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Na Only Nigeria Sabi God? By Jaafar S. Jaafar
“Foolish is the man who never reads newspaper; even more foolish is the man who believes what he reads just because it is in the newspaper” – August von Schlozer, German historian and journalist of the late 18th century.
A semi-monthly journal, Awake, reported that “newspapers have shaped cultures, influence politics and affect the daily lives of the millions.” It further reported that “misrepresentation in the news is often the result of hasty reporting or misinformation. Yet such well intentioned stories can quickly spread falsehood,” the report cautioned that “on the other hand, sometimes effort to misinform are deliberate.” Thisday reports of 30th September, was a flaw, Godwin Agbroko’s piece malicious and that of Olusegun Adeniyi was biased.
Many a time, journalists lack direction, professionalism, objectivity and the sense of fairness. These often make press bashing a norm, equally the same as reading newspapers listening or viewing other electronic media. A prolific writer, Henry Wotton (1568-1639) criticised press, thus “an ambassador is a man of virtue sent to lie abroad for his country; a newswriter is a man without virtue who lies at home for himself.” The disgraced American vice president of Richard Nixon era, Spiro Agnew, reduced the press to “an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterise themselves as intellectuals.” For Thomas Carlyle, “Satan’s invisible word displayed.”
Olusegun Adeniyi’s sarcastic rejoinder of October 13th in the Thisday to Ujudud Shariff’s column of 11th October in the Daily Trust was full of subjectivity. Shariff unmasked with deep insight the procedure of giving National Honours to whom honour is due and chided the professional flaw of the report. By convention, Shariff says, the honours are conferred in December not October, as Mr Agbroko expected. Going by the Act that established award of the honours to meritorious men and women, the highest number of the people at a given year should not exceed 412 and to date it never exceeded 231 recipients. Shariff further explained the professional misconduct of the paper that carried the story without giving the ‘tardy’ minister a fair hearing. ‘Hasty’ Agbroko’s description of the dismal failure of the minister, on his current and former assignment as Sports Minister was an act of sheer intellectual snobbery, as it was a deliberate attempt to rubbish the minister.
What really stirred up my emotions was reading once scrupulous, objective, fair and hawk-eyed Adeniyi’s treatise of the earlier mentioned date. Reading and rereading the 1681-worded sarcastic rejoinder, I did not see the names CHRISTIAN CHUKU written! Beyond the sarcastic façade of the screed, was an attack on the culprits (including the host State of Nigeria-Angola march) who scorched Nigeria’s chance of going to World Cup in Germany. Many analysts believe that it was a combined “effort” of former Minister of Sports Col. Musa Muhammed, NFA chairman, Ibrahim Galadima, some of the players and Coach Christian Chuku that dashed Nigeria’s hope of going to Germany.
Mr Adeniyi was oblivious of Chuku’s hand in the mess up. Given Chuku’s pedigree, one insists, should have bore the major brunt of the Super Eagles’ malady. Chuku’s brief sojourn in an Enugu-based club after assisting (or siddon look) Sebastian Broderick at the maiden FIFA Under 17 World Cup in Beijing, China was poor. His being at the helms of the coaching crew of Rangers International was also poor in terms of success. His disgraceful sack by the Super Eagles during Johannes Bonferere days. His barely positive stint with Harambee Stars that led to his untimely ouster after a deluge of humiliating defeats. It was Chuku’s indolence, incompetence and parochialism that led wise Muhammed to ratify his expulsion. Failure to reckon this, Adeniyi was punch-drunk as any other soccer-loving Nigerians.
However, it was deliberate attempt to misinform a reader or and personal conviction against a place (or is it the people of the place) that makes seasoned journalist like Mr Adeniyi and the bold publisher of The SOURCE to merrily fault the hosting of Nigeria-Angola march in Kano. To quote Adeniyi verbatim, “the CLIMAX of Mohammed’s mismanagement was the qualifying march taken to Kano for which he would now not accept responsibility as if the NFA had that autonomy to determine such a matter without the permission of the Sports Minister (emphasis mine).” I make bold to ask Adeniyi and co. some questions: where did Nigeria-Tunisia (remember Odiye?) World Cup qualifier of 78 took place? Was it not at the verdant, divine-grassed Eskimo-weathered Surulere? Have you people blamed the stadium or lack of supporting zeal of the fans? Where also Nigeria-Algeria World Cup qualifier of ’82 did took place? Mr Adeniyi and co. avowed that holding the match in Kano (a State outside Nigeria) was “the CLIMAX of Mohammed’s mismanagement” (no wonder, the name of the stadium bears the name, Sani Abacha). Therefore, one should note that losing match at home is not a novel phenomenon.
A sports writer for the largest newspaper in Netherlands revealed: “I am often told I am ignorant. Some readers get angry or frustrated, and as emotions at times temporarily run high in sports, people have even threatened to kill me.” I was angry about Segun’s biased piece but haven’t gone to extent of waging threat.
Football is the robust belt that can firmly tight ethnicity, polarity, diversity, nepotism and religion together. Whoever bears the National Flag or hosts the bearers should be accorded a maximum support. I still wonder whether Olusegun Adeniyi of Thisday was that of defunct African Concord in the early 90s. His belief in fair reporting and the ‘spirit of give and take on the part of major ethnic groups.’ His connivance with the duo of Ola Awoniyi of Tribune to scheme and deny the already accepted candidate, one Yemi of VON, his mandate as chairman State house correspondent chapel in favour of Muhammed Adamu, from African Concord. That was Segun of concord days!
One should not set out to defend every action of his colleague at the expense of accuracy, their self-respect and their teeming readers who mainly believe with every aspect of writer’s opinion as a divine revelation or incontrovertible fact. Everywhere newspapers inform the public of important affairs. But they do more than that; they provide information on which many readers form opinion. Newspapers affect people’s attitudes, conduct and readers fundamental moral values.
Press must contend with unreliable news sources, because sometimes hoaxes are slipped into newspapers. Some time ago in the United States, a prankster planted a fake news story about “a cemetery amusement park” with an eye-catching web site of a phoney development company and a phone line for interviews, which the deceiver used to pose as a company spokesman. The Associated press wire service failed to detect the ruse, whereupon many daily papers in the US carried the story. The secrete of successful hoaxes is said to be a provocative story with great visuals or caricatured gimmicks that is outrageous yet plausible.
JAAFAR S. JAAFAR writes from no. 39 Warshu Hospital Road, Kawaji Kano.
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