JOURNALISM AND POLITICS

Growing up in the streets of Abeokuta was fun, and spending our holidays in the then federal capital Lagos is the best period of the years. I grew up to know Nigeria as the Giant of Africa and a major supplier of cocoa. Revenues made from oil was not freely shared with the citizens like we have now, though wrongly and corruptly presented nowadays.

Information was freely shared through the print media because its very affordable though it is getting to be a luxury now, no thanks to our government. Very few television stations existed then, and those that existed were regional and few rich states had television stations. The national television was not even widely received.

The print media was the toast of those days, and any story in the news has no doubt. My father then used to send me to get him 5 newspapers with 1 Naira. We sit side by side reading the newspapers, though my primary interest then was the cartoons on back pages. The headlines were not of much interest because we believe its adults news. My father latter picks our land phone and calls his friend in Lagos reviewing the newspapers to him. They argue, laugh and even pray when analyzing what they read in the dailies. This act followed me to the University were i was the only student in ijebu-igbo campus of Ogun State University now Olabisi Onabanjo University on the list of the Local news agent. The list comprises of Pa Abraham Adesanya, the VC of OOU, and other notable citizens of the town.

Journalism and law was a better match than what we have now. Journalist are regarded as the whistle blowers, they are the only reliable police for the masses.

In the military rule, journalists are the only source of reliable news. The federal broadcasting stations are all caged by the Military juntas and their state counterparts are under the control of the state MILADS. Hand full of print media houses existed, and they are mostly situated in Lagos. Freedom of speech was not really free then, and rights of civilians were hindered. There were no bloging, web hosting and other electronic media then.

Democracy brought freedom of expression, and advance in technological growth in Nigeria’s media circle heightened information designation.

The Print media is entrusted with the task of passing reliable and true happenings to the entire populace, they are expected and believed to pass true graphical and text format news and events to us. The print media is not biased and not ethnically oriented. Views of all groups and people are all welcomed and presented in the dailies, there was equal audience to all ethnic groups and criticisms of any aspect of government and people was fairly presented. Journalist were respected and protected by law in the course of their duties. They cover wars, meet with people regarded as enemy of the states without getting hurt or prosecuted under the stipulated law guiding there duties. Journalist have died pursuing the truth and in the course of bringing qualitative and revealing news. Investigate journalism is the spirit of a good journalist and it’s the hallmark of journalism.

The entrance of modern Politics brought the biggest challenge to Journalism. In the Military era we all had a common enemy, and we spoke with one voice in fighting the Military reign which ended eventually after a long fatal and destructive battle. Various journalist were killed an s tortured in the line of duty by the military regimes, lives and properties perished in the struggle.

In present day politics, money is the mandate of our elected leaders and representatives. They have illegally acquired vast wealth that they run the society. Journalism was not left out in the slavery.

Today’s technological advancement in information designation has brought about big competition in the print media, and poorly funded media house finds it hard to survive in the current economic downturn. Politics in Nigeria is an avenue to acquire wealth and power and it come with criticism from the populace, politician use their positions to rub the people and use the media to fight back. Journalist are expect to be liberal and non partisan, they are expected to be fair in reporting issues concerning all political party and are not expected to have sympathy for any party regardless of their own interest or ethnicity. Journalist and media houses are expected to report to the people exactly what they know with no bias, they are the third eye.

What we have now is a new form of journalism where media houses and journalist are used as mouth piece of political parties, and they now work as the public relation officer of the party they benefit more from.

It is stale news that most media houses we have now belong to political bigwigs in Nigeria. This is very common in southwest Nigeria where past and present political post holders are publishers of multi billion media houses, majority of the print media houses belong to serving and retired politicians who use them has the mouth piece of their political party.

In south west Nigeria states, print media houses belong to serving governors, senators, past governors and serving government employees.

Journalists are now at the mercy of politicians to make ends meet, and majority of the mass communication students produced in our ailing tertiary

Institutions will do anything to get a job even if he/she has to lie and write a false story about thier publisher’s opponents.

For example, if you need to read about the excess and damaging reports about the ruling party in the country there are certain newspaper you will buy, and if you need to read about the opposition parties in the country you go for the ruling party’s loyal newspapers.

Political parties in Nigeria are affiliated with one or more media houses, it’s not strange or new that the Action Congress and other groups connected to it have their own medium of attacking the opposition in the form of media houses belonging to their chieftains. A very strong member who doubles as the main financier of Action Congress is reported to own media houses across the south western states of Nigeria. These media outlets are used to destabilize states that are not under their control and also use the media to defend their excess in states controlled by them.

