NIGERIA MEDIA MONITOR
#03-37 MONDAY 21 SEPTEMBER, 1998
* MEDIA MANAGER QUIZZED
* BAGAUDA KALTHO: POLICE SUPPORT BIU’S CLAIM
* EDITORS ELECT NEW OFFICERS, CALL FOR ABROGATION OF OPPRES SIVE LAWS
* GOVT TO HOLD ON TO SHARES AT DAILY TIMES
* MULTICHOICE SETTLES PIRACY DISPUTE WITH CHARLIE BOY
* MOSHOOD FAYEMIWO RELEASED, RELIVES ORDEALS
* WE WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE - GEN. ABUBAKAR
NEWSREEL
MEDIA MANAGER QUIZZED
The General Manager of Ondo State Radio, a government-owned station and a director of the state television station have been quizzed by security agents over the airing of a political advertisement considered offensive by government.
The radio manager, Mr. Sola Oluwatuyi, was invited by security agents in connection with the advert while the television station's director, the announcer who broadcast the advert and another unidentified worker of the radio station were also interrogated on 11 September.
Mr. Oluwatuyi was asked to explain how the tape of the advert, believed to have been placed by the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, got to the studio and the person who paid for it.
In the advert, broadcast for two days, Afenifere had alleged that certain persons, whose names were mentioned, were planning to mortgage the future of the Yoruba race by conceding some key positions in the new political dispensation to politicians from other parts of the country.
The group called on "all illustrious sons of Yoruba to rise and be prepared to defend their rights no matter the cost."
BAGAUDA KALTHO: POLICE SUPPORT BIU’S CLAIM
The Nigerian police force has reiterated its support for the report of the Special Task Force on Terrorism that Bagauda Kaltho, the Kaduna correspondent of The News, and TEMPO magazines, was brain behind the 1996 bomb blast at Durbar Hotel in Kaduna. The Police Public Relation Officer, Mr. Young Arebamen claimed that the task force has done thorough investigations before making public their findings. He chided people who, according to him, "are not specialist in investigation of a complex matters of that nature" for faulting the report of the Task Force, relying "on the spot assessment observation" of the then Kaduna state Deputy Commissioner of Police Alhaji Umaru Suleiman. Suleiman had told journalists at the scene of the bomb blast in Kaduna in 1996 that the body of the victim found at the hotel was burnt beyond recognition while the chairman of The Task Force on Terrorism activities, Alhaji Zakari Biu said in his press conference in 18 August that his team has recognised the victim of the blast as Kaltho.
Arebamen said "there is no contradiction whatsoever because the Suleman's statement was ‘on the spot assessment’ while "What Biu told the country is a full scale investigation which himself and his team carried out". According to him, investigation is a fact finding mission, and after a thorough investigation "you don't wallow in speculation. You only talk of revealed facts".
On why it took the security operatives very long before coming out with their findings. Aremaben said "investigation are fact finding mission which takes time. It is not like going to the market to buy an article that is already waiting". To him, there is no time limit to investigating serious cases especially in "an environment where people are not ready to cooperate as to what happened in any giving situation". He further revealed that a video cassette and a book titled "The Man Died" and other small items that were found at the scene of the blast provided clues but "were not enough, so it took time piercing different clues together".
Aremaben said "the security operatives will gain nothing from telling lies". He appealed to Nigerians not to be sceptical about the matter.
However, the family of Bagauda Kaltho, at a press conference addressed on 11 September, by the wife, Mrs. Martha Kaltho and Senator Idris Abubakar, the National President of Tangale Waja Development Association (TAWADA) insisted that contrary to the claim by the Task Force Chairman, APC Zakari Biu, that Bagauda died in a bomb blast the family believes he is still alive.
Martha said "On 17 August, a team of detectives visited me and told me Biu wanted to see me. I followed them to Alagbon where Biu told me that my husband was alive and that his file was among the 18 files sent from Abuja who were ordered to be released. I was shocked beyond words when the next day, I bought a newspaper and read that my husband died in a bomb blast". In his contribution, Senator Idris Abubakar said "It is my humble view that James Bagauda Kaltho affairs will certainly provide the true test of how far the present regime is ready to go in ensuring respect for the fundamental rights of its citizens going about their lawful occupations and the defence of the defenseless in our society. It is the litmus test by which we shall know whether the carry over from the previous regime will be allowed to corrupt and tarnish the good works of our present Head of State".
In addition, on 3 September, over 50 angry youths from Gombe state, northern Nigeria where Kaltho hailed from staged a demonstration at the Police Force Criminal Investigation Department (CID) offices, Alagbon, Lagos. The group, operating under the aegies of "Banganje Youth Association (BYA)" demanded the suspension of the chairman of the presidential task force on terrorism, Assistant Commissioner Zakari Biu, over his claim that Kaltho died in 1996 while trying to plant a bomb at the Durbar Hotel in Kaduna.
