The Nigerian State: Integrity, Politics of Language and Objective Reporting

12 September 2009

By Adebiyi Jelili Abudugana

Puzzled by the hyperactive intensity and murkiness of the topical developments in Nigeria, I was forced to square myself with how survival struggle has shattered our sensibilities. My nightmare which began with how Boko Haram was re-casted as a national threat rocketed with how experts in propaganda broadcasting viewed Sanusi’s interventions in our banking sector. This nightmarish feeling began when I read a news report written by one Joseph Ushigiale and Segun Awofadeji  titled, “Boko Haram: We’re ready for Battle, New Leader Says.”  While trying to a look at other news items, I observed that same story was reported by Guardian under the caption, “Boko Haram Threatens to Attack Lagos, Claims Link to Al-Queda.” Profiling the same issue, Kunle Aderemi captured it under the caption, Boko Haram Militants Plan to Attack Lagos, Ibadan-They Can’t Try it-Police.” In a nutshell, this narrative was a foremost headline in all the National Dailies. I was skeptical of the trueness of the reporting but could not affirmatively proclaim their questionability, so, my decision to use tools of historical validation to find out which is which. In the midst of trying to put my findings in black and white, the news of the five bank MDs’ took its toll. As someone whose academic training requires cross-evaluation of sources to establish facts of an historical event, I put calls across to a number of friends in the banking sector. These were emblematic individuals who, all things being equal, will not taint truth with falsehood. I was stunned hearing them speak in tongues as they began to educate me that Northern Agenda is being scripted by Sanusi. Some of them went as far as hypothesizing the religious agenda slogan. Could this be damage control tricks or that my friends were merely saying this so that customers will retain trust in their banks and hence, guarantee their job? Were these individuals the ones merely involved in the attempt to obscure the Sanutization drive of the banking sector? We may need to take a more observant look at these issues in light of some salient questions before we can affirmatively establish our case.

While trying to decode the Boko Haram rhetoric, it seems more methodical to have a leap into the temporal stretch of the past, which by all indication is as an integral part of our present. For this reason, we may need to recount how the hawkish George Bush worked with the neoconservatives to vocalize the Iraqi accumulation of Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) as unassailable truth. Intelligence reports amidst other authenticating claims were used in validating the pronouncement which turned out to be one of the greatest deceits in human history. With Bush, in the broadcast and propagation of such tissues of lies were scholars, media houses and even, political elites across the longitude and latitude of the globe. What was sensationalized and romanticized as a reason for invading Iraq was after unprecedented havoc had been wrecked pronounced as a mere fabrication of lies, conjured and clothed in the garment of truth by some vested blocs. The editorialization of the “Boko Haram” supposed much publicized attack on other regions of the country is most probably a replay of the Bush media and vested blocs’ manipulative gimmicks. As it was alleged, the purported claim was issued by one Mallam Sanni Umaru, a say-to-say new leader of Muhammad Yussuf group. A critical look at how the story was reported by some of the media outfits is stark revealing. While reporting the story Joseph Ushigiale and Segun Awofadeji, and Kamal Tayo Oropo,  et al wrote two different narrations with sameness of focus, context and theme. Both reporters wrote a story line which featured two main issues, one on “Boko Haram” purported attack and the other, on Wole Soyinka. The way they presented the Boko Haram issue followed same typology as it were with the similarity one notices in that part of their story on Wole Soyinka. There are a lot of similarities in their introductory and concluding remarks and the minor difference is how they paraphrased their sentences. There is the need to quote extracts of their reports.

