The Tell Tales of The Tell Magazine; Mediocrity in a Hurry

By

Mahfuz Mundadu

mmundadu@yahoo.com

 

 

The piece featured in the Tell News Magazine of June 17, 2013 No. 24, titled “New Security Threat: The Middle East Connection”, calls for concern. One ANAYOCHUKWU AGBO evidently authored the “fairytale” in question. To say the least the portion that seeks to define the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and its esteemed leadership as violent and evil minded goes to demonstrate how cerebrally lethargic, ill informed and fleeced was and the writer still is. It is a clear case of journalism with some numb aroma of mediocrity in a hurry.

 

It is not a gainsaying that Nigeria is faced with some serious security challenges. And for this, every right thinking person that wishes this great nation well should not only be but also show concern in whatever way humanly possible. Right diagnosis of the problem can only bring the nation closer to the solution. However, It is sad to note that while this is what ought to have occupied the minds of true patriots, some elements within the society would rather see an opportunity to misdiagnose and therefore end up coming up with what they consider as a solution that is paradoxically looking for its own problem. An issue that should be central to the report was never addressed. No sooner did Agbo ventured in to his folktale than he became so clumsy so fast.

 

To display how shallow and narrow Agbo’s piece was, he alleged that Hezbollah was formed in 2001, which is not correct. So if getting a simple date is becoming a rocket science for Anayochukwu I wonder what else wouldn’t be an abstract algebra. Yet in an apparent desperation to please his imperialist masters he accused Hezbollah of coordinating terrorism around the world with Iran being the sponsor. Not surprisingly, Agbo failed to substantiate these harsh allegations beyond his unpolished fabrications. Wherever there is any act of terror there must be a location and victims of such terror. Yet Agbo cannot validate his allegation by at least pointing to where Hezbollah carried out the terrorist act and who the victims were or are.

 

Take for instance, the government of the US’s criminal extra-judicial killings of citizens of some other sovereign nations like Pakistan and Afghanistan through drones attack. So if we accuse the government of the US of being involved in act of terror we can always point to Pakistan and Afghanistan. More so, the list of the victims keeps on increasing by the hour. Yet Agbo failed woefully to cite a location or some victims of the so-called “Iranian sponsored Hezbollah terrorist activities”. If Agbo has any he may wish to present it to us. But we are as sure as daybreak that he won’t find one. By the time Agbo dig further it may even shock him to discover that Iran has been a victim of Israeli and US backed endless list of terrorist acts.

 

On July 3rd 1988 US armed force shutdown an Iranian civilian jet liner Flight 655 which was an Airbus A300B2-203. As at the time of this heinous crime the plane was flying from Bandar Abas, Iran to Dubai. The plane was also flying in Iranian airspace over Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf on its usual flight path. All the 290 passengers including 66 children perished. Till date this terrorist act perpetrated by the US remains the seventh deadliest air disaster in the history of aviation industry in the world; the deadliest in the Indian Ocean. And the deadliest involving any Airbus300 anywhere in the world. The ugly face behind this carnage? Uncle Sam.

 

Iran was clearly provoked and could have reacted out of emotional grandstanding. Yet the government of the Islamic republic of Iran took the matter to the International Court of Justice where the US was clearly found guilty and made to pay about the sum of $200,000 per victim. Seeking redress through the rule of law is not in the character of terrorists or a nation that sponsors act of terrorism. Add this to the targeted assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists and you will surely understand who the real gangster nations are. So Agbo you goofed! 

 

Some where in the piece the author of this fib opined thus: “the SSS may have found that…” Well I was never an English major. Hence, I rushed to check the meaning of the word “may”. And one of those definitions says: “expressing a wish or hope”. And from the context of the writer’s obscene fantasy that is clearly where he was heading. Hoping and silently praying, that some innocent souls would end up being pronounced as guilty even before the investigation is conclusive.

 

On the first paragraph on column 2 of page 23 of the said publication Agbo wrote: “It also reaffirms the suspicion that… bla… bla… bla….” My goodness! How do you reaffirm when you are yet to affirm? To reaffirm is to confirm the validity of something previously established. And in any case suspicion by definition means “a very slight trace”. Yet what can only be acceptable in any court of law worth the name are facts backed with unquestionable substantiations. Suspicion can only have a place in the jungle court of some schizophrenic minds that derive pleasure in being xenophobic. “But the SSS feels that…” Agbo added. Well that is what this noble profession of journalism was reduced to in some otherwise citadel of investigative journalism. However, the bad news for Agbo and his imperialist masters is that in a civilized world nobody gets convicted because of how somebody feels about anybody.

