Why Tinubu doesn’t read prepared speeches during public engagements — Ex-SA

By Efe Onodjae

A former Special Assistant to then Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, and now a professor at Lagos State University, Professor Dapo Thomas, has explained why President Bola Tinubu prefers not to read prepared speeches during public engagements.

Thomas made the revelation in excerpts from his autobiography, Lagos Boys and Lagos Politics, scheduled for launch on July 9, 2026 and made available to vanguard.
According to him, although Tinubu would sit with him to proofread, edit and agree on the key points of speeches before events, he often departed from the prepared text while addressing audiences.

Recalling a conversation with the then governor, Thomas wrote: “Oga, can we discuss the observations I told you about?”
“Go on.”
“I observed that on two or three occasions, you didn’t really read the speeches I wrote for you during events. I am asking because the two of us normally sit together to proofread, edit and agree on the points or issues to raise in most of the speeches,” I inquired.

Responding, Tinubu explained that he preferred to engage directly with his audience rather than read from prepared remarks.
“When we go through the speeches here in my office, I always pick most of the salient points I will discuss at the events. As a politician, I must allow the drummers and the singers to play a part in every event. Every event is a campaign platform for the politician.
“In most of the speeches, I know which points will excite the people, and the moment I make those points, the singers and the drummers will take over in appreciation. That’s when you will hear songs like, ‘Asiwaju ma ba se rere lo, ise re ma da wa l’ọrun, Asiwaju ma ba se rere lo,’ meaning, ‘Asiwaju, keep doing the good work. It is delightful the way you are going about it.'”

Thomas further quoted Tinubu as saying that prepared speeches served a different purpose.
“The prepared speeches are for the press, not for the people. I talk to the people. I do not like reading speeches when addressing the people. I prefer talking to them,” Tinubu said.

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