Media

By Tijani Abiola

In a spacy world saturated with information, the desert of personal interest and a space box of selfish interest, discerning the truth has become increasingly challenging, from social media feeds to 24-hour news cycles.

We are inundated with facts, opinions, and outright falsehoods. Yet, the quest for truth remains vital, influencing our decisions, shaping our beliefs, and guiding our actions. So, who can tell you the truth?

Science, by its very nature, is a rigorous pursuit of truth. Through the scientific method, hypotheses are tested, results are peer-reviewed, and conclusions are drawn based on empirical evidence. Institutions like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the World Health Organization (WHO), and universities worldwide are pillars of this endeavour. Their commitment to objectivity and reproducibility makes them reliable sources of truth, particularly in areas like medicine, climate change, and technology, but can we say they are the real source of truth?

Media outlets are a relaxed space for the most trusted outlets for news reports, an avenue that most use to suit themselves and tailor their way of life. Most of the time, the media can also be biased. Established organisations like the BBC, The New York Times, and Reuters have built reputations for thorough and responsible journalism. These institutions adhere to journalistic standards, including fact-checking, corroboration, and ethical reporting. Their role in a democratic society is to hold power accountable and inform the public, making them essential sources of truth, but yet, can they tell you the truth?

Experts with a deep understanding of their fields and elders with numerous past useful experiences can provide accurate information and insights. Whether it’s a doctor discussing health issues, a historian analysing past events, or an economist interpreting market trends, these individuals rely on years of study and experience. Their expertise and dedication to their disciplines make them credible sources of truth; still, will you accept trends, mind experience and expertise ideas as the truth?

Ultimately, each of us has the responsibility to discern the truth. Critical thinking is our best defence against misinformation. By questioning sources, analysing arguments, and seeking evidence, we can better navigate the complex landscape of modern information. No one takes information to trust and accepts it as truth, except if they are convinced to accept it as truth.

In a world where the truth can often seem elusive, it is essential to exercise critical thinking before accepting any information to be true. One can only convince and prove with past experiences or actions that seem to complement the existing information left for you to think deeply and analyse whether to believe or negate the information. 

Still, you are the best person to tell yourself the truth through your critical thinking, valuing evidence over opinion, expertise over hearsay, and integrity over convenience. We can navigate the complexities of our information-rich world. Ultimately, the truth is out there, but we must seek and accept it diligently and responsibly.

Tijani Abiola T. wrote via abiolatijani001@gmail.com.

By Zayyad I. Muhammad

Ajuri Ngelale, President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s special adviser on media and publicity, has announced that he will be taking an indefinite leave of absence to focus on medical issues concerning his immediate family. Ngelale hoped to return to national service when circumstances, recovery, and fate allow.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has accepted the decision and wishes Ngalele well.

Ngalele’s leave of absence has sparked numerous reactions from many Nigerians. This comes as no surprise; anyone taking an ‘indefinite’ leave or resigning from President Tinubu’s administration is likely to be viewed negatively due to the country’s current economic challenges and some of the administration’s unpopular decisions and policies. 

Additionally, there is a public perception that those not in the Tinubu administration’s ‘inner circle’ may encounter difficulties or hiccups—though such assumptions have always been Nigerian. However, the Daily Nigerian reported that Ngalele was forced out. The paper said that Mr Ngele was only given a soft landing to quit as presidential spokesman, but he chose to quit all his positions.

Since Mr Ngelale’s appointment, which was influenced by the first family, campaign spokespersons have been under internal pressure to replace him with “someone with better media relations” or “someone the president is more pleased with.”

DAILY NIGERIAN also gathered that Mr Ngelale was also on a collision course with other media aides working for the president for allegedly sidelining them in the running of the affairs of the office. According to sources, Mr Ngelale had also chewed more than he could bite, taking several roles that affected his primary media relations role. The sources said the tasks of being a Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action and chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen have created a role strain and given the cabal a reason to convince the president to replace him.

Given his skills, experience, and expertise, Ngalele has done an outstanding job as a spokesperson. While the Tinubu administration must find a capable replacement for him, they must focus on more than just appointing another Senior Special Adviser on Public Affairs. The administration requires a dynamic and versatile media and PR team that can shift from a reactive to a proactive approach, as Nigerians will not now listen to just standard good English.

President Tinubu needs a PR team that can effectively reinvent Nigerians’ familiar image of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The focus should not be on finding a replacement for Ngalele but on assembling a dynamic and strategic team capable of rebranding and promoting Tinubu. This team should highlight his accomplishments and present them in a way that can restore public confidence. 

