Nigeria: Jos, The Press And the Army [opinion]

The ever recurring Jos blood bath has created its byproducts in provocative statements like the one by the Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi, who either due to ignorance or just for mischief has suggested that Nigeria be divided into two.

According to him the basis of separation is to be along religious lines. Nobody, who knows Nigeria, will take that as a rational proposition. However, Gaddafi`s statement is useful in the sense that it has attracted fire and brimstone from Nigerians across all divides. This confirms that most  Nigerians do not like the idea of a break up. Much earlier than Gaddafi, the Americans had predicted that this country will become a failed state in fifteen years time. The reaction then was also similar to that made about Gaddafi`s statement. By way of deduction Nigerians toy with the idea of a break up, yet deep inside most people, the love for a united Nigeria is apparent.

In a union where tribal, religious and other primordial sentiments are so amplified at the expense of peaceful co existence, there is the need to sort things out through negotiations, consensus and compromises. We can not have it both ways: We want to continue the union, yet we continue slaughtering our selves. National cohesion and peace full co existence demands the assistance of the press. As fragile as the nation is, the press seems to take sides in the discourse of sensitive national issues. The pen is mightier than the sword, and is said to be the fourth estate of the realm. Therefore, the press has to get involved in giving the correct information to the public, in a very vulnerable society such as ours. Instead of trying to douse tensions across the country there are lots of falsehoods being published? The press now accommodates commentators bereft of candor; columnists with tales that signify little; and editors that fail to do the business of gate keeping properly. Press freedom should not be equated with license to incite. The Jos crisis being an example, one will readily predict the partisan nature of the various attacks and counter attacks. For instance, during the carnage at Kuru Karama some newspapers gave scant attention to certain details of the orgy; only for such Newspapers to give prominent coverage to the carnage at Dogo Nahauwa.

Columnists, commentators editors and other contributors are a lettered lot whose utterances on issues could profoundly affect public thinking. The academic- Elizabeth Newman`s theory of a ‘spiral of silence’ postulates that the opinions of the enlightened few overshadows the opinion of the masses, because the masses look up to the opinions of the elites. Members of the press being moulders of public discourse need to  make objectivity their cardinal principle.

Then there is the accusation of partisanship leveled against the Army, in their handling of the Jos crisis. The army only intervenes when things get out of hand, and you can accuse them of something else but not of taking of sides in internecine conflicts. Incidentally, the same army that handled the Jos incidents, took charge of the  Boko Haram incident in Maiduguri under the same  divisional commander, yet nobody accused the army but rather they were a better security agency, in that from every evidence available they were not involved in  extra judicial murders.

When we stop inciting and avoid being partisan, then we can progress in the desire to build a united  Nigeria; or we can on the contrary create situations whereby outsiders like Gaddafi or the  Americans will poke their nose into Nigeria’s affairs.

- March 24, 2010 by Usman Bulama

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Source: www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx  (accessed on 26.03.10)