos, Nigeria.

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