For instance, Tinubu’s PR should focus on the North, where the president’s rating decreases daily. Moreover, it’s essential to showcase the value and contributions of each cabinet member, emphasising what they bring to the administration’s overall agenda. The greatest mistake Tinubu will make is to bring on board politicians; most Nigerians will not listen to them.

President Tinubu should Rejig his media and PR team, and they must communicate in a way that resonates with Nigerians and actively engage with them. They must speak to Nigerians in the ‘language’ they understand, but the bottleneck is that the only language Nigerians understand is what will bring ‘rice and beans’ to their tables.

Zayyad I. Muhammad writes from Abuja via zaymohd@yahoo.com.

By Sulaiman Maijama’a

Security of lives and properties of the citizens is one of the cardinal responsibilities of every responsible government and the first priority of every society. Nigeria, being a plural society (with different cultures, tribes, languages religions and regions) since independence has experienced, in different points in time, security challenges, the sad development that sowed the seeds of fresh security challenges that resurface in our time. Today, all the six geo-political zones that constitute Nigeria suffer from one form of insecurity or the other.

Boko Haram in the North East, kidnapping and banditry in the North West and the North Central becomes the epicentre of farmers-herders clashes.

Similarly, the South East suffers from the evil atrocities of the Biafran secessionists, the South South is coping with armed groups that have sabotaged pipelines and kidnapped oil workers in Niger Delta, while the South West suffers ritual killings for money making.

In its report on January 4th, 2022, HumanAngle revealed that in 2021, Nigeria had recorded its worst insecurity-related death toll since 2016. At least 10,398 persons were killed across the country between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2021.

While this horribly compounded situation is winking its head, other humanitarian challenges in recent time came in and deteriorated the condition.

Thisday reported that in 2019, Nigeria contributed 4.3 percent of the global figures of 79.5 million in terms of humanitarian crises, making her one of the top 10 countries with the highest risks of humanitarian disasters, and the situation continues to worsen.

The humanitarian crisis range from seeking refuge in overburdened and unsafe camps, to limited access to food, healthcare and education. Millions of people in the humanitarian crisis face malnutrition, inadequate social protection, sexual violence, and uncertain timelines for a return to normalcy.

The role of the media: Journalism, apart from its traditional role of informing, educating and entertaining, can play the following role to curtail such challenges:

1. Stakeholder engagement and “tree analysis”: the nature in which the Nigerian government fights insecurity is like cutting the leaves of a tree without cutting its root. The media should provide a forum for stakeholders to be brainstorming on the genesis of these challenges and the motives behind them. This will give an insight to the government into the roots and ways through which it can be curtailed.
2. Applying “Agenda Setting Theory”: the media should make security and humanitarian reports their topmost priority by consistently reporting and giving them banner headlines and breaking news positions. By so doing the government and relevant authorities will swing into more deliberate actions with a view to bringing an end to the challenges.
3. Applying “Development Support theory” and Serving the watchdog and surveillance role: the media should make editorial policies that will support development and expose any suspicious attempts. This should be done deliberately, knowing that security and humanitarian challenges cause Nigeria underdevelopment.
4. Objective and credible reportage: these are a second name to journalism. When fairness and credibility are maintained in journalism, security and humanitarian challenges will reduce to a minimal level.

Maijama’a is a student at the Faculty of Communication, Bayero University, Kano. He can be reached at:
sulaimanmaija@gmail.com

By Uzair Adam Imam

There has been tension among journalists in Zamfara as the state government shuts down all the federal and private media houses for covering political rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The state’s Commissioner of Information, Ibrahim Magaji Dosara, in a statement made available to journalists, disclosed on Saturday.

Dosara said the state governor, Bello Muhammad Matawalle, also directed the State Commissioner of Police to arrest all pressmen that attended the event.

The Daily Reality gathered that the event was organized by the PDP governorship candidate, Dr. Dauda Lawal Dare.

Several reports indicated that Matawalle earlier announced a suspension of all political activities in the state over the resurgence of insecurity.

However, the PDP went ahead with its inaugural rally which enjoyed media coverage by the affected media.

Radio Nigeria Pride FM Gusau, NTA Gusau, Gamji Television, Vision FM, Al’Umma TV are among the media affected by the order.

By Abdulhalim Ishaq Ringim

The giant of Africa and emerging global giant in all ramifications; the story of Nigeria’s journey to greatness has become a subject for intellectual and academic delineation, for it eludes the projections of even the most reputable global think tanks.

