Media And Security Reporting: Security Experts Analyses (Part 2)

August 13, 2018 Greg Abolo

The Oasis Reporters

August 13, 2018

The professional views of security experts in this matter bears to be underscored. A retired Captain, Captain Aliyu “Blade” Umar’ cautions that when we mix politics, religion and ethnicity with security, we begin to focus on the frills and miss the skirt.

He stated in an interview in the Saturday Vanguard of May 26th 2018, that we consider religion, party affiliation and ethnicity as parameters for appointing security chiefs, hence our security chieftains come ab initio with pre-conceived loyalties and no go areas and by extension, weaknesses. Its proponents, he concludes, simply exploit these WEAKNESSES and other like shenanigans to flourish and plunder.
At a deeper level of critique, he adds for a great measure, that at inception the present political dispensation should have angled for results. All security chieftains should have been given timelines and milestones for performance. Those who do not measure up to standards, should have been made to understand that they would have to step aside for someone else who can deliver.
But what has happened?
In the face of NON PERFORMANCE not even poor PERFORMANCE, the security chiefs were re-confirmed in a ‘carry go’ order fashion, no doubt because of religion, ethnicity and party affiliations.

Security, according to Major General Garba Ayodeji Wahab (rtd) is an everybody’s responsibility and not for security agencies alone. Security outfits in Nigeria may not number more than 2 million and that, in a population of 200 million. You can factor in, the number on special hire to the rich and mighty, to international oil corporations and the attached policemen and women to political office holders. It becomes clearer that we are under covered. We are in an existential exposure.
And hence it is going to be crucial according to General Wahab, that if an agency is not performing, we should say so, as keeping quiet does not improve things. Things are not going to improve if we do not scream out, because in Wahab’s words, if you do not point out those outfits or personnel not doing their work dutifully, we are encouraging others not to perform.
But more importantly, Wahab’s view on how we left a bad thing to fester has come from how we treat our ethnic relations and social history. Examining our attitudes towards handling our security over the years, General Wahab says:
“We are lackadaisical about what should be done and over a long period of time, we have left a lot of things undone, which allowed other things to crop up”.
“Some of us refer to the herdsmen farmer’s clashes, but we have failed woefully, to look at the causes; where are these people coming from?
Overall we have failed to learn from past experiences, past lessons”.
He then goes ahead to compare our styles of governance and leadership in security matters with Europe.

“We had the civil war in Nigeria, and if we had learnt and taken a cue from the western world, after the WW2, we wouldn’t be where we are today”.
Because immediately after the WW2, the Marshall plan came up and they rebuilt those affected areas in Europe and vowed that no two liberal democracies will fight against each other, no matter what happened anywhere in the world.
Turning to local examples of experiences we failed to gain anything from what General Wahab alludes to as the Niger Delta crisis and the Maitatsine riots of the 80’s.
“If we had learnt from the Maitatsine crisis in the 80’s, maybe we would not have been at the point we are today with Boko Haram. Various benchmarks were there but we always glossed over those things. The Niger Delta issue came. We glossed over it. Amnesty program came, then we had the NDDC and we believed that, that is the end. That is not the end, it is not going to end, because you have not addressed the real factors, the factors that caused the crisis….and until we address the factors to know what is the ailment, you cannot proffer a cure.

Many however believed that the military is a solution; the type of arcane solution of the Buhari administration. The thinking of Major General Garba Ayadeji Wahab (rtd) debunks that line of reasoning. Said he in the Vanguard of May 26th 2018, page 17.
(Many) believe that the military and security agencies should solve (our security challenges).They cannot solve the problem because, these are not military creation. The military is just a line of operation. There are other lines- economic, political social.
And in a rhetorical manner he asks, and quite profoundly- how integrated are we politically? Is this, in any case, not why many feel that the crisis situation we are in, is the current leadership’s creation? We are so divided ethnically and religiously deliberately, and hence we cannot speak with one voice to the situation we are in. We are in a quagmire and as if to answer the paradox, the Major General adds.

If people are inclusive and everybody takes part in whatever is happening; if we take everybody along, some of these things will not be there.
And then to add the clincher, there are no super ordinate goals in Nigeria. The vision of this administration is so infantile and not enervating. What it came to do was to wage war on Boko Haram (without counting the cost), boost the economy (with near 9.3 million out of job in the last three years) and fight corruption (with more media trials, theatrics, inequalities, executive rascality, selective
accusations and long winding trials with insignificant convictions). You now ask – if even these three cardinal aims are achieved, even in the illogical order it is being pursued, whither Nigeria next?
Returning to Major General Garba Wahab’s presentation, which indeed cites Nigeria as having satisfied all the indicators of a failed state – he gave some hard headed theories from Harvard Business School on the eight solid steps to take to be able to have constructive change (positive change in a security architecture). Importantly, he says, what firms up the security architecture is for us all to ask-
What do we want Nigeria to be? What is the national aspiration? The constitution has it that we the people of Nigeria have come together and agreed to live in peace and harmony…. But there is something other than that. Do (we) want to be the leading nation in Africa?
Do (we) want to be the best in the black race? We need to have something that is going to drive everybody (in the direction) that this is what we want to achieve, and everybody will work
towards that. But now (there is nothing). That is to tell you how funny (our situation is).
Then some hard advice which we will in the circumstances be foolish to ignore at our peril.
“We need to start moving to industrialization and you cannot do that if you don’t encourage education.
Security awareness is another step we need to take. It should start with our kids. We are not security conscious. Our kids must be security conscious. They should be allowed to say what is in their minds. We should stop this syndrome of keeping quiet. It is killing us.
All the security in the world is intelligence led and intelligence depends on information. If you do not have the information, you are wasting your time”.

