DISCUSSANT: BRO. ABDULROSHEED OKIKI
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. All praises and adorations are due to nobody except Allah, the God of the universe. Whomever Allah guides cannot be led astray and whomever Allah misguides, none can guide him. May His blessings be upon the noblest Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him), his companions and the generality of the Muslims till the day of accountability.
WHY THE MEDIA?
The vital role effective communication plays in human existence could be simply summarized by saying that information is power. Mass media which involve print, electronic and social media therefore are contemporary mean of circulating information to a multitude of people in a diversified society such as Nigeria.
The primary roles of any media across the world are to educate, inform, enlighten and entertain the public on any issue whether at micro or macro level. As beautiful as these roles are, media also perform functions like surveillance of the environment, correlation of the components of society in responding to the environment and then transmission of social heritage.
In fact, the pivotal role of the media has made it an indispensable tool in any society because the availability of information to the public douse tension, doubt or skepticism about government programmes and policies, corporate organizations, socio-religious groups, political groups and notable individuals.
It is through information that the public are kept abreast of happenings in and around them. To get this to happen, the media go extra miles to source for information, analyse the information, spread the information, ideas, messages and so forth to multitude of people over large or wide territories within a relatively short time.
It must be added that as indispensable as the media are, communication outfits can mar the society through their reportage or programming if they fail to be sensitive to happenings in the society particularly issues like religious, ethnic or tribal crisis.
Without doubt, conflict is part and parcel of life. Conflict is an inescapable occurrence in every human interaction, be it at individual, corporate or state level. Disagreements are bound to occur as human beings or nations interact with one another, but the ability to properly manage any ensued conflict or crisis is the most important thing. Hence, the media, as the mirror of the society is more than mechanism for disseminating information but packaging information that will douse tension and create or strengthen society.
MEDIA AND BOKO HARAM CRISIS
Taking a critical look at the media and the management of Boko Haram crisis, one will no doubt agree that the Nigerian media is playing both negative and positive roles in giving information to the public about the activities of the group, about government and public responses to the activities of the group.
Today, different adjectives have since been used to describe the group and its activities since the insurgence several years of ago. Without dwelling much into the cause of the Boko Haram crisis and operation of the sect, a fact that cannot be wished-away was the killing of about fourteen members of the group during a funeral procession by the Nigerian police on the ground that they did not use safety helmet. The then sect leader, Muhammad Yusuf was reported to have written several letters to the Borno State Government and the Borno State Commissioner of Police and called for compensation.
After patiently waiting without any positive response, the group chose to err first and adopted the dangerous strategy to force the government to do it wishes. However, the entire world was witness to the aftermath of the grievances during the period which was showed on an international television (Al-jazeerah) where the entire camp of the group was cleared off by soldiers and the eventual extra-judicial killing of the sect leader, Muhammad Yusuf by the Police. No one was tried for the killing until recently.
It is not doubt that since then, Boko Haram crisis degenerated to the extent that the group keeps on regrouping, re-strategising and killed thousands of people and destroyed properties, media houses, police and military formations inclusive.
In reporting the activities of the sect, Nigerian media has been using series of names to qualify the group which include faceless group, Islamic sect, terrorist group, militant group among others. In fact, the origin of the sect could be traced to Jama’atul Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad led by the executed Muhammad Yusuf and the media called Boko Haram could not be said to be the sect led by the killed leader. In Quran 5 verse 32, Allah says: “….if someone kills another person unless it is retaliation for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth-it is as if he had murdered all mankind. And if anyone gives life to another person, it is as he had given life to all mankind. Then, can the Nigerian media continue to call the group an Islamic militant sect?
Thus, Boko Haram crisis has tested the dexterities of many media houses in reporting conflicts either at communal or national level. Many media houses in Nigeria have failed to recognize the Boko Haram group as a pressure group just like the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) which takes instance as a result of mismanagement in the polity to gain popularity. Another point that must be stated that if actually all members of the group are Nigerians; they have the fundamental rights to be heard and effect necessary positive change in the Nigerian project.
To effectively manage Boko Haram crisis by the Nigerian media therefore, media practitioners that are involved or will be involved in reporting the crisis should seek proper knowledge about the origin, operations and development of the group. It is believed that doing this will open the minds of reporters to distinguishing between what is true or false and project the impact of such report on social harmony. The Prophet (SAW) said: “A person who believes in Allah and the Hereafter should speak about good things or keep quiet.” (Bukhari).
For the fact that the crisis is taking international dimension, assisted by the print, electronic and social media, media houses should place emphasize on the group’s activities that are so expedient in order not to exacerbate the polity. National unity and peaceful co-existence should be seen as the most important social responsibility of any of any media house.
It would be recalled that Thisday Newspaper houses were attacked by the Boko Haram, claiming it was a reaction to poor reportage of its activities. Hence, it is expedient for the media to shun under-reportage of Boko Haram activities and unbalanced report but dwell much on investigative reporting, seeking the truth, know the truth and report the true situation of thing.
WAY FORWARD
Nigerian media has in the past played important role in fighting colonialism, dictatorial regimes and nation building, the Boko Haram crisis creates another opportunity for the Nigerian media to show its acumen in handling the crisis engulfing northern part of the country. Experts in crisis management must be allowed to source for and acquire information about the violence. Because, you cannot give what you do not have unless millions of people will be misled.
Nigerian media should re-invigorate their machineries towards playing mediatory role in ending the Boko Haram crisis in Nigeria by distinguishing properly between propaganda and truth, verify incidences of bombings and other violent acts to actually know whether it was perpetrated by the group or not before going to the press.
Nigerian media should not shirk in their responsibility as the case may be and called the government, Boko Haram and other stakeholders to order on the need to end the crisis through dialogue as many wars are not won on the battle field but on the table (not war-war but jaw-jaw).
Continuous existence of Nigeria as a nation does not lies on the media alone, every Nigerian must rise up to the challenge and acknowledge the fact that there are strengthens in our diversities whether in terms of religious, political or ethnic differences.
This article was prepared for the 2nd Annual Ramadhan series of lectures organised by Hilaal (Crescent) Islamic Centre, Ilorin, Kwara State in 2012......Abdulrosheed Okiki.
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