Journalism In Nigeria Is As Comatose As The President By Lulu Fadoju

President Buhari has been out of the country for over two months. We are told he is ill, probably with oxygen passed to his nose while lying on a bed somewhere in London plugged to a series of monitors-hanging on to dear life. With doctors walking in and out muttering unintelligibly about his health status.


Or is there a better explanation to what’s keeping President Buhari this long in London, and also keeping him away from communicating his health status to the people he owes it to- Nigerians?

I wake up every day to find commentaries on the President’s health. Some ask that we pray for him, others- with not so kind words. But I don’t blame the latter. I mean, this is the same man who campaigned with transparency as his catchphrase, asides change. But that has become mere rhetoric in the face of his health status, as there is something underhand going on.

But I’m not here to add my voice to many others on why the President or his handlers owe Nigerians information on what’s going on. I’m rather disturbed by how journalism has the gone the same way as the President- comatose.

Or haven’t you noticed the trend? Some political analysts keep questioning the silence of pressure groups who were up in arms against Goodluck Jonathan, as against questioning journalists who are traditionally watch-dogs in every sane society. Oh, maybe they realised that our journalism is as good as dead. Or is it comatose?

If it were not, do I or anyone else need to remind our journalists or their principals of their role in the society- to maintain a healthy scepticism, put policies/issues in proper perspective and give clarity to the obscure.

So why is there no proper investigative piece on the President’s health status? Why is the watch-dog just content with press-releases thrown at him by the mail-boy or with mere ruminations over ancient bones instead of venturing out to hunt some game?

For starters, we can begin with President Buhari’s health history, how many times he’s left the country and what for- prior to becoming President- and finally a continuous pressure on the government to reveal Buhari’s health status. Nobody said it would be easy, but nobody asked you to take up the profession. I know it may seem insensitive to say that- as it is to security personnel also- but you still expect them to get the job done.

But you know why most media-houses (particularly print-media) shy away from taking up their core responsibility? I’ll show you.

I once worked for a technology blog and one of our in-house policies was to reject freebies- cash, gadgets (unless given for an unbiased review, which we made clear and most times returned said gadgets a few weeks after)- in whatever form. But I guess other media-houses I came across didn’t share our ideology.

During this period I covered a few press conferences, which turned out to be jamborees where the company echoed content they could have mailed to respective media-houses without dragging us down. But then, how would they have passed across an envelope with our t-fare and in some cases, mobile devices as a parting gift. And they do this for all media-houses- including your favourite news prints.

On one occasion, an intern who didn’t know about the company policy attended one of such press conferences and was given an envelope. She was told five thousand naira was in it to cover her t-fare.

She got back to the office with the news- that was really nothing, a smile and an envelope. But lost the smile as soon as our editor-in-chief informed her that we don’t accept Trojan horses.

Our editor called up the company’s PR officer, a lady, and the conversation got interesting. She suggested we take it this one time because her bosses must not know that it was rejected.

After she realised she couldn’t change our stance, she sent her account details and the money was returned – what she did with it, is no concern of ours.

So, there you have company executives who’ll find a reason to dole out cash to journalists under whatever pretext, and a PR officer who seemed to have never experienced the rejection of such.

So, what do you expect that journalists would write after the warm gesture? You guessed right- green grasses, gentle breeze and a yellow sun.

But this is not only true with the technology space. It was borrowed from what’s working in the greater society. So it’s no surprise to me that our journalists are not calling the threat that the President’s disappearance is.

But, do we point fingers at the journalists or their principals?

“Nigerian journalists cannot function in isolation of the realities of the system in which they operate”, say Olumide Adulojo, a reporter with TheSheet.ng. “The average journalist is still looking for what to eat, because his take home can barely settle his basic needs, talk more of luxury or training. With non-existent insurance, who would take care of him should anything happen in the unpredictable world of investigative journalism… Nigerian journalist can sure do better but we might have to cut them some bit of slack,” he adds.

Richard Asiegbu Jr, an Enugu based Sports Journalist with Urban Radio 94.5fm says, “Most media houses are created with the sole purpose of making money. That defeats the editorial policy a company should stand by.” He adds that “it’s a horrible cycle where labour laws and the judicial system are too weak to help a bold journalist. We live in a country where the freedom of information law has little or no value… The journalist is comatose, but most times it’s not his doing. The system has bent, distorted, blinded and brainwashed the Nigerian journalist.”

And now the journalist has been excused of his duty, wouldn’t it be interesting if Boko-Haram claims to have kidnapped the President, won’t the FG then have to prove otherwise? Although that’s a bit unlikely since the government keeps releasing snippets of pictures that prove nothing beyond the fact that the President can sit at a dinning table.

But we don’t have to put our hopes on wishful thinking or wait for the next photo ops, but rather support thorough journalism, ask that media-house come up with better revenue models and also that our journalists stop eating at the king’s table. And just maybe they’ll get their appetite back.

Let the words of Chinua Achebe, in an address given to the Anambra State Council of the NUJ in 1987, be a reminder to our journos that, “What makes for an effective watch-dog tradition is… a solid and consistent body of sceptical opinion in the press unwilling to live by hand-outs of paper, money or food”.

So, dear Nigerian journalists, how is the President this morning?