Nigeria solidified its position as the largest economy in Africa and became the fastest growing economy in the world. The nation achieved such a feat by restructuring its economy. Successive governments have over the years focused on structural economic transformation for long term economic growth with commensurate development. The economy became diversified not only in terms of output, but also in terms of productivity and revenue generation.

Today, Nigeria no longer depends on oil revenues courtesy of our booming value-added manufacturing-led industrialization and knowledge-based economy. This positive economic trend was further crystallized by the diversification and expansion of the tax net through an efficient and leakage-free tax regime. The expansion of our export basket with processed agricultural commodities and mineral resources produced by our manufacturing sector have ensured steady inflow of foreign exchange and that has stabilized our currency’s exchange rate. We are now a global power in trade.

We are witnessing massive capital influx in form of Foreign Direct Investments(FDIs) due to our favorable business environment, abundance of material resources and a skilled labor population. This has guaranteed an upward trend in our employment rate and a resultant free fall in our unemployment and poverty rates. The skills and technology transfer initiatives that accompanied the massive FDI influx has increased the employability of our working age population and our productivity.

Additionally, the huge tax receipts and social responsibility commitments from our large private sector formed a gargantuan financial resource base that funds our human capital development endeavors. Basic and Post-basic education is now free and compulsory. We have increased the penetration of healthcare institutions across the country and have driven down maternal and child mortality and morbidity rates. We have invested hugely on tertiary education, research and development and such have greatly contributed to our transition to a knowledge-based economy. We also have developed a robust social protection system that adequately caters for our vulnerable geriatric and pediatric population.

Gratifyingly, the number of out-of-school children we have is very insignificant today. Thanks to a proper diagnosis of the problem and the deployment of a robust solution. We understood that we had over 10 million out-of-children and we realized that the almajiri population in Northern Nigeria was the major source. So we restructured our education system in such a manner that it will be able to accommodate and admit a significant percentage of the out-of-children. We also deployed variable policy actions based on the individual peculiarities of Nigeria’s states and regions.

In the North, which contributed the highest number of out-of-school children, we revitalized more than 150 Tsangaya Model Schools and operationalized a standard curriculum for these schools which included modern education, Islamic education and technical/vocational education.

We then systematically engaged all stakeholders involved and secured their support to absorb all the Almajiri population into these schools in batches. The Almajiri teachers continued to offer lessons in Islamic studies while other teachers complemented their efforts with modern and entrepreneurial education.

We then banned the Almajiri system and imposed stringent penalties in case of violation. We trained all the absorbed Almajiri students in batches and the moment we were done with that, we converted all Tsangaya Schools to conventional primary schools. At that point, we had no Almajiri roaming on the streets. So these conventional schools became an addition to the pool of primary schools we have. And we now hardly have a child that is out of school.

In our bid to improve the productivity and employability of our working age population, we effected broad changes in the upper levels of the education sector in a manner that created extra routes to employment. We created a skill-based educational system that complemented the university education system. This new system assured the creation of what we call “new-collar jobs” or skill-based jobs. To achieve this, we constituted a broad apprenticeship program that trained and acquainted students with high demand industrial and technology skills. We then created a certification system for these students which was used to confirm their competencies by industries and organizations that require their services.

With this, many youths who were not able to pass through the university and could not get jobs in the previous system we operated were now suitable for the “new-collar” industry we created. This was how we reduced our unemployment rate and improved the productivity and employability of our working age population. A lot of industries of both local and international origins found Nigeria as a suitable investment destination because of our highly skilled, productive, employable and easily trainable working age population. Resultantly, our national productivity and output increased greatly. And millions of families were brought out of poverty because of the resultant increase in employment and income.

We witnessed a massive reorientation of the entire Nigerian population. The Nigerian people even with huge diversities in ethnicity and religion have been peacefully living together. This stems from the national reorientation exercise that prioritized the understanding of our differences and learning to tolerantly adjust and accommodate one another. The political terrain was sanitized in a way that disincentivized ethno-religious manipulation. We had series of constitutional amendments that reshaped the country towards true federalism where every federating unit is autonomous and productive.

The characteristic recurrent political crises that usually ensued from ethno-religious causations was put to an end by a political settlement arrangement backed by constitutional provisions that mandates the rotation of political powers among the 6 geopolitical zones of the country. This arrangement was conditional and was to be abolished after all geopolitical zones have had their share of political power. The underlying principle was that the frequency of political crises would be reduced. This resulted in smooth political transitions and Nigeria was no longer in a state of constant crisis management. Ultimately, this served as an enabler for the new political coalition that have ruled Nigeria over the years to be visionary and to focus on consolidating on successive efforts to achieve long-term structural transformation.

