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Info And Crisis Management In Nigeria: Another Fall-Out By Abbas A. Dikko
One vital issue Nigerian leaders, especially, the present day ones, never or refused to understand is; one need not do much to become a hero in this country. The unprecedented level of ruination in the system is so aggravating and devastating that a little step one can muster the courage to take could make him an instant hero, achiever per excellence and the best thing that ever happened to this country in the decades of our existence as a people and a nation. But, simply because, the leadership at all level and in every aspects of our life as a being, believes in deceit, deception and lies; eat and drink from it, live and sleep in it, makes it impossible for them, under normalcy or crisis, to tell people the truth and indeed, nothing but it.
However, what precipitated this report was the recently kidnapped case scenario of the Secretary to the government of Kaduna State and, the mannerism at which the state government and its police command managed the information as well, the crisis, leave much to be told. It was unfortunately handled in such a short-circuited and timid nature, exposing more of their ignorance or insensitivity to the subject of discourse. With every sense of fair judgment and candidly, one does not need to convince anybody whether it was a kidnap or otherwise, the menace has already become a lucrative and routine affair in this country and guess why, because of increasing poverty, insecurity, insincerity and bad governance.
Immediately after the breaking news, Kaduna State governor’s spokes person and the state commissioner of police, quickly summoned a press briefing, debunking in its entirety as well, challenging the press men on how they came about their information. Can one just believe this, teaching journalists on how to do the work they know best, live and sleep in it and again, been part and parcel of their life style? In their own understanding of media and information management, the press should have waited for a doctored or coded report from the government or its security outfit before dissemination. What a farce!
In a more confused manner and without fear of being contradicted, the video clip is there if it could be re-played, the commissioner of police was found saying that Mr. Waje Yayok, left Kaduna State for an official assignment to South-kaduna, hope we are receiving the message? I wonder if South-kaduna is another state out of original Kaduna State. However, within a handful of hours, there was yet another press briefing by the same official and, without any shame, confirmed what was originally reported by the press which, by the powers at their disposal and easy accessibility to government owned media, without much thoughts, categorically debunk as falsehood.
Disgustingly, this was happening under the nostril of special anti-crime crack squad, “Operation Yaki” but could not crack, rescue, arrest or all of the kidnappers, rather, were all over the Kaduna metropolis killing innocent people for sundry offences ranging from wrong-parking, wrong-overtaking, over-speeding and rest of them. This in their context, reflect crisis management and effective discharge of their functions as vested on them by the state authority.
However, Waje Yayok was released by the captives under the mercy and intervention of his immediate family as the government wants us to believe-fine. Interestingly, even a layman on the street, without any hesitation, can directly look into theirs eyes and call them lairs. Do they need to even tell or convince anyone whether ransom was paid or not and who else care to know? This is to tell one the irrationality, inefficiency and ineffectiveness of our leaders and their retinues in managing information and crisis in Nigeria.
Here again, brought us to several other fallouts, this time around, at the top echelon of the authority, the not quite long Boko-Haram saga and the mannerism at which government at the state, federal and the police command handled the situation, stands out as a very good example from several others. A prophecy of rule of law, a top most item in his Seven-Point-Agenda as well, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, mindless of legal implications, gave a crush-the-Talibans order thereby, infringing in their right to fair hearing.
And as expected, the order was perfectly executed in accordance with his instruction, unfortunately, as contriving as our leaders are, following the instantaneous condemnation of the action, locally and internationally, a kangaroo probe panel that is yet to produce any alibi was set-up to unravel the mysteries behind the extra-judicial killing of the leader, Ustaz Muhammad Yusuf, clearly their inadequacies to manage crisis. Confirming as well, that accusation against the country, specifically, northern region for harbouring Talibans by the western world that took us extra strength to defend in the immediate last administration.
Like it was ugly seen, order was perfectly carried, but not without a heated argument and confusion between the parties involved; the military that led the operation, the police that committed the gruesome murder and the state government where the massacre took place. The police in their usual traditional nature quickly concocted and manufactured what was never the essential truth much after the killing had taken place, thanks for His grace and the army Connell that captured the sect-leader, he was equally, timely to respond to their lies with a video tape that recorded the verbal interview he had with the sect-leader immediately after his arrest.
Modu Shariff led Borno State government as well, exonerated itself from the dastardly act, directly pointing accusing finger to the state police command, not enough, all person(s) directly linked to the sect-leader were arrested and, in similar manner, slain in a cold blood in spite of the outcry that greeted their previous action. Far away from Maiduguri, in Mokwa local government area of Niger State, a group called Darul-Islam that have been peacefully in existence for decades, was sacked-down without recourse to constitutionality, religious injunction and simple basic humility. Over N77 million, un-appropriated fund was coughed from the state purse to carryout this illegality. All these put together, in their short-sightedness, signifies effective information and conflict resolution.
More devastating were the reasons deduced as the remote cause of the impasse, completely shying away from the true cause, blames, security shortfalls and absolute system failure to at least, address basic necessity needs, in the midst of plenty, rather, end-up in ghost chasing as the only remedy to forestall its recurrence. The leadership and its coterie of lieutenants are blindly busy allotting, allocating, awarding and sharing our viable national assets, oil blocs, choice plots of land, juicy position and contracts and, people owned resources as the only things they understood as governance. All other things outside these are alien and not tenable in Africa or anywhere in the 3rd world countries which Nigeria is one.
However, several people were either deceptively misled or carried away by political sentimentality, ethnic jingoism, regional bigotry or all, therefore, could not see or picked from ranging reasons why the newly confirmed central bank governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, became instantaneously a hero today.
Similarly, knowing full well of our contextual nature, one is not in any state of fuddle over why people are today lost in the oblivion of the possibility or otherwise of achieving a just cause and sincere result from his recent action(s). Today, not only the incorruptible, righteous and enlightened minds in the country, also, the International community is hailing his action. Simply because, he discovered, uncovered, unraveled, published and penalized; fairly, fearlessly, mindless of who and who is/are involved in the recent shameful banks scam. Within a blink, he has achieved a name and objective that several of our political class/ruling elite as well, his predecessors could not achieved over decades of their services to the country.
A reflection of nothing but, focus-ness, steadfastness, simplicity, strict adherence to embedded regulations and tradition of state functions, institutions, organizations-corporate and a like. Several other leaders at home and beyond that achieved such feat, set standard and makes it work because of their openness, sincerity of purpose, effective and efficient information and crisis management are equally there, at least, Raji Fashola and Rotimi Ameachi of Lagos and Rivers states respectively, within the country, stands top among their colleagues.
Equally, Barack Obama is taking the lead in the world today, in spite of American atrocities against other sovereign states by the Bush’s administration. Its focus has now been redirected from engineering crisis and conflicts in other nations to peace and economic revivalism within its shores and the world at large through same mechanism and method.
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