May 3, 2009
EKITI RERUN IMPASSE: NIGERIA JOURNALISM AND THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA
By
Dele Ajayi Ph.D
08073038010
Reading Reuben Abati opinion titled “the debacle in Ekiti” in the Guardian of May 1st 2009, one cannot but appreciate his deep sense of analysis and a seeming sense of balance of the piece. However on a deeper scrutiny by analytical minds, mine inclusive; that had been following the press induced and media promoted impasse in Ekiti State re-run election, I begin to ask the question “what is the future of democracy in Nigeria?, if something is not done on the kind of journalism been practised in the nation”
In the few weeks proceeding the April 25 re-run election date, I almost concluded that, it is worthless reading Nigerian newspaper. I sometimes read some news items in the paper that often live me with the conclusion that “possibly, there is another Ekiti State elsewhere, apart from the one I live in. Caution was thrown into the dustbin and propaganda became the daily trademark. There was an obvious split in the newspapers with, The Nation, The News, PM News, Guardian, and Punch on the AC side, while, Compass, Tribune and Sun amplified PDP positions. The electronic media was dominated principally by the AC with Adaba FM leading the prowl. At a point in time, my father in law who lives in Akure jokingly asked me, if part of the Ekiti rerun election will take place in Ondo State, in apparent reaction to the dominance of Ondo State airwave with Ekiti Rerun Stories. Interviews were promoted by some national news media, where the moderators often know that so many of the submission were blatant falsehood and inciting, but they still encouraged it. There were no decorum in most of the interviews and issues of development and progress of Ekiti were left unattended to rather, personalities were been maligned.
At the receiving end of this orchestrated negative publicity are the people of Ekiti State, the corporate image of the only homogenous entity in the nation and the future of the landlocked, natural resources deprived State. The gain of this publicity was outright fear and perception in the mind of many that Ekiti ranked with States like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine in times of the possibility of negative surprises. Suddenly, anybody that has any link with Ekiti began to fear.
At a daily average, I receive 2 calls or mail or text messages from within and outside Nigeria, from people urging me to relocate out of Ekiti particularly on the election date. One disturbing call came from my laboratory in Brazil, where I was working before coming to Nigeria. They were literarily begging me to leave the State and come to my lab than allow myself to be cut down in the impeding malady of Ekiti election. It was painful as I know that my host Professor got his information from my bookmarked Nigerian newspaper on my computer in the lab or from a search of Ekiti on the internet (which he normally does). I imagine many people were also victim of such plea call. The news waves were dominated by news of attempted assassination, rig and roast, thug attacks, etc.
Now coming back to Mr. Abati piece, his conclusion is that election should be re-runned in 5 local Government whose results were yet to be announced before the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) added her own scene to the melodrama. The REC scene was another area where the press did a lot of damage to the psyche of the people of Ekiti State. Everybody was eagerly waiting for the end of the re-run drama in Oye-Ekiti when one of the earlier mentioned media announced that the REC will not be available for the election. To many of us in Ekiti who are tired of the tension created, that was a scene we wish should not be introduced to the drama. Sure to everybody surprise, that happened. To compound the issue, it was followed with yet another scene that the REC has sent a message to the Chairman of Progressive People Alliance (PPA) that she had eloped. The press war shifted to the circumstances surrounding the escape.
One common point in the pro-AC media was that the woman was not willing to announce the result of Ido-Osi LG. To my mind I was asking why? But Mr. Abati gave a clue (even though not substantiated). The argument was that the result was not collated in the burnt INEC office in Ido Ekiti. Then the next question in my mind was that “Would the democracy preaching press in Nigeria prefer that the collating officer wait to be burnt in the INEC office when thugs loyal to a party led an invasion and burning of the premises” May be that would make a better news headline than that, the collating escaped to a location where they would be safe and still go ahead and do the Arithmetic, since no voting take or recounting take place at the INEC office, rather, simple addition from the necessary forms which had been filled and signed by all necessary officers. Would the democracy preaching press in Nigeria prefer that ballot papers and box (the voice of about 18,000 electorate, who against all odds came out to vote despite their war paintings) be burnt inside the INEC office to justify their claim of free and fair election and one-man one-vote election.
If Abati suggestion is to be adhered to, will the collation of his proposed new re-run election take place in the burnt building? Interestingly, most of the news media had not seen anything wrong in the burning of the INEC office, what I presume was wrong in their opinion was that, the burning came a bit too late - the voice of the people should have been burnt with it. In Abati’s argument, the result of the already concluded result may not be agreed to by AC or PDP, does that mean that the voice of the electorate should be silenced, the time and the resource of the nation be thrown away to satisfy the greed for power among some few people. This is illogical, unreasonable and an assault to the intelligence of the electorates involved.
I suggest that the Nigerian journalist irrespective of their political inclination (as a nation conscience) should promote the understanding that in any election, somebody must loose while another must be victorious. That the most important people in any election are the electorate involved and not the gladiators seeking power. That the guidelines need to be kept irrespective of the bargaining power of the gladiators with the news media practitioner and it is clearly demonstrated in Ekiti case now. That, after elections, the State or Nation has a Corporate Image and a future that need to be protected in face of glaring economic downturn which will require the confidence of people within and outside the State or Nation to nurture, and that everything we write, do or say today will be history in the next few hours. With this consciousness, we will be helping to nurture the nation and grow democracy and not destroy it.
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