Anas Aremeyaw Anas – that courageous Ghana’s investigative journalist– appeared in Kano few weeks back to inspire our young aspirants to chart their
own path. Thanks to the McArthur Foundation. It is instituting many funds indifferent places to encourage the culture of responsible journalism indesperate societies.Anas would not appear on any Nigeria Union of Journalist’s (NUJ) platform. His calling is an allergy to the form of patronage journalism we choose to practise in Nigeria, and more than the political class journalists have done much disservice to themselves, to the profession and to the nation. He is the enemy of Nigeria’s form of media practice, where investigative journalism is silent in both concept and practice.
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The Ghana Football Union has just elected a newexecutive through the most stable process in history. It has been undercaretake for some years now, after Anas’ type of journalism brought the world’sattention to the rots in the football house. The officials were exposed andsuspended. It is Anas’s type of practise that now confirms my propound thatwhen the journalist in Nigeria cries foul, it is their share that is denied ina deal.
Anas’ colleague who costarted the idea had beenkilled for the many pulldowns of the powerful in corrupt houses in Ghana, butAnas would not relent. And that must tie to his believe that one dies only intheir time and when it is, one dies anyway, one must. And it is all over in lessons of history,when God chooses someone to teach some lessons, they will live to term to do itexactly God wants it. Nothing changes destiny. It can only delay.
Anas’good example from Ghana and the good work in progress there is a remark thatchange and progress in democracy do not happen by magic, wish or prayer. It happenswith a democratic press, determined by personal skills, hardwork and will ofthe journalist; organisational objective to do the right thing by checkingeverything and everyone.
Sincethe Freedom of Information Bill was passed, no single case is recorded, makinga legal case for a journalist demand for information. After wasting time,energy and donor money to get it, we went to sleep. And it does not shame us inany way. It is like, ‘it is cool’.
That is the reason we do not have a vibrant press that can bite and chew to put public officials on their feet, and no one outstanding journalist. With its little count of citizens, Ghana produced two such great minds of the pen for world standards. With our over 200 million number, we do not have one to show.
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All over the world, development, public progress andchange do not happen without serious checks on the bureaucracy – thebottlenecks within public institutions where every public policy is processed.May bad things happen there that the elected public officer will never see, andcannot do much about it until it is reported and it is never done. When it isreported, weak government institutions of justice will swallow the cases.
Who then does the checks? It is journalists. Andthat is hardwork. We have acknowledged the challenges of doing so, at differentlevels which discourage and deter the journalist and the media organisation todo, since they are affected by the decades of institutional collapse as well. Theindividual journalist’s blessed mind, heart, courage and pen are more than thepoliticians’ capacity to inform and make change possible.
But the will is lacking in the majority, even with recent political cover, support and even grants to support courageous practice to check bureaucratic excesses against the public interest. The McArthur Foundation and the many institutions dedicated to supporting causes of investigative journalism are trying to help mould and empower our institutions, fundamentally the media.
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Lots of money is in the air, but the journalist inNigeria is not even thinking how to make proposals to access it. They few thatdo will not make the desired impact because their reportage is seen by themainstream media as strange, and they left unacknowledged or edged from influencingpractise. What the majority does is to idle in thinking how to get money fromblackmailing politicians and from unnecessary patronage.
It is so bad now. The encorruption of the mediaindustry made journalists selfstyled professional politicians now, acting on,and for, the interest of the sorts of politicians whose malpractice led to thesame devaluation of principles setting up journalism. The bad behaviour andpartisanship practice are part reasons for the ineffects of the much trainingjournalists undergo, and for the disinterest many willing organisations willnot invest in more training.
The currentsin Nigeria shows how many journalists lost it on writing even the noncriticalstories and join the political sentiments, criticising and killing every goodpublic policy conceived and implemented for short- and long-term corrections ofpast errors, acting more like opposition members taking on government overevery trivial issue, by counting every breath of the President who is only oneof the hundreds officials in public offices, who may even be the direct responsiblesfor most of the issues affecting the public.
Thereare few courageous minds, who should have made the difference, but the politicsof intimidation, fear, harassment, denial and disowns by the selfappointedmighties in editorial, their minds are currently wasting somewhere in theannals of professional damages. It is sad. Many of our good talents are wastingunder benchers who would waste or pull their talents down and discourage theirefforts.
Democracyis not an end. It is not all akin to African culture, nor is it supposed to bethe way we want it to be manipulable to selfish interests. It is largely only afallacy, a cheap means by which the meanest minnow can get to mess a leader andthe leadership for just one trivial personal matter. This is just the reasonthe best minds will never want to serve, and bad persons find the happiness inthe pave of way and easy ride to public office..
Educationis only a variable in human capacity. From what we are seeing in Nigeria today,education is useless if it is not accompanied by good character, mind andheart. Emir Sanusi was right. We have ‘uneducated’ leaders but just as we have‘uneducated’ emirs, teachers, scholars, and clerics. It is a general problem.And the honourable thing to do is no one should push the blame. We are allinvolved in different ways.
‘Uneducated’ in what sense but? But the time and context of his remarks only put him in more disadvantage because he has a task to operationalise and specify leadership and educated. In this age, we are all leaders in our own way, at our own level and we are expected to take responsibility same as demanded from an elected leader.
TheEmir, more than all of us, does know but forgot to say that a leader is areflection of those he leads, one of which is him. He knows the responsibilityGod demands from each of us, and as leaders in respective, we are bound bycertain obligations. One of us is pitiable – the journalist – who is moreresponsible and accountable to all of us. More than all of us, journalists holdpublic trust in ways that are critical than those of political leaders.
Manyof them will be surprised some day. They talk much rubbish and criticise politiciansand their bad ways. We also know they hate the few good politicians and leaderswe have around because they do not give money or money avenues, or whodiscourage corruption. They will find out one day that their cumulative effectand disservice to the people, society and the nation will quadruple those of apolitician – may be same one man they said rubbish about or denied hiscontributions.
Indemocracy, change and progress, do not come by the mind and heart of one man only– the Chief Executive or anyone at the mantle. But they can come by the mightof a strong heart and mind of one man with a pen and platform to write for. Ina country where God is most pronounced but most denied and laziness is an order,which cannot be asked for by any one man.
Wewill continue to ask and to plead with journalists’ majority, “Please go outand report. Reporting is to take direct, personal account of what happens,first, before telling it.” It is hard work and expensive in energy, time andmoney. If you cannot stand it, stop being journalists. Go sell tomatoes. It isbetter and more honourable.
Stop stealing stories others worked hard to account for with hard work and determination of your heartful colleagues. Have your own heart and work hard. It is not fair. It is criminal when you do not acknowledge the source. It is theft of intellectual property. And it will soon take to court and sentences.
Hassan Alhaji Hassan can be contacted on 08032829772/08050551220 (text only with full names and address)a[email protected]
The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect WikkiTimes’ editorial stance.