The emergent leader of the controversial Boko Haram religious sect, Sanni Umaru has vowed to continue waging a religious war "in Nigeria which no force on earth can stop."Umaru, in an e-mail sent to newsrooms, said his group's aim "is to Islamise Nigeria and ensure the rule of the majority Muslims in the country," adding that "we will teach Nigeria a lesson, a very bitter one." But speaking at a news conference in Lagos Friday, Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has described the current effort by the federal government to address the Boko Haram uprising in some states in the North as "a flight into escapism." Introductory part of one Joseph Ushigiale and Segun Awofadeji’s report

TWO weeks after the crackdown on the extremist Islamic sect Boko Haram, the group regained its voice yesterday, threatening to cause more violence with the southern part of the country as its major target. Yesterday too, Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka said the alleged extra-judicial killing of the sect's leader Mohammed Yusuf and other members of the group was deplorable, regardless of the gravity of the crime they committed. … Introductory part of Kamal Tayo Oropo,  et al’s report

The Nobel Laureate stated that "I abhor all forms of extra-judicial killings and there is no evidence of a rigorous attempt by government to pursue the killers and everyone went to sleep and these again went unchallenged. So these are the root causes of Boko Haram where language of appeasement has been used to encourage it or these things are happening with government's tacit support." concluding part of one Joseph Ushigiale and Segun Awofadeji’s report

Speaking with journalists in Lagos yesterday, Soyinka declared: "I am joining others who have protested the extra-judicial murder of the Boko Haram." Concluding section of Kamal Tayo Oropo, et al’s report on Boko Haram

 Further analysis and evidence suggests that they made use of same quoted statement extracts from the alleged mail that was sent to them. Can all these similarities be accidental, not one or two, but in the entire body of their reports. There are two probable causes of this. These are: arranged reporting and or, sharing news headline/items with a colleague who without extra effort to corroborate the fact of the matter merely re-constructed the story line by retaining the same theme and re- paraphrasing the initial report. If one further stresses the second option, it is more probable that other meticulous users of such fabricated news item will redirect the theme of their story lines so as to prevent unprofessional duplication and regurgitation. However, with the story line of Ushigiale and Segun Awofadeji, and Kamal Tayo Oropo, et al following the same order, in theme and method of presentation, one is on a safer ground to conclude that the news item was fabricated and circulated by vested groups within the media.

Not done with the aforesaid, a more snooping mind will conjecture why is it that none of the newspapers which reported this did not provide readers with the original text of what was sent by the alleged successor of Muhammad Yussuf. So, it so happened that all of them forgot to produce the full text and readers should accept such on its face value. This sounds suspicious and unprofessional. At least, one will have expected our big boys in the media to have learnt from their foreign colleagues how such issues are reported. At least, whenever al-Qaeda, a group which one of the media houses spelt as Al-Queda releases a text, the full text will not only be publicized but its content will at first be examined to establish its veracity. It is possible to go as far as using the Internet Service Provider address (IPS) to authenticate where the e-mail containing the text was issued and the real identity of the person that issued such mail. All of these were not done before the press ballooned the news item into thin air. Can this be taken as responsible reporting? One will not be wrong by arguing that some group of individuals are preparing ground for eminent assault on those who do not share their faith. Such medievalists’ Formula of Adjuration methodology may spell doom for both the behind the screen patent authors of the said letter and the country as a whole. This is because this unprovoked development has prepared grounds for unmitigated attack on a group so suspected as ’Boko Haram,’ Also, under the guise of acting on a news alert, police may conspire with some vested blocs or unilaterally cook a story that demands unwarranted crack down on some peace loving Muslims. Such horrible developments have started rearing their horrendous heads with the irascible arrest of a group of responsible citizens which newspaper pitiably reported as members of the Lagos “Boko Haram.” Latching on to existing script, some men of the press went about satisfying their ulterior desires by reporting thus: “Boko Haram Members Arrested in Lagos.” What they reported was a direct opposite of what happened. These reporters, which include Jide Osokoya amongst others who were not at the venue of the incidence never made attempt to give the alleged suspect a chance to explain their sides of the story before sensationalizing the whole story using screaming headlines. Those arrested where self-employed graduates who publish a Lagos based Muslim magazine. As at the time of their arrest, they were working on the next edition of their magazine, whose foremost focus was “Boko Haram”. They were accosted by men of the Nigeria police who demanded their identity and asked them anything for us. Feeling no need to encourage bribery, these gentle men decided not to give the bribery obsessed officers not even one kobo. Their refusal to part with their money saw the policemen searching their bags, upon which they stumbled on copies of the magazines. In their usual corruptible ways, the police turned the whole issue upside down so that they can make something tangible out of the arrest. To further give the situation an authentic picture, they arrested wives of these young and hard working Nigerians, a crime which was not worthy of our reporters’ attention.  This portends a delicate future for us as Nigerians because issues of this dimension can easily trigger religious commotion. I hope the public is wise enough to call the government, police and the media to order before it will be too late.