The ruling party PDP enjoys favorable reports and criticism from media houses chaired by its vast and powerful members. Being the largest party in the country and Africa, its members are in every aspect and field of life in the country, its majority population ensures they have a loyalist in every media house and benefits directly and indirectly from the ruling party in form of monetary assistance and favors.

This issue brings the integrity of journalists that work in these organizations to test, are they in the job to make money or for its true course? Has investigative journalism turned to man –must –chop journalism that is popular nowadays?. Most media organization based in the North is ethnic oriented, and they not different from reading newspapers form middle east, this is why they are limited in circulation.

Media house are the war turf for politicians and barrage of lies, character defamation, vilification and smear of oppositions is what comes out of them daily. If you are a follower of the happenings in Ogun State politics, you will notice the unprofessional attitude of our print media. A newspaper that sympathizes with the state came up with a revealing graphics and story about events unfolding in the state, increasing tension in the states politics. Rather than carrying out good investigative journalism like the previous newspaper did, certain Lagos based newspapers on the pay role of the opposition allowed their front pages to be used for leverage. They purposely published super imposed pictures and doctored graphics of one of the principal actors in Ogun state political crisis. My 2 years old son knows that the pictures of the governor in occultist attire that dawn the front page of LIFE newspapers were doctored and not real, even before the owner of the original picture came forward to prove the media house wrong in using her work as a political leverage. Are these people turning the papers into something it ought not to be? Why will a media house allow money to spoil its integrity? And my son will grow up believing every story in Nigerian newspapers is paid for by politicians. Or what do you want him to make of all this money oriented and selfish journalist parading themselves as professional in our country. Paid adverts is the new form of passing information to people by the politicians and it is through this medium that feuding parties talk and attack each other. Pages of newspapers are filled with the projects embarked on by various state governors as if they are favors to the civilians.

This prompted me to ask what is being thought in School of Journalism if it still exists in Ogba? What is the moral ethic of a journalist? Are they made to swear to uphold the law and protect humanity like the lawyers and doctors do when they are about to start their practices? Do we have an independent disciplinary council for journalist like we do in the medical field? Should there not be more strict rules and laws that will prosecute errant journalist that report for material gains? Media houses that publishes unconfirmed and malicious story about people, groups and government should be prosecuted and have their licenses revoked. Publishers of such media organization should be banned from owning media house. The power of money and selfish interest as rubbished journalism in our country, we solely rely on foreign media houses for reliable and authentic news about our country. Its a shame that even out TV stations are subjected to their founders and benefactors. State TV stations are set up to propagate the work of the states they are situated and what we see on them is exactly what the state government wants us to see. Private TV stations are profit oriented and are up for grabs to the highest bidder if nothing the thought of its founder they report issues bothering the highest paying client. They are so sophisticated that they can even air an advert for Niger-Delta militants if the pay is good, and even if the militants are more generous with their loots they can have their vandalisation acts aired live. Presenters of certain political programmes on TV have turned themselves into analyst and professional political consultants. An example is the morning political talk shows on AIT and TVC every day, these presenters delivers the verdict of the discussion before the guest’s even starts debating the issue. There choice of invited analyst is biased and instead of listening and allowing the viewers to hear the analyst talk they interrupt when the speaker is not in line with there own objectives. I singled out TVC and AIT because their political talk shows are meaningless and not beneficial to the viewers, they are biased and it’s very easy to know their political stand in Nigeria, this in not professional.

Thank God for technology we know how professional journalism is done else where. Foreign media are fair in their reports, even to Nigeria’s news they are authentic and non partial.

Recently the TELEGRAPH a British tabloid made public expenses and financial claims of MPs in THE United Kingdom, and it cut across all parties. All party members were thoroughly investigated and their financial claims were made public, which led to resignation of many defaulters among them. This is journalism at its peak, and not money for hand back for ground politics that reigns in the Giant of Africa after Ghana.

Finally, the rule guiding news reporting should be upgraded and it will be nice to see journalist jailed for reporting false news with their publishers too. We can not solely rely of the efficient and always reliable foreign media for information, events like that of Ogun political crisis, Niger-delta crisis and other domestic uprisings are not given adequate coverage though the bit they say about them are more genuine than what we get locally. And the TV stations should learn from SILVERBIRD TV (TODAY ON STV) how to give their viewers a bright and happy morning rather than the harsh Political talk show with angry and frustrated presenters and panel of paid analyst.

Politicians should please release the media captive from their coffers and allow us to enjoy and have our trust in the only and ever available means of proper information designation.

