Channels TV Did No Wrong. All Voices Must Be Heard!.
Gagging the media by Buhari regime is a symptom of delusion of persecution. After government through its agency, NBC, illegally suspended Democracy Today, a flagship popular interview program of Channels TV, can it now suspend its own shadow of escalated insecurity which it created by several acts of misgovernance, propensity for provincialism, arrogant aristocratic aloofness of the president in the face of consuming national crisis, insensitivity to poverty and hunger cries of Nigerians that have escalated the crisis of National Question?
I watched the telephone conversation Seun Okinbaloye had with the IPOB Biafra ethnic militia on his program, Democracy Today, , personally as a conscientious citizen and a professional broadcaster, I saw nothing wrong with the interview in content and context. In actual fact, Seun Okinbaloye handled the interview professionally to extract vital security information that should be useful to any serious government and its security agencies in facing the challenge of national insecurity including the secessionist agenda of IPOB.
Even without seeing the face of the interviewee, the IPOB chieftain, whatever he said and the manner he said it is a good opportunity for the government /security agencies, through professional analysis of their cognitive war psychologists and intelligence experts to reasonably profile him / his organization’s possible next move by deconstructing every sentence he uttered and the public response to it for intelligence gathering.
A professional local hunter worths his name in the jungle can reasonably decode the strength, the mood, distance and direction of any approaching game in the forest by the sound it makes at any point in time, that’s hallmark of hunting.
During war or intense national crisis, security intelligence operatives do fraternise with journalists, some even pay them to help conduct interview with obscured and invisible warlords for psychoanalysis they consider as security risks because if you don’t see your enemies, ateast hear them through the media, by this, you can get a reasonable idea of their intelligence quotient (IQ). Remember that it was the interview The News Magazine had with Salisu Ibrahim, the disgraced ex-Speaker of the House of Reps that gave him out as a dullard and later exposed him as a Toronto university certificate forger which led to his resignation.
Media interviews in conflict situation help to give early warning signal and timely scoping by security forces.
War is not about shooting and killing alone by the conflicting forces, it’s also about intelligence gathering that can be very useful. War is not about warlords alone, the battlefield is opened to media practioners for coverage for all parties to be heard by the citizens and global community to be well informed. All can be fair in war by the warlords but for the media, it is fair must be to all by making all war participants to be seen or heard for us to know there’s no war crime or breach of war conventions. That’s a core principle of fair hearing in conflict reportage by unbiased media. I got to know more about Bin Laden through his numerous media interviews and coverages of his many “fatwas” declared on US and other infidel nations of his imagination by the US and Europe based broadcasting stations including CNN and BBC.
Throughout the interview, Seun carefully didn’t allow the IPOB guy to have a free field day, every of his response was given a counter probing response by Seun for balance and objectivity. So, what else did Lai Mohammed and his NBC hatchet wielding NBC orchestra want from the interviewer again? Or are they saying that Seun should not have interviewed the IPOB militia at all because his organisation has been declared a terrorist organization by Buhari regime, but he can interview Gumi and his bandits, many choleric Miyetti Allah leaders who are don’t give a damn in claiming responsibilities for serial murder of farmers and invasion of farmland for illegal grazing by cows of many of their members?
The reality is that “Democracy Today” has always been on the hate list of many arrogant, power drunk lacklusture government spokespersons and high profile politicians who always saunter unprepared to Seun’s Democracy Today that has now become a hot seat for many that spew rubbish in a failed attempt to defend many bad policies and actions of government or make insensitive comments to further assault the sensibility of the citizens.
Was it not on the programme that Femi Adesina, a presidential spokesman uttered: “your land or your life” deadly option to farmers and communities that were losing farms and lives to violent Fulani herdsmen who invaded their farms to graze with impunity? Was it not on Democracy Today programme that Sheu Garba spewed his garbage that the eighty three rice farmers slaughtered by Boko Haram in the north did not take permission from the military before going to farm? Did Seun tell Lai Mohammed to come on his program to lie about events and talk down on agonizing Nigerians making “death and sorrow” comparison between a former clueless Jonathan government which people voted out and the lethargic failed Buhari government, that killings, hunger, insecurity were not new?
I had written many satires in the past about the shoddy but arrogant appearances of these people with an appeal to Seun not to invite them again to save them from further public opprobium because anytime they appear like bulldogs, they end up leaving the program ridiculously reduced in esteem, intelligence and public profile because Democracy Today doesn’t patronize or massage ego of its guests, it’s always a no holds barred interview session that speaks straight to the fact and the issues.
If Channels TV is forced to remove Seun from anchoring Democracy Today, the lazy lackluster arrogant defenders of government will still be in problem because the other youngman that always stands in for Seun will be a more composed sharpshooter with time on the program.
By the way, what’s the big deal about the media interviewing a terrorist, a secessionist, bandit, criminal, rebel, freedom fighter, condemned criminal? Nothing, but to let people hear their side of the story. Even during military regime, I had covered condemned armed robbers tied to stake awaiting bullets to die but were still given opportunity to speak to the media. Some would agree with the judgement and regret their actions and others disagreed with the judgment and claimed innocence till they died.
I can’t remember the number of times I listened to the media interview of the invisible Jomo Gbomo and Okar of the defunct MEND during the peak of Niger-Delta violent struggle for environmental protection. In this Buhari regime, governors have happily posed for photograph with bloody armed criminals including “repentant” and dormant Boko Haram and bandits. Just of recent Dr. Gumi was frolicking with killer bandits and kidnappers negotiating with them and they all enjoyed media interview on Channels TV and other media stations, so what’s the big deal with IPOB members being interviewed?
It is primitive for any government to fight the media in this social media high tech information world because the conventional media have lost the monopoly of information dissemination and everyone who desires now has access to uncountable sources of information. Gagging the media is meaningless, brute, undemocratic and a futile lost war at huge cost and loss of public relations mileage to government.
Who made NBC so omnipotent that he can be the accuser, the prosecutor and the judge in any case of alleged infringement of broadcast media ethics by media organization? In a twinkle of an eye and just before anyone can pronounce NBC, a suspension of Democracy Today has been ordered and fine imposed. That’s crazy and unacceptable, if such obnoxious media gag law that gives unlimited absolute power to NBC to do and undo exists, it should be discarded forthwith. A parade ground media total control mentality cannot and must not stand in a democracy.
Channels TV management should stand firm to defend the integrity of its station, programs, its independence from interference and intimidation from any quarter, protect his staff from unnecessary attack while upholding media ethics and responsibility to the citizens as the fourth estate of the realm. Any attempt to “kill” Democracy Today, its flagship programme be subjecting itself to intimidation is a sure path to kill the station or to lose its prestigious position among the best.
All discerming citizens of good conscience, civil society organisations, media practitioners and organizations must rise and defend Channels TV so that Nigeria won’t slip back totally to 1984 of Gen. Buhari military dictatorship of the Decree 4 era of intimidation of media practitioners and assault on press freedom. Free Media, Free Society.
Adeola Soetan
National Coordinator
Democracy Vanguard
08037207856