The crisis of objective reporting and integrity which we have just pointed out seems to be a national problem. If this claim is to the contrary, why is it that the Sanusitization of the banking sector has been shrouded in parochially generated controversy? There are the religious and the ethnical hypotheses being deplored by the protagonists of the failed bank chiefs to argue their case. Why is it they never gave it a second thought, the need to properly investigate the veracity of Sanusi’s claim before coming to the defence of their breadwinners?  Have they bothered to recall that one of the big boys in the public sector whose romance with Cecilla Ibru, ex MD/CEO of Oceanic bank is well known to the public, had once informed Nigerians of the most expected bursting of the bubble in the banking sector. In one of his interviews, while responding to a question that, ‘did he feel  diminished when listed along Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola et al?,’ the loquacious chap, Jimoh Ibrahim responded:

I feel heavily diminished…. In the first instance, the press is wrong to say that we are billionaires. Which billionaires? Myself? Femi? Aliko? There’s no billionaire among all of us. We owe banks. Have we finished paying our debts? If you have not finished paying your debts and you are celebrating that you are a billionaire, what useless billionaire? We borrow money from the banks to trade. We created this heavy debt portfolio in the banks and we’ve got to pay this money back to the banks so that the young entrepreneurs can come and borrow too. And, how can you go and be buying boat with overdraft? Are you not a mad man? This money is borrowed from the bank. Let’s stop embarrassing the public. Nobody is a billionaire. You borrow money, you have not finished paying and you’re looking at you assets vis-à-vis your debts. You’re having assets that are not producing anything. Some people have assets that are worth N100 billion that have not produced anything in the last ten years. What useless asset is that one? Honestly, with due respect, apart from the old people - the Ibrus, the Dantatas and all these old elderly people - we haven’t got billionaires in our generation yet. (Daily Sun, Sunday, July 29, 2007)

One may not need a lengthy analysis to establish how impregnated with meanings is Jimoh Ibrahim’s public outburst, which had since been published on Sunday, July 29, 2007. Like the bank MD’s/CEO’s and other bed partners of these financial managers who are involved in such shady deals, Jimoh was fully aware of the consequences of their inordinate activities in instigating the sudden death of our banks. The heavy debt portfolio which he pronounced they created, he further submitted was not used for the intended purposes. He authoritatively pronounced that amongst them, that is, bank debtors, are those who have used borrowed money to acquire non-productive assets. This vituperation also carries with it, a more affirmative interpretation which is suggestive of the MD’s/CEO’s consciousness of such non-productive borrowings hence, indirectly implicating them of conspiracy. So annoyed was Jimoh about such stinking situation that he used such words as What useless asset is that one? to express his disillusion about the dirty deals known to core of the core. To deliver a more deadly blow, Jimoh went further to asseverate:

“Borrowing from the bank and not paying back is an economic crime. So, we must pay back. After we have finished paying, then we can celebrate, have a dinner. What happens is that because they give that false impression, the public is now blaming them for not giving more to charity and giving to the needy yet they can’t explain why…. But you have somebody who owes banks about N170 billion. If you give N1 billion to each person, that’s a lot of people. If you give this money to young entrepreneurs to work with, you’ll be stunned at the number of employment they’ll generate. …