OBAMA DRAMA

America is regarded as the enemy of the world ,especially the mid-eastern block sees America as a dictator and power drunk .It is a generally acclaimed and accepted fact that America is the super power of the world and they play the “BIG BROTHER” to other Nations. The past regime of Pres. Bush (jnr) attracted a lot enemies to America due its strong foreign policy and its defiance to sit and talk with countries regarded as terrorist supporting nations and undemocratic governments .The war in Iraq ,Afghanistan and constant face off between the American backed Israeli govt and the Hamas led Palestine govt, has been seen as flexing of muscle and unjust wars by the mid-east and many. This foreign policy and wars has indeed made the western world peaceful and has greatly reduced or stopped terrorist attacks on American soil and those of its allies. Majority of terror attacks are now carried out in the bases of its origin .Several terror attacks are been carried out across Pakistan ,India, and other mid-east countries.

The recently Presidential election in America was watched with keen interest by the world due to the change anticipated in the emergence of the first African American candidate and the change from the republic to the democrats .The emergence of the Barrack Obama as the first Black president of America and his electoral promises of change in American foreign policy and to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was welcomed by majority of American populace and was also a relief to mid-easterners who witness a hard time in the past regime of Bush no nonsense attitude. Obama’s readiness to sit and talk with Americans foes like Iran,Cuba,etc was seen as a welcome idea by millions of electorates that voted him into the wise. But the question is “Is America and the whole world safer under OBAMA ?” T his a question that many that voted Obama to the white house cant find a conclusive answer to .Obama started with controversial appointments of aides with questionable tax records and the multi billion stimulus plan has failed to help its targets in the global economic meltdown .The recent appointment of judge Sotomayor to head the supreme has come under heavy criticism from various sector including her colleagues who regarded her as not as brilliant as thought and high handed and bullish .President Obama’s plans to transport gitmos prisoners to American soil to be tried has been rebuked by scores of sept 11 relations and the republicans and some democrats has kicked against it also .The abortion bill is another unpopular bill of President Obama administration. His decision to set up a military like court to her the cases of gitmos prisoners was not different to that of President Bush.

Am not anti Obama ,am a democratic who believes in the freedom of humanity and good governance, I support the independence and existence of Palestine and Israel don’t share the historic value of president Obama but share the historic value of America as the worlds stabilizer .I don’t share the Obamamania frenzy but will like to see a more dedicated American policy towards a more peaceful world. Am a Nigerian, if have had my way would have voted Senator McCain who I believe was more sincere in his policies which are right measure at this crucial time. He didn’t say he will not raise taxes and never promised to recall the army from Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama promised not to raise tax and also promised the immediate stop to wars on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. He indeed raise the tax of the rich and is still flirting with the idea of the army recall.

Am not set to discredit the government of President Obama, but I fail to see the impact it has on Americans and the world at large. An opinion poll showed that Israelis believe the Obama administration is not committed to their course and they feel more threatened by Iran ever than before Obama’s open door policy and its readiness to sit and talk to countries said to be aiding terrorist group is seen by many as a weakness ,and its and its making them look more like Britain that has lost her superiority in Europe and the entire world in their course of being fair and her readiness to accept all opposition.

China is recently mopping up American bonds thus bailing out all ailing companies in America and controlling her financial aspect ,this has made China very powerful and indispensable to America .Its this same china that failed to caution or sanction President Pyongyang of North Korea who has enriched itself with Nuclear weapon and openly threatening South Korea and the rest of the world with his newly acquired weapon of mass destruction .Pyongyang’s N.korea gets virtually all its aid from China, and any sanction from China will crumble N.Korea. But China is foot-dragging in making concrete decision to deal with the threat of N.Korea .Obama’s call for measures to stop Nuclear weapon enrichment by N.Korea is not different from that from the British which is like the ranting of an ant.

The government in Iran has severally called for the eradication of Israel and they have presently been testing long range missiles capable of reaching Israel, Uk and parts of America .This test is been done despite the calls from various countries and governments condemning the act .What has American government done about this ?, Obama planned or rather the Iranian government has called America to an open debate to discuss the issue .They even warned that any attack on their missiles launch sites will be replied with fatal measures.

Are this the new super powers of the world we have to live with ?.Who says American domination of the world has not been of good .If not a world dominated by countries like North Korea ,Iran, China whose development depends on the quality of weapon of mass destruction is better of?.

President Obama should wake up and raise to uphold the integrity of America and Americans and that of the whole world that look up to her as the world leader .The election drama is over and its now time for serious actions and decisions to be made. History has been made in his emergence and history should not be made in the fall of America under his regime. The electorates might have gone to sleep after effecting the thought is needed but the enemies never sleeps and is ready to take advantage of every given opportunity which is been witnessed all around the world now.

