The Senator representing Abia South zone at the senate, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, appear to hold journalists practicing in Abia state in great contempt. The senator had on several occasions spoken ill about how journalists in the state do not know how to go about their jobs. It is on record that Abaribe has always shunned any attempt by Abia based journalists to get his views on certain issues affecting his constituents, the state and nation.
Abaribe who is the spokesman of the senate was at his best pouring tirades on journalists practicing in the state in a recent interview in Daily Independent newspaper of Sunday, 17thAugust, 2014, where he pointedly accused them of operating from a narrow perspective compared to their colleagues in Abuja.
The Senator was so consumed in his hatred for journalists in Abia in that interview that he made certain insinuations about how they are only interested in collecting bulletin from Government House and will be intimidated to drop any scoop they are working on.
Hear him, “Usually, people who sit in Abia and operate from there, having no other external input have a narrow perspective of it compared to somebody who operates from outside, say Abuja. Like you journalists in Abuja, your perspective about Abia state is now wider compared to the journalists in Abia. You could make comparison, but the one in Abia, all he does is to collect bulletin from Government House, and if he has any scoop he will be intimidated into not publishing it. It is not the same with the journalists in Abuja.”
For a ranking senator like Abaribe to make such careless accusations about journalists being intimidated into not publishing their scoop and having narrow perspectives tell of the degree of contempt he has developed for journalists in the state. Abaribe could do well to go into specifics and tell the reading public how narrow minded journalists in Abia are and who has been intimidating them into not publishing their scoop. The question is; could an Ayogu Eze, Ita Enang , Nkechi Nwaogu or Smart Adeyemi make such a careless statement? The answer is No, but the all knowing Abaribe is reputed for engaging himself in a fight he cannot win.
One may ask, what is the bone of contention between the senator and the journalists in Abia that he hates them with so much passion? There is no doubt that it is all about the Abaribe’s performance in his almost eight years stint at the national Assembly as the senator representing Abia South zone. Reports and analyses by the state based journalists tasking him to account for the poor state of infrastructure in his zone which has caused untold suffering to his constituents have always been viewed as an attack by Abaribe.
What narrow perspectives are the senator accusing journalists in Abia of? When did it become a crime to task political office holders to render account of their stewardship to the people? When did it become a crime to call the attention of political office holders like Abaribe to the problems of their people? It is baffling that Abaribe’s constituency has the worst network of federal roads in the country, yet the senator claims to wine and dine with President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience. Has it ever occurred to Abaribe that his Obingwa kinsmen have since been cut off from their Akwa Ibom neighbours because the Aba –Ikot Ekpene federal highway is impassable? These issues, among others, are what Abaribe has been running away from over the years.
It is pertinent to state here that several attempts by the state based journalists to get his reactions on some of these problems bedeviling his Abia South constituents has always been met with rejection. A few examples may suffice. Abaribe almost attacked a group of journalists who encountered him after the presentation of certificate of return to successful candidates after the 2011 general elections by INEC for inquiring about plans for his constituents in his second term.
According to a journalist who witnessed the incident, “After the presentations of certificates to successful candidates, we traced Senator Abaribe to a hotel in Umuahia. As we were about throwing questions at him about his plans for his Abia south people in his second tenure, Abaribe asked that he hoped that we were not trying to interview him adding that he could not remember having any interview appointment with any journalist. Even our appeals that interviews are not always formally done as there are still opportunities for impromptu interviews; did not sway him as he ordered his driver to speed off.”
The journalist admitted that he and his colleagues were embarrassed by the action of the senator who they believe would have used the opportunity to clear the air about his alleged non performance as senator, among other controversies surrounding his personality.
No journalist practicing in the state can claim to have a good relationship with Abaribe because the senator would never grant any interview request or chat with journalists even when accosted at events. The reading public may as well inquire from our senator what he has been hiding by running away from the state based journalists.
The senator’s frosty relationship with the journalists in Abia state appears to have developed over time due to his famed arrogant attitude. One could recall an incident at the venue of the Ngwa Day Festival 2012, organized by Ngwa Patriotic Forum at Ngwa High School playground, Aba, where the senator appeared embarrassed by the action of journalists at the event who out of doubt that he may not grant them a chance for interview, chose to ignore him but swooped on his Abia Central counterpart, Senator Nkechi Nwaogu.
Abaribe who was engaged in a chat with an NTA staff expressed surprise that journalists from other media organizations declined to join their counterpart to get his views about the event and other issues.
In a matter of moments, Senator Nwaogu was seen addressing some of the journalist by their names and the media they represent. For any journalist in Abia, Senator Nwaogu is an interviewer’s delight whose love for journalists in unparalleled. She even exploited the advantage of the chat with the journalists at that event in a manner that would have only left Abaribe envious.
One of the journalists who preferred anonymity said they refused to join their colleague to have a chat with Abaribe because he has always shown contempt by declined to grant interviews or approve appointments to the state based journalists; even when officials request are made.
“Many times, we called him on telephone to book an interview appointment with some of my colleagues from Umuahia; but he declined and said that he can only talk with journalists in Abuja.” Others who have made efforts to have a date with him whenever he is in the state have also had sad stories to tell.
Among the aspirants who have shown interest to succeed Gov. Theodore Orji in 2015, Abaribe remains the only one who has shown much disdain to journalists in the state. Many journalists have come to attribute this to his arrogant and all knowing attitude which he has become notorious for. A good number of governorship aspirants like Senator Nwaogu, Acho Nwakanma, Uchechukwu Ogah, Friday Nwosu, Alex Otti and even those aspiring for the state and national Assembly positions would never host an event without inviting journalists practicing in the state, but the all knowing Abaribe appears to be hiding something from the men of the pen profession.
Abaribe must be made to understand that no one has successfully fought and won a war against the media. Let him remember that it was the journalists in Abia with their ‘narrow perspective’ that projected him before his new found Abuja journalists with ‘wider perspectives’, took hold of him. It is the journalists in Abia that elevated him to the high horse which he presently rides. It seems that Abaribe has forgotten that it is still the journalists practicing in Abia that stood on his side during his battle with his former boss, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu.
Many practicing journalists in the state have already expressed fears that the Abaribe may not tolerate the media in the state if he emerges governor in 2015.
There is no doubt that Abaribe has proved that some politicians like him have a very short memory. Soon, the chicken to roost; it won’t be long. Those who think they stand take heed, lest they fall. A word, they say, is enough for the wise.
Emma Nwachukwu, a media consultant writes from Umuahia, Abia state.