This statement is more instructive as it intimates us with the extent of the degeneration in the banking sector. In the first place, it shows a number of our debtors have not been servicing their loan, thus, leaving us with the likelihood of a bad debt. To recover such money, Jimoh went ahead to submit, “..I will set up a special task force”. Can it be said that what Sanusi is doing is exactly, the line of action which Jimoh Ibrahim had once suggested. In its forms and methodology, Debt Recovery Task Force which Jimoh had vouched to set up will operate the way it has been with the Sanusi sanitization exercise. Then, why is it that Jimoh is making unnecessary noise about what is been done by CBN, after all the money is that of the people as he truly proclaimed in his interview. Since the ongoing Sanutization exercise, the most vocal person amongst the affected magnate has been Jimoh. He has used everything to his advantage in the bid to exonerate himself of any wrong doing. Having taken time to study all his press statements and paid adverts, in none of it did he refute the claim that he had once attempted to smuggle out Cecilla in his personal jet. Cecilia herself never issue statement of rebuttal.  Keeping silent over such issue is practically the same as the acceptance of guilt because it is about one of the weightiest allegations so far raised against Jimoh and Cecilia Ibru. A right thinking person will be too curious to know why Jimoh wanted to do that and why Cecilia, the ex- Oceani Bank MD/CEO to whom Jimoh is passionately attached. While the revelation of Jimoh’s indecent romance with Cecilia was unfolding, Sanusi released a nerving statement which exposed Jimoh’s guard . Were it not for the Sanutization cleansing drive, Nigerians would not have known that Jimoh was given a debt buy-out option of 2 billion for a loan of 14 billion which he got from Oceanic bank. Whose money?, I put it to Jimoh Ibrahim and his sympathizers. To whose advantage and disadvantage is such a fraudulent clause?, Jimoh’s or other unfortunates depositors of the bank. Is such attitude not closing the doors against young entrepreneurs, whom Jimoh felt needed loan to develop their ideas and generate real economic activities? In my heart of hearts, I strongly feel such agreement is symbolic of robbing Peter to pay Paul in the auditing parlance. We can also consider it as another technique of siphoning money which could either be to Jimoh’s sole benefit or to that of both Cecilla and Jimoh. As scenario experts, I am suggesting that EFCC factor this leading clue into their investigation, in the bid to unravel the 2-billion bazaar that was offered Jimoh Ibrahim.

Another dimension to Jimoh’s outburst is that it also makes scenario experts to discern the probability of a doctored balance sheet and also of the Profit and Loss (PL)account of each banks. Given the veracity of Jimoh’s statement, We created this heavy debt portfolio in the banks, those endowed with analytical insights will be tempted to ask, was this made known to depositors by these ex-bank MD’s/CEO’s? In the light of this will another leading question flourishes which is, did the heavy debt portfolio created by Jimoh Ibrahim and cos, reflect in the annual balance sheet and the Profit and Loss accounts of these banks? If not, why? The obvious and indisputable fact is that the balance sheet of these banks was overwhelmingly doctored such that it creates a good and healthy impression. Here Sanusi seems to have got it right that these bank chiefs were involved in manipulating their balance sheets so as to give a false impression of their banks’ performances. One is also taken aback that those who are shouting Northern or religious agenda were so beclouded in emotionalism as not to take incisive look into this matter. Another more interesting dimension to this aspect of the messy issue is that none of the bank chiefs has denied doing this. Rather than refute this claim with facts, they have rather being making issue with the approach and methodology. Do they have such moral rights to demand such because they are guilty of that more than any body? Where lies integrity, as Erastus Akingbola would claim that such is needed as a basic principle for nation building.  Akingbola one of the troubled ex-bank chiefs, who also coordinate one of the evangelizing sections in one of the Houses of God, once felt the compelling need to right what is wrong about our country. Thus, he decide to set-up Inspiration FM. Akingbola’s objective is to use, “the mass media to redress and reconstruct our national value system. We do not preach religion. We preach godliness, morals, ethics and sound value…We communicate the right message that will assist our youth achieve lofty ambitions and greatness through hard work, godliness and civic principles… This is our brand identity. At Inspiration FM we believe we can re-mould our battered social character, we believe we can reshape the future of our society for better." Laudable idea but what is the band of leadership Erastus stands for after running away from investigation?

