Loading ...There is ground to doubt the fact that the media as the fourth estate of the realm, has the capacity and moral obligation to educate, entertain and inform the people on issues of importance to their existence.
In the same vein, the media has the capacity to create awareness and inform the citizen on Counter and Prevent Act of terrorism by making them approachable enough so that every citizen can approach them with suggestions on how best to create a terrorism-free world.
In making reports on Boko Haram, the media should give adequate information on the activities of the insurgents. Such reports should always be accurate and objective, free from sensationalism or religious bias. It is not enough reporting on the surface as is obtained today like reporting a bomb blast that claimed some innocent lives, arrest of suspected insurgents, aerial bombing of insurgent’s hideouts, repealing of insurgents attacks, attack on military facilities etc
In the usual straight news reporting, it is the usual, he said, she said, eye witness said, from military spokesman: a usual reliable source confirmed etc, none of the reports ever goes further to give more than quotes from those in authority, the victims and sometimes the security operatives. What the public usual get from mostly straight news stories are largely second-hand reports that hardly give insights into the real issues at stake.
A journalist that knows his onions should not always be neutral in his reportage when the security of the nation is under threat and the people are ruthlessly and mercilessly being butchered by Noko Haram bombs and bullets. The reporter should first consider it a duty to report the killings objectively and subjectively, provided it is the truth with documentary evidences.
Journalists should find out through discreet investigation what has emboldened Boko Haram to escalate its attacks instead of retreating going by the stories dished out by those in authority. Furthermore, they should present their findings to the public for the formation of serious decisions on the best way out of the quagmire.
It is apparent also for Northern leaders and politicians at this critical point to call an emergency regional meeting to harness and dispassionately x-ray the problem of Boko Haram insurgency, rampant cases of kidnapping and banditry which are fast turning the region to nothing in terms of infrastructure, investment, unity and development in general. The ongoing destruction of lives and properties in the region has the tendency of eroding bequeathed legacies of past leaders and setting the region 40 years back in all sectors. Whatever the governors of the region are doing in terms of development without checking the menace of Boko Haram and other criminal elements will amount to a fruitless effort.
Since the firing of the first shot by Boko Haram in 2009 signaling a war with Nigeria, several suggestions were proffered to government on the best ways to contain and defeat the insurgents, put the records straight for the good of the country and move forward. In most cases, those suggestions were either ignored by those in authority, or underrated from ignorance, misunderstood, greed and lust for wealth and other obvious reasons that landed us where we are today. Whoever says Boko Haram has a terminal date with the present style of operation from those in authority must be sick upstairs. The ongoing conventional warfare embarked upon by our security agents will never be the solution to the end. Boko Haram insurgents are guerilla fighters. They prepared for the fight, stock-piled arms, trained their fighters including suicide bombers and spies in other claims before daring Nigeria. They believe they are fighting a holy war. They were brain-washed and deceived to believe falsehood. They see any conventional government as that of infidels. They are heavily funded, supported and trained by our detractors. These are facts that the Chief of Army Staff should either know or knows. They are facts that the Chief of Air Staff should know. They are facts that the National Security Adviser should know. They are facts that we all know. Why are we then still pretending that things are getting better? Agreed, the insurgents have been degraded, does that mean they have been defeated to surrender? The better we introduce other strategies to defeat the beasts than living in a world of illusion.
That reminds me of the need for the Senate President, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and the Chief of Staff to the President to join other patriots on how best to defeat the insurgents that are busy destroying their ancestral sub-region. Of all those, mentioned, none can claim that few relations were not directly affected by the brutal actions of the insurgents. A regional Summit request targeted at the downtrodden is there before the Senate President and the SGF for sponsorship to educate and inform the vulnerable on the need to put a defense against their murderers. But any hope for the requested sponsorship of such a summit? And any concern to the plight of the people by those mentioned? We are watching!
From the behaviors of the present leaders, Nigerians, particularly those in the North-east would not forget the threats issued by some sadists in 2011 that should Goodluck Jonathan be elected as president, they would make the country ungovernable. True to their threat, there was a post-election violence in Bauchi state that claimed nine lives of NYSC members despite the fact that Jonathan’s opponent had won the election. Everything Jonathan did was heavily criticized and rubbished. If a Boko Haram member was killed, they sadists accused Jonathan of trying to wipe out the north. Ironically, the same sadists who criticized Jonathan and never proffered any tangible solution on how best to defeat the insurgents, are now requesting Nigerians to support Buhari to defeat the insurgents. These are facts that should be highlighted by journalists to the public for their meaningful contributions as the proposed regional summit wants to achieve.
To this end, our leaders and the stakeholders particularly in the affected areas are not sincere to themselves and to the people in the fight against Boko Haram.
Journalists should dig deep down to the roots of the insurgents, identify and expose the roots and realistically use different journalistic strategies to proffer solutions to curbing the menace for a better Nigeria.
My colleagues should wake up, the use of the military and other security agencies cannot put a stop to the insurgency as expected. We should use our pens, venture into discreet investigations, expose their modus operandi and publish the identities of their hidden sponsors and leave the rest to God.