If I may now quote a Caribbean Professor Richard Joseph, a Professor of International History and Politics, who once taught in ABU and wrote an eminently incisive book on Nigeria’s prebendal politics. Writing in the Business Day Of July 2014, he comments on “The Nigeria Pathways: Towards Stability, Security and Democratic Development” with an overview on our Boko-Haram challenge:

“There is an urgent need for a comprehensive strategy focusing on the wider Nigerian predicament as well as the opportunities for sustainable progress.
The Army does not appear able to curb much less defeat Boko Haram…… Indigenous armies can crumple if they lack internal leadership.
The complex political and economic challenges in Nigeria require the level of multinational collaboration usually arranged in response to major humanitarian calamities and violent armed conflicts.”

And if I may add my voice as an addendum to the question of Fulani herdsmen, the violent herdsmen in Nigeria, by asking, if that fourth largest armed insurgency in the world, if indeed the Presidency is not complicit, it should have sought a multilateral force to help Nigeria contain the upsurge and enveloping threat. Has any such request been made? None that the public is aware of. I dare say that it is the poorly, so called de-radicalized, presumed former Boko-Haram members that may have muted into the herdsmen, having been given guns and absorbed into the Nigeria Police and Army.
The watchdog role of the media demands that we take a more active and formal role in safeguarding our fragile and unformed democracy against harm and unwitting complicity towards terrorist ends associated with news of terrorism. There is the critical need to walk the tight boundaries between the need to protect the right of the people to information, while at the other end, protect them from information. Censorship, it must e admitted strikes against the very ideals and safeguards that make democracies work in the first place. This raises a few fundamental questions.

Where does news of terrorism or conflict lie within the bounds of free speech and censorship? Is the news of conflicts and terrorism actually harmful to society? If so, why do media report it? Is it bad enough to warrant forfeiting society’s right to know? Who should make that determination? What alternatives exist?

A rational policy regarding the media’s role concerning reporting insurgencies, terrorism, conflicts must address these issues as the media has a responsibility to answer questions such as-How truthful is it? How ethical is this? What effect will it have on the public, and will this harm Nigeria’s interests.

Self-regulation is ultimately the safeguard and to come to the rescue is the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Code of Ethics. In paragraph 8, it states that.
“A journalist should not present or report acts of violence, armed robberies, terrorist activities or vulgar display of wealth in a manner that glorifies such acts in the eyes of the public”

In the search for anchoring Media and security reporting, the guidelines developed at an NUJ workshop in Uyo, in October 2013, should make due clarity on needed guidelines.
Desisting and avoiding sensationalism in reporting so as not to induce fear, anxiety and tension.
Truth: Knowing that truth

in all crisis and conflict situations, truth is the first casualty therefore all falsehoods must be avoided.

Fairness –the Fairness Doctrine is ever the global guide-Fairness to all sides and balanced reporting from all sides.
Avoiding undue influence and pressure. In these days of moneybags, money politics, impunity and overzealous competition, journalists, media managers must stay the distance from the pay masters and political class.

Social Responsibility.

The reporter must always be conscious of his/her obligation to society under the umbrella statement of “the peoples’ right to know”

Professionalism- the Reporter must maintain a high ethical conduct and seek adequate training and retraining in this vital aspect of security reporting and
Always stay safe.

The media therefore should in its professional service, utilize the PR techniques of consensus building, by creating understanding amongst diverse publics, deepen inter-cultural communication and utilize the subset genre of peace journalism to advance understanding of issues by laying on the table, grievances of distrusting parties, creating the building blocks of newer relationships and amity within ethnic nationalities in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious Nigeria. Thereby making pluralism and diversities desirable ends and not obstacles, as many Nigerians presume them to be.

If only the national media can eschew ethnic and divisive tendencies and focuses on Protect Nigeria, the media is in the best position to build mutual understanding and trust and help enthrone a new political behaviour that can engender non-violent politics in Nigeria and help improve our security situation.

In conclusion, it must be said loud and clear, that the greatest existential threat in Nigeria today is the Fulani supremacist agenda which is destabilizing the polity today, causing the anger and frustrations among the politicians, thus creating mass defections of an unprecedented scale in the annals of “cross carpeting” in Nigeria. Can we in the media sell to the Fulani’s that American slogan on their coat of arms and on their currency, the Dollar-“E pluribus, Unum”-translated from Latin, it means, ”Out of many, we are one”.

How can one ethnic group out of 360 in Nigeria say that 1 is greater than 359?

From where did they learn that Arithmetic? That is the Simultaneous Quadratic Equation for the media to solve.