• Tackle Buhari’s media aide, Garba Shehu
Chinelo Obogo, Lagos; Paulinus Aidoghie, Abuja; Chukwudi Nweje; Olusola Ojo, Lagos.
Prominent Nigerians have taken a swipe at the presidency for alleging that the nation’s media, especially, The Sun newspaper, was promoting hate speech by reporting the herdsmen’s killings across the country. They described the accusation as a ploy to muzzle the press but commended The Sun for its steadfastness in giving accurate and balanced reporting of the security situation in most parts of the country.
On Friday, February 2, 2018, during a press conference, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, had accused the nation’s media and specifically, The Sun of “promoting hate speeches” and not supporting government.
Making reference to an interview granted Saturday Sun by one of Miyetti Allah’s leaders, who threatened that there would be more violence if the anti-grazing law were not repealed by the Benue State government, Shehu said the newspaper was promoting hate speech.
He also cited an article by a columnist, Dr. Amanze Obi, published by The Sun, wherein the author called on the authorities to rise to the challenge of protecting life and property or they would have vicarious liability for their actions and inactions.
Following Shehu’s statement, the management of The Sun Publishing Limited, in a front page comment published yesterday, faulted his claim, insisting that by publishing the interview of the Miyetti Allah’s threats, the newspaper was only drawing the attention of the authorities to the possibility of more violence, going by the utterances of one of the key parties to the conflict.
The Sun also noted that till date, the Miyetti Allah leader, who was interviewed, has not denied making the statement nor has the authorities quizzed him, if the statement was considered offensive.
Reacting to Shehu’s accusation yesterday, prominent Nigerians said the government cannot “cherry-pick” stories that suit it and when an event is accurately reported, it would describe it as hate speech.
According to Lagos constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Mike Ozekhome, a report could not amount to hate speech when the media was accurately narrating events that took place.
He said: “You are merely narrating an event that took place and in the write-up, some of us told the President what to do. For instance, we told him to relocate the Inspector General of Police and send the military there because the police do not have the capacity to curtail the issue. The military should be redeployed to states, like Benue, Taraba and Plateau the way they were taken to Umuahia when IPOB was exiting. So, if you make a comparative analysis about what is happening, how does it amount to hate speech? Except if they want to finally take away our freedom of speech in this country because they have already taken away the food from our table. If they want to take away our God-given freedom of speech, then they have to tell us.
“They want The Sun to become a paper that will always support the government, but every paper does not always have to support the government. Can’t they look at the motto of The Sun newspaper? The government already has a paper that supports it, whether they do wrong or right. To me, any paper that supports a government, whether it does wrong or right, is not a good paper because it is mortgaging the future of this country. Governments would come and go but the people would remain. You cannot dissolve the people to support a government.”
Ozekhome said every newspaper in Nigeria “cannot support the government even when it is acting wrongly; that would be wrong. The media is the fourth estate of the realm and it is the only entity empowered by Section 22 of the 1999 constitution to hold the government accountable and responsible to the people of Nigeria. The media’s job is to keep the government on its toes. Did the media not keep Goodluck Jonathan’s government on its toes and he was subsequently removed, in preference to President Muhammadu Buhari? The All Progressives Congress (APC) leveraged and used the media effectively to oust Jonathan; so, why are they suddenly getting touchy about how the media reports events? Do they not know that what goes around comes around? The media was carrying out its constitutional responsibility and when Jonathan was overwhelmed, he threw in the towel even before the last results were announced. The government would be joking to expect every media in Nigeria to support it. The Sun newspaper has been one of the most responsible, balanced, objective and one of the most patriotic newspapers in the country and they should be highly commended.”
Afenifere chieftain, Ayo Adebanjo, said the presidency’s attack was unfortunate and regrettable, describing it as an attempt to cage the press.
He noted that by describing the reports as promoting hate, the government proved that it did not want to do any thing effective about herdsmen’s killings.
“It is unfortunate and regrettable. It shows the precarious situation we are in and that the government is not serious to solve the problem. So when people are killing other people, it should not be reported? The press is the fourth estate of the realm and it should be free to do its job,” Adebanjo said.
Also reacting to the statement, Col. Tony Nyiam (retd) said it was the government official who apportioned blames wrongly on the Benue killings that promoted hate speech in the country and not The Sun.
Nyiam said: “I do not share the view that The Sun is promoting hate speech, because, as I have said on other occasions, there is no more devastating hate speech than that of the minister, who came out of the National Security Council meeting and completely accused the entire people of Benue State of illegality because the state government passed a law that they are entitled to constitutionally pass, and that it was the reason they were being murdered. That is the worst hate speech any government official can make.”
Dr. Junaid Mohammed, in his reaction, said the assertion that The Sun was against anybody was false and news to him.
“As far as I am concerned, I do not have any problem with The Sun. My relationship with the paper dates as far back as when it was founded. I have never been asked to bring anything before they can publish any of my stories and I don’t have any issue with that. In fact, that somebody accused the paper of being biased is news to me. I don’t have objections to the coverage of news or personality. I reject completely any of such assertion that the paper is against somebody,” Junaid said.