The rotational system has today been abolished having accomplished its ultimate objective and Nigeria’s political terrain is now completely meritocratic and significantly devoid of ethno-religious divisive undertones. Elections have also become very credible and peaceful. The structural and functional capacities of agencies of government responsible for enforcement of electoral laws and punishing election-related crimes were enhanced. The government also improved the country’s financial intelligence network for effective monitoring of financial flows during election seasons by responsible agencies and resultantly ensured enhanced compliance to financial regulations during election periods by political actors(individuals and parties). These among other measures improved Nigeria’s political climate and sanitized the country’s election processes.

Corruption which was once a major challenge we faced is now alien in this country. Few years back when Nigeria was still in a troubled state, we consistently ranked lower than average in most indexes that measure countries’ transparency, accountability and Integrity. However, the fact that most of the ranking organizations were mostly overseas made it easy for Nigerians and the government to fault the validity and accuracy of the data and methodologies employed.

Resultantly, home-grown transparency, accountability and integrity indexes were designed to assess the compliance of governmental institutions and organizations to national and global anti-corruption and good governance standards, regulations, guidelines and statutes. The indexes ranks these governmental organizations based on their respective compliance levels.

The ranking system exposed a lot of cases of lack of compliance to national and global commitments to anti-corruption and best governance practices. Some of the local statutes that were not being complied to included Freedom of Information Act, 2011; Executive Order No. 001, 2017; Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007; Federal Character Principle; Framework and Guidelines for the Use of Social Media Platforms in Public Institutions, 2019; and Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018.

United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), 2004; Nigeria’s Open Government Partnership (OGP) Action Plan II; Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10 and 16; African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, 2006; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and many others were on the other hand part of the international commitments that a lot of the government institutions contravened even while Nigeria was a signatory to them all.

Based on the discouraging results obtained from the assessment and ranking exercise, Nigeria embarked on a massive public service and institutional reform exercise. Government organizations were restructured and the capacity of public and civil servants was improved through a robust capacity building exercise. Those among them who could not withstand the rigor of the retraining exercise were retrenched in accordance with labour laws and were replaced by young, capable hands.

Accessibility and Functionality of Institutional Websites; Fiscal Transparency and Accountability; Transparency in Procurement; Citizens Engagement, Responsiveness and Effective Feedback Mechanisms; and Effective Human Resources Management were assured by the reformed public and civil service. The combination of these public service reforms and reforms in anti-corruption administration largely alienated the magnitude of corruption in Nigeria. Long-term stability in government, judicial independence and improved citizen consciousness contributed to the establishment and sustenance of this resilient anti-corruption regime.

The insecurity that characterized Nigeria was approached from a holistic perspective. With de-escalated ethno-religious tensions resulting from massive citizen reorientation and improved political settlement, marked improvement in all human development and economic indices and a rejuvenated armed forces; Nigeria applied a hybrid of kinetic and non-kinetic interventions to solve her insecurity problems.

We restructured our security architecture holistically, amended our constitution to legalize state and community policing and rebranded our Federal Ministry Of Interior to Federal Ministry Of Internal Security And Home Affairs. The rebranded Ministry housed new security bodies that were responsible for border and forestland security. We developed and employed efficient technology-based methodologies in the surveillance of our borders and other spaces of concern. We also leveraged spaces that were formerly ungoverned for real estate, recreation, tourism, agriculture, modern livestock management and other industrial endeavors.

Our media sector also restructured itself to conform with the vision of a new Nigeria. While we were still in troubling times, the media adopted a role that was defined by a balance between freedom of press, social responsibility, fact-seeking and healthy media-government relationship. As a guiding philosophy, the media assumed a role that discouraged the glorification of terrorism/Insurgency and encouraged the operationalization of selective censorship or measured reportage of terrorist activities in favor of counterterrorism efforts. This was of course adopted without losing cognizance of the imperative of protecting freedom of expression.

The media continued to consistently condemn acts of terrorism and adopted editorial policies that embodied patriotism while denying the terrorists the notoriety they so much desired. The media and government worked closely towards disincentivizing the lack of balance between patriotic and unpatriotic reportages by discouraging the receipt of funding specifically meant for reporting terrorist incidences from both local and international organizations. This process was driven by pure patriotism. Due to the influence of national reorientation, the love for our country was the only incentive that drove this media restructuring process.

