The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai making remarks after receiving the report |
Nigerian Army PhotoSelf-censorship
by the media is a moral act of repressing, limiting, holding back or
classifying information from public disclosure through mutual
understanding. In most cases, editors exercise control over what to
investigate and report despite the news value and commercial benefits.
Imbibing the practice of self-censorship
also protects journalists and media organisations from prosecution or
persecution in the event of negative consequences of their disclosure.
For instance, in the evening of April 23, 2015, a credible piece of news
on terrorists was issued by PRNigeria, a press release platform. Less
than an hour later, the platform sent an SMS to Editors requesting them
to embargo a segment of the story that had ‘Thuraya’ with an updated
version. The media complied with the ‘directive’ and the intelligence
operation was successful.
Several instances abound where
self-censorship, through systematic collaboration between the media and
security agencies contributed to the success of military operations in
Nigeria. Such restrictions serve common interest, especially in
promoting best practices, moral standards as well as protecting life and
property. For instance, when Nigerian troops had misunderstanding with
their GOC in Maimalari Barracks on May 14, 2014, intelligence officers
privately appealed to the media to be mindful of the danger of using the
strong word ‘Mutiny’ as against a lighter word ‘Protest.’ Mutiny,
according to them, is punishable by long jail-terms or death. At least a
section the media were considerate enough to substitute the word in
attempt to save the career and lives of the soldiers.
Self-censorship has been used in battle
of wits among parties in conflicts, not necessarily against the main
enemies. There were attempts by some neighbouring countries to rubbish
the integrity of Nigerian military by insinuating that our troops
displayed cowardice. There was an incidence at a border town in August
25, 2014, followed by an embarrassing media leak from a neighbouring
country to disgrace our troops. The then Defence spokesperson, General
Chris Olukolade swiftly responded by issuing a statement with military
jargon of ‘Tactical Manoeuvre’ which was widely used and celebrated by
the media. Surprisingly, few months later the troops involved in the
‘tactical manoeuvre’ succeeded in launching aggressive military assaults
and recovered the border town. While the enemies and ignoramuses might
be laughing at the drama and the jargon, the military tacticians were
focused on victories.
Meanwhile, between the months of January
and April 2015 there were series of interfaces between the media and
security agencies on planned strategies to recover occupied territories
from Boko Haram when Sambo Dasuki was the National Security Adviser. The
media bought into the idea of self-restraint over some classified
information on the counter-terrorism campaign. As patriotic stakeholders
in Nigerian project, most editors became more conscious and prevented
the inadvertent revelation of military secrets. While some of the
journalists deliberately omitted terrorists’ propaganda from their
bulletins, others suppressed news that could be injurious to national
security. Till today many Nigerian are yet to know how over 20 towns
were recovered in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States within the short-period
of election postponement and before the handing over to Buhari
administration in May 29, 2015. The media protected the military
strategies and supported our troops throughout the period.
The point here is that while security
agencies use weapons to confront criminal elements, the media use their
pens to frame the public perceptions on those efforts. The positive
media narratives on the counter-insurgency operations, not only boosted
the morale of the troops and built the public confidence, the
anti-terrorism editorial policies also weakened the fighting spirits of
terrorists.
However, conflicts sometimes brew
between security agencies who desire to control information and the
media that dig for fresh facts and newsworthy information from credible
authorized and anonymous sources.
The role of the media is basically to
promote public awareness; shape public opinion; influence decision
makers and mobilize support and resources for public good. On the other
hand, critical institutions are mandated to provide services, gather
intelligence and respond to emergencies and educate the public amongst
others.
The recent mistrust between security agencies and the media over the arrest of publishers of the SaharaReporters, Sowore Omoyele and that of the Premium Times,
Dapo Olorunyomi is unwarranted and worrisome. More disturbing is the
involvement of Nigerian Army in the latest fracas. Surprisingly, the
Nigerian Army under the current Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur
Buratai has received tremendous media goodwill and publicity than any
branch of security sector in Nigeria. The positive media exposure on the
Army is so overwhelming that other branches like Defence Headquarters,
Airforce, Navy and other intelligence organs get lesser mentions in the
press.
More painful is the fact that the name
of General Buratai, one of the finest and humble officers is frequently
mentioned in the impasse that the Federal Government and even the
Nigerian Army, as an institution disassociated themselves from the legal
tussle.
It is also funny that one of the lawyers
denounced attempts for a peaceful resolution of the impasse and even
threatened to invoke cybercrime law against the media. Cybercrime law
was signed by the previous administration to tackle fraudulent and
criminal elements not for intimidating the media who have continued to
save the military and other security apparatuses from ridicule and
imminent exposure to danger.
The Chief of Army staff should be wary
of busy-body consultants or lawyers who may wish to profit from the
crisis by instigating him to take irrational steps against the media. No
one fights the press publicly, especially credible media, in attempt to
enforce censorship, not self-censorship, and get away with it
unscathed. The security agencies and the media need one another towards
ensuring sustainable peace and progress and stability of the polity.
Yushau A. Shuaib is a former
spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). He is the
founder and chief executive of PR Nigeria. He is a PR consultant can be
reached by email HERE. His official website is www.yashuaib.com
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
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