Obama’s recent visit to Egypt was greeted with mixed reaction, some said why does he have to go to a country that supports Hamas an organisation classified as a terrorist group. A country that is not democratic, and doesn’t respect human rights. Some said he took the word straight to the Muslim world, but I think he is just rehearsing. He preferred to use the word “Extremist” instead of “Terrorist”, and he never condemned Iran’s call for the wiping out of Israel.

President Obama enjoyed personal preference in Egypt not Americas acceptance. Somebody needs to tell him that this people hates America and there’s little he can do to change that than to tale the fight on terrorism to them. All he’s doing now is showing Americans weakness to the world.

FREE OIL FIGHTERS

After the long stressful working days, my friends and I get together in Abeokuta to visit our farm which we resorted to after the economic meltdown to support our families. Am an Egba man and my friend Bayo equals as an Egba man and our third friend Osagie is from Edo which qualifies him as a Niger Deltan.

The issue is that every time the topic of militancy in the Niger -Delta we are always divided in opinion. Osagie and I share the same view that militancy can never and has never produced any good result anywhere it is been used to demand for rights. We believe that militancy can never achieve any meaningful goal, rather it brings more hardship to the people they claim to be fighting for. No militant group that engage the Central government in arms battle can yield good result. No international body will support any militant group that wage war against its elected government. The people intended to be liberated are always the casualties of the war. Example is that of Gbaramutu village in Delta state .This prompted our decision that any group fighting for equity in distribution of national wealth or liberation of its people will never carry arms and engage the central government in battle. Bayo on the contrary believed long negligence and in sensitivity of the Federal Government prompted the youths of the Niger Delta to carry arms and the government is still not doing the right thing to redress the issue. He sees militancy as the only way the goal can be achieved. He also accused the Multinational oil companies operating the region of not doing enough to uplift the condition of there host community. He further accused them of destroying lands and water of the host community .In conclusion he sees nothing wrong in militancy in the region.

This brings me to point of this article. Analyzing various militant groups around the world showed that no single militant group have been able to achieve any meaningful goal, they only metamorphous into deadly terrorist group which MEND as been labelled by international communities. The examples of Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka comes to mind, after fighting for a decade with the Sri Lankan government ended up loosing the battle and thousands of Tamil ethnics who they intended to liberate from Sri Lanka. The Pakistani government are successfully wining the battle to take over strong holds of militant groups in the Sway Valley and Mangora city which has been controlled by the rebels for long.

The evidence is there for all to see that no militant group can win a war against any elected Government. No matter how strong a militant group is or how strong the support is ,it will surely bow to the authority in power.

I see militancy in the Niger-delta region as a camouflage to steal and export oil, and kidnapping is a criminal act that send no message than personal enrichment of jobless few all in the disguise of fighting for resource control. They attack oil pipe installations, kidnap innocent citizens, invade innocent communities and turn them to camps. Their leaders sits in Lagos and Abuja and scream in front of the screen and print media about atrocities happening in the Creeks when Government forces invade and try to flush out the militants, while their boys are working underground siphoning crude oil for them. Anytime the JTF steps up its act to protect lives and pipe line installation in the creeks what we hear is cry of government killing their people. Is the lost of 12 soldiers meant to be an act of freedom fighting?, killing of government soldiers is an invitation for war, no matter the quarter it came from. Should the Federal government fold its arms and watch a bunch of crooks kill its soldiers all in the name of resource control?. Should we wait until third mainland bridge or carter bridge is blown up before we regard the militants as enemy to all? .

Statistically quoting, the states in the region got a larger chunk of money from the government compared to others between 1999 and 2007: Rivers, N517 billion; Delta N463 billion; Bayelsa N414 billion; and Akwa Ibom, N384 billion. Why are the militants not targeting the state governors and their families. The question is what are the governors doing? The militant don’t mince word in saying their enemy is the federal government, but when did the state government ceased to be and arm of the central government. Little or no attack are carried out against the States government of the oil producing state, only notable and rich civilians with links to the Federal government are attacked in the form of kidnapping their wards.

Are we suppose to believe the State governments are sponsoring this attacks on Federal government interest, or what are the security aims of the affected states where kidnapping is carried out undeterred and communities are turned into militant camps. Fellow Nigerians lets not mistaken this Free oil fighters for Freedom because no act of militancy can achieve any meaningful goal, if we all have to show our grievances through militancy where will Nigeria be today. Nobody can shoot his/her way success and live to enjoy the fruit, what will happen will be counter militancy because the militant groups are not even fighting a uniform goal. Lets not be deceived by this freedom fighters and work together to fight this Free oil Fighters.