 

The same page 23, column 3, paragraph 2 reads in part “ Security Analyst sees a link…” The question is who is this security analyst? What qualifies him to be one? And who set the criteria for one to be considered an expert in this apparently sensitive precinct. It is clear that even Agbo himself finds it difficult to believe these strings of scams. Hence his desperate attempt to lend and borrow some credibility from and to a so called yet faceless “security analyst, security experts and anonymous security officials” whom only his hallucination gives animation to.  What Agbo means by ‘International Scholars of Terrorisms” really beats my imagination. But it is clear that all these were and still are parts of his yet another desperate attempt to sell a dishonest piece to the unsuspecting readers as the cardinal truth. What else could have done the “magic” if not the use of some superfluous and fantabulous catchy couches?

 

If anybody finds it difficult to fathom what the writer of this fairytale is really after, the answer lies in the concluding part of it. Either acting in solo or as part of a bald-faced machination to provide a recipe for a clampdown on the leadership of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria. The writer’s frantic and fraught bid to link a peaceful and grass root mass movement to lawlessness and act of terror is nothing but a gasping hoax.

 

If Agbo really cares to carry out research…if Agbo really has the interest of this great nation at heart…if Agbo is not an alacritous gizmo in the hands of Zionism and the imperialists, Agbo wouldn’t have ventured in to a fruitless effort in portraying the victims of violence and sundry act of terror as the aggressors.

 

Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky has been in and out of prison and various detention centers, but not because he ever committed any crime. He has been a victim of successive heartless and draconian regimes. Yet while others saw wisdom in running away to continue the fight from a “safe” distance, Sheikh Zakzaky remains much around with dignified courage and dogged determination. Even Tell Magazine tasted some of the bitter pills of the then vagabond in power.

 

Sheikh Zakzaky’s message is simple. He calls for freedom and justice. And in so doing he presents Islam as the vehicle. The real Islam that liberated the Arabian nations from all manners of despairs. The true Islam that freed Iran from the vice grip of imperialist US; under the inglorious reign of Shah. The real Islam that drove the criminal enterprise of Zionism out of Lebanon. Not the type of “Islam” which is the creation of US and some EU nations; that type of “Islam” that produced Al-qaeda and Taliban; a deadly monster being fought by the US in Pakistan and Afghanistan having outlived its imperialist usefulness. The type of “Islam” currently being created, natured and nourished in the name of “Free Syrian Army”. Agbo, you may love to hate the Islamic Movement in Nigeria or hate to love its lofty ideals. But peddling lies is never a guaranteed success strategy in any endeavor.

 

We are proudly Muslims and unapologetically so. But in our quest to practice the religion in its entirety and present it to fellow humankind, we resort to knowledge, logic and reasoning. Islam and any religion for that matter are all about beliefs. And you cannot force somebody in to believing in your creed. With coercion the worst you can get from anybody is to make a hypocrite out of him. This in itself is more deadly to Islam than any enemy from within or without. Also you can’t bomb people in to becoming faithful. Anybody that sees violence and other sundry crimes as a way to call to or establish a religion will end up with innocent dead people with his hands soaked and dripping with their blood. That never add up to a religion that advocates compassion to all creature; living and even non-living alike.

 

When the recent violence as a result of the aftermath of 2011 Presidential election broke out, non-Muslims in Zaria found safe heaven in Gellesu, were Sheikh Zakzaky resides. The whole neighborhood, regardless of tribe or religious affiliation was spared the carnage. That explained why various shades of tribes and religious associations paid an unsolicited “thank you” visit to Sheikh Zakzaky after the dust settled.

 

The Islamic Movement in Nigeria engages in various aspect of developmental plan, which cut across education, health and what not. Yet the approach to its programme was and still is all encompassing. To associate such a movement with crime of any form is, to say the least mischievous. Tell Magazine and Anayochukwu Agbo may wish to wake up and get real!