If UNILAG motto, In deed and in truth, is anything to go by, Akingbola has further vindicated Sanusi’s claim by evading arrest. As a man of God who ministers and also wants to inculcate godliness, morals, ethics and sound value into the minds of the younger generation, it would be more thoughtful of him to have surrendered himself for proper investigation. What will he tell the members whom he teaches the doctrine of the faith when taking to task on one of his statements:

People know you as a banker; can you tell us other sides of you? Yes also am a pastor at the Redeemed Christain Church of God, am a Sunday school teacher as well, am a jocular father at home, and I joke with my staff too…

Mr. Erastus, can you please convince us that your other sides being exposed by the CBN is baseless and at best, an attempt to blackmail you. Why have you not stayed back to prosecute your case afterall Cecilia and others are slugging it out with the CBN and EFCC. When have you become a human rights activist who will understandably use the NADECO route to avoid political persecution. May be, there is now the failed bank chief’s route that Akingbola and co have discovered. What is it that is wrong in Akingbola submitting himself to the EFCC if he is sure of his innocence after all this anti-corruption agency is not the Gestapo type. Akingbola’s hide and seek game has to a reasonable extent indicted him of abusing people’s fund as so pronounced by the CBN. What article of moral values and godliness so demands that Akingbola should be on the run without setting the records straight that he is not guilty of the alleged financial misdemeanor. For opting for this approach, Erastus and his protagonists should be reminded that he who preaches equity must come with clean hands. We should be courageous enough to ask the allies of our pastor-Banker if there is a religious and ethical justification for Akingbola’s action. I hope we are not falling or have not fallen prey of the commercialization of our parishes, synagogues, churches and mosques, a project whose foundation is economization of religious messages. At least, in Nigeria, one of the easiest ways to make money, cool one for that matter, is religion. By getting the big boys on the front role, attendance will surely increase in one’s congregation and of course the principle of magnifier effect will take its toll. Even, such partnership will guarantee jobs for members of the congregation who will in turn give back to God through our pastors and imams.  For beneficiaries of such religious economization, exposing their source of livelihood will be seen as a violation of a scared contract that was facilitated and cemented in the house of God. So, one should not be jolted by their use of the politics of language to distract us from the main issue.

Least I forgot, in the event Akingbola refused to surrender himself for arrest, I will mobilize distinguished alumni of our prestigious University of Lagos to initiate the process of re-naming the postgraduate hall which he built for the University and named after himself. If his name should continue to appear in one of the most central place in the University, I am afraid our citadel will no longer have moral basis to lay claim to training complete graduate. With his name boldly written on the hall, we are telling our students to imbibe his ways. How do we justify this with our university logo and the philosophy of our founding fathers?

The Nigerian state is now at a crossroad where fraud, corruption and subjectivity have stamped its marked presence in all strata of our lives. To let both ends meet, everybody is always involved in using one or two tricks in defending a bad course. This has critical implications for the development of our country because what the media, religious protagonists and my friends in banking sector fail to know is that, the money being mismanaged is that of the hardworking Nigerians who are earning a decent living. One just needs to imagine how you will feel if these banks collapse with one’s money or that of his parents gone down the drain. Who will come to the rescue of the merchant dealers who are topping the lists of the depositors in our banks? We need to change our perspective and reactions to national issues if at all we want God to help us in re-designing the destiny of our country. Why distort and fabricate news items because you are critical of someone else’s religion and use the name of God to defend a case of corruption and abuse of public trust. Damage control gimmicks will not lead us anywhere but only compound our travails.

The author, Mr. Adebiyi Jelili Abudugana, was a former student leader in UNILAG. He can be reached through abudugana2000@yahoo.com

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