Resultantly, the stability of our economy and security and our status as a global power in trade and commerce guaranteed us improved recognition in the international community. And as we continued to consolidate on our renewed patriotic consciousness, Nigeria defied all odds and rose to take her proper place in the comity of nations. We joined important global power associations including the BRICS(now BRINCS), G-20 and G-8. We also got nominated into the United Nations Security Council as a permanent member.

Deep sigh! How I wish the above exposition was our reality. Sadly, it is just a compilation of many of my dreams which I have overtime documented in a collection I call the “Nigeria of my Dreams”. But the fact that I was able to dream of a prosperous Nigeria(including the details of the road to prosperity) means it could indeed become reality.

Abdulhaleem Ishaq Ringim writes, being an entry submitted for Sana’a da Ilimi Foundation’s Independence Anniversary Essay Competition.

By Uzair Adam Imam 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has urged media houses in the country to stop promoting corrupt citizens. 

EFCC stated that the media sometimes portrayed the approach of the commission in fighting cybercrime as draconian.

Abdurasheed Bawa, the chairman of the anti-graft agency, disclosed this Wednesday in Abuja at the opening of a workshop on financial crime reporting organised for the journalists covering its activities.

Bawa stated that the reportage was perhaps borne out of a poor understanding of the anti-graft agency’s modus operandi.

He added, “I want to use this opportunity to further urge media practitioners to put the interest of our country at heart, particularly as it relates to a conscientious effort not to celebrate the corrupt in our midst.

“I urge you to expose them on the pages of your newspapers, screens of television or on your various online platforms.

“The war against corruption is a worthy fight for the soul of Nigeria and for the future generation; it should not be left to the EFCC alone,” he said.

The workshop was said to be one of the interventions by the commission to improve the capacity of the media to deliver on its constitutional mandate.

By Tijjani Muhammad Musa

Our primary problems in Northern Nigeria (Arewa) as far as the media landscape is concerned are a lack of support and patronage for our own media outlets, shallow-mindedness of our Arewa celebrities and self-centeredness of our social media influencers. Let me briefly explain these.

When a media outlet is floated, whether physically or online, many of our intelligentsia would choose to ignore it and refuse to contribute to its development, survival or sustenance. Some even find it offensive to see their writings featured on such platforms. So how can you imagine them making any effort towards reaching more people via such channels with their brilliant ideas?

This lack of encouragement by the intellectual elites of the Arewa region eventually quashes the zeal of the owners of the medium. So they end up laying their medium to rest, and nobody bothers to ask them why.

Next, our Arewa celebrities are primarily uneducated, digitally unsophisticated or advanced in thinking enough to realize the importance of their newfound status.

Instead of leveraging their popularity to drive home the concerns and aspirations of their people, their region and religion across the country or even globally, most of them just let the star status get into their heads. Thus, they end up as an ill wind that blows nobody good.

Finally, our Social Media influencers, most of them except for a minute few, are more or less acting like local champions, without any focus on using their influence to change the mindset of their followers.

These so-called influencers are constantly striving to create and upload content that only keeps the fire of attention from their followers burning, thereby getting them more and more Likes, comments, and emotes.

Very few among the influencers bother to target being a voice of the masses they represent. In contrast, their voices could be heard echoing the primary issues that concern their embattled region on a national and global scale so that something is done about it.

And they also would refuse to echo and make a trend of burning matters that affect their people, region and religion. A typical example is the acquisition of PVC for the 2023 elections. Have you seen any Arewa Social Media influencers making it a topic of importance? Almost none!

That attitude is unlike that of their counterparts across the divide and globe, who would each lend their support and credence to any trending topic of local, state, regional, national and global concern. Create and add their voices to any other SMI’s effort, so it assumes a loudness nobody can ignore.

Ours would instead choose to write or talk about what will keep their fans entertained, no matter how mundane that is.

Tijjani Muhammad Musa, alias Poetic Tee, is the Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Kano Chapter. He can be reached via mmtijjani@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Auwal Ibrahim

Nigeria is burning. We have to stop it. We can’t afford to lose our dear nation. But who can be of help? The media has a critical role in extinguishing the fire before it goes out of hand.

Information is power, thereby making the media a powerful tool for sending persuasive messages. The more the messages flow in our societies, the higher their ability to shape public discourse. Media is a powerful tool used in shaping public opinion and thereby changing the way people behave, think, and even live sometimes. Unfortunately, the power elites often use it to achieve their aims. In present-day Nigeria, where things are still falling apart, are the media organisations playing a positive or negative role? 

The media has the role of information dissemination, which is accurate, factual and unbiased to a large and scattered audience. Terrorism and insecurity information is not an exception. Therefore, the media should accurately inform the people about future threats, chaos and fear of terror attacks and how to avert them, should they occur.

Also, the media plays a critical role in every society by holding leaders accountable, especially in times of crisis. However, it should be noted that it is not lawful in any way for the media to undermine national security in the process of discharging such responsibilities. 

 Furthermore, it is no gainsaying that the media have to build a nation and not destroy its existing pillars. The media, in other words, can be said to be fire extinguishers and not fire fuel. Through this process, the media can only promote national security and harmony. 

The media can give several contributions to national growth and development if properly managed. However, when the reverse is the case, they will contribute to national underdevelopment or worse.

It is evident in Nigeria today that some media houses have been diverted from their role to being used to spread hate speech and fake news, which may result in violence or more troubles than the one Nigeria currently battles now. Supporting violence, sensationalism, and hatred will do nothing but add to the already burning fire in this country. However, these are not the responsibilities of the media, and hence, they should take heed.

A veteran journalist, Kadarai Ahmed, said, “Despite numerous examples that exist which have proved, including not too long ago in Rwanda, that the conduct of the media can help in, starting, promoting and perpetuating violence and ethnic strife, we have turned a deaf ear to pleas to not become a tool that enables hate. But we have failed to heed these warnings.”

“We have given platforms to the worst among us, the extremists and the bloodthirsty. We have turned militia leaders and criminals into champions. Instead of us to lead a calm and rational discussion on the existential challenges we face with a view to promoting actionable solutions, we have succumbed to hysteria and the next exciting clickbait headline.”

Therefore, the media can positively contribute to the prevention of terrorism, insecurity, and other threats by specifically portraying how other nations responded to such scenarios and how it yielded positive outcomes without bias. In other words, it is known as development journalism.

Muhammad Auwal Ibrahim is a multiple–award–winning journalist, fellow AIJC 2020, Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa. He can be reached via awwalbinibrahim@gmail.com.

By Abubakar Isah Baba

The misrepresentation of northern Nigeria ranges from distorting and falsifying reality, profiling, underreporting, and not reporting about the region by media outlets owned and controlled by others. Apparent and alarming as this is, it has been going on for a long time. This requires no evidence or justification; it is a growing trend, especially when the country propagates alienation over harmony. But who cares? Even those who have the responsibility to do so are busily aggrandising their powers.

But how long it will take the sick region to learn from this great proverb: Until the lion has a historian, the story of the hunt will always favour the hunter. The North was painted black with negative phrases, tales of violence, poverty, unemployment, irresponsible marriages, out-of-school children and whatnot as if there were no other positive realities.

John Campbell attests to the above mischaracterisation in his book, Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink, that “The Nigerian media, mostly headquartered in the Southern part of the country, is routinely insensitive and simplistic in its reportage about Northern Nigeria. And it is the Nigerian media that colors the too-often superficial Western view of the North.” This has a significant effect on the economic decline in the North as no investor will invest in the region that is dangerous, volatile and unpromising.

Apart from the traditional cores of mass communication, which include informing, educating, and entertaining, it is also used for propaganda to gain support or sympathy from the public or authority. EndSARS saga is an indicator of the power of propaganda, for it taught the north a lesson that “Dokin mai baki ya fi gudu” – the South has a much louder voice. Please don’t confuse my lamenting with Afghanistanism (a term used in journalism to describe journalists who shun the problem of their community but go extra-mile in condemning others), far from it. I suggest North should define itself and tell its version of the story; represent itself properly as bias in the news is often backgrounded. Others could not define us nor report us properly. 

Traditional rulers, political leaders, scholars, and concerned people in Northern Nigeria should speedily and strategically address this problem of bad press and misrepresentation of the North through investing in the media and utilising it for the good of their people. With Daily Nigerian, Sahelian Times, Nigerian Tracker and recently The Daily Reality (TDR), we need to see more outlets so we can ship our information without thinking about sinking. Recently, TDR’s publications have changed the North’s fate. Remember CBN and the reopening of the NIRSAL site, Netflix and the Kannywood, etc.

Abubakar Isah Baba writes from Kano. He can be reached via abubakarisahbaba01@gmail.com.