In a communique distributed to members of the public, the youths described Biu as a "contradictionist". They asked the government to respond to the call by the Independent Communications Network Limited (ICNL), Kaltho's employers, to institute a panel of inquiry to unravel the circumstances that led to the purported death of the journalism.
In what seems to be a reaction to the call, the Minister of Information and Culture, John Nwodo (Jnr), promised the publisher of The News and TEMPO, Kaltho's employers that the government would investigate the death of the journalist.
The minister however hinged this fresh effort on Kaltho's employer's claim that he was arrested by security agents before the bomb blast. The minister said the ICNL management's claim would be sent to the Inspector General of Police and National Security adviser to find out the veracity of the claim.
He further said that, "clearly, you have made the speech (claim) based on information that you have been given. The reliability of the information will be subjected to rigorous test and if your lead is anything to go by, the government will re-open the case and get whatever information required."
He added "If he was taken from his house, somebody must have been responsible and we will try to find out who it is. So, you can be rest assured that I will take this up with the various arms of security authority".
The minister said that an earlier statement on the issue credited to him "has been variously misunderstood. I want to reiterate some of the statement I have made for the avoidance of doubt. I believed that the government of Nigeria owes a duty to all Nigerians to protect them from harm and therefore, if there is any shred of evidence whatsoever that some harm has been brought to bear on this gentleman with the active consonance of any functionary of government, this administration will be quite prepared to dig into the matter and unearth whatever in covered in order to ensure that justice is done".
He continued, "what I have said in the past is that, the fact of two contradictory police statements did not in anyway invalidate the last statement, especially as they were not made by the same person or they were not functioning in similar circumstance. The first statement, by the police, Umaru Suleiman in Kaduna, described what happened at the time it happened. The second made by Zakari Biu was the product, I understand, of an investigation on the basis of which he held the views aired. Those views contradicted the statement of his colleagues and they do not dilute its validity except there is contradictory evidence"
The minister assured that the Abubakar administration "has nothing to hide. We have nothing to cover and we have no responsibility for any act of lawlessness that were perpetrated by agents of government prior to our arrival on the scene except in so far those agents strike for justice".
EDITORS END CONVENTION; ELECTS NEW OFFICERS.
The call for the release of Niran Malaolu, editor of the Diet Newspaper and institution of a probe on the mysterious disappearance of Mr. Bagauda Kaltho, The News Kaduna correspondent have been canvassed by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE). In a communique issued at the end of its fifth biennial convention held in Abuja, the Guild also called for proble into other unresolved assassinations in the country and strengthening of the Nigerian Press Council to enforce the ethics of the profession.
The statement signed by Mrs. Remi Oyo, new president of the Guild, also noted the pledge of the Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar to "review all existing legislations that hinder press freedom and call on government to demonstrate this resolve by immediately abrogating Decree 43 of 1993 and expunge the provisions for a press court and the establishment of a media commission, among other offensive legislation in the 1995 Draft Constitution since a free press is an asset to society."
Apart from strengthening the Nigerian Press Council, the Guild would also want the Press Council Decree 85 of 1992 amended "to make five years post entry into journalism, as the minimum qualification for the position of an editor" and appealed to government to "lift the ban on the supply of newspapers to ministries and parastatals so as to keep civil servant adequately informed of national and international development." The statement commended the Head of State's effort at national reconciliation and the administration's attempt at restoring credibility to the transition programme while noting his pledge to "effectively terminate military rule on May 29, 1999 and the on-going efforts to re-orientate the military on the need to respect democratic values".
The Guild called on the armed forces to "realise that no excise is good enough for aborting the democratic process" and associates itself with the view of the head of state that "democracy" is a self-correcting process".
At the end of the three-day convention, Mrs. Remi Oyo of Inter Press Service (IPS) was elected as the new president of the Guild. Other elected officers are Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, editor Daily Times as deputy national president, Abdulkadir Yakasai of Kano Broadcasting as vice-president, Fola Arogundade of Saturday Vanguard, as social and publicity secretary. Others are Ardo Uma Mohammed of Triumph, Tunde Awobiyi of Daily Times, Abdulkareem Babatunde of The Democrat, Azubuike Isiekwene of Saturday Punch, Raheem Adedoyin of Herald, Victor Awogu of Daily Times and J.T. Mamza of Borno Radio. They are to serve as standing committed members.
GOVT WON'T GIVE UP SHARES IN DAILY TIMES
Amidst recent clamours for the divestments of government's equity stakes in the various formal sectors of the economy, government's control in The Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN) Plc will not end, not now and perhaps, not before the Abubakar administration's tenure ends next year.
"We can not do everything in seven months," the minister said, debunking hopes of any restructuring of government's holding in the nation's foremost printing and publishing house.
There is nothing really "bad" or "wrong" in government ownership of control a media entity, he said, noting that the Nigerian government's 60 per cent stake in DTN was not a peculiar situation, in the global comity of nations.
"The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) belongs to the government," he said, "but it reflects opinions of the British people." In the same vein, government-owned media in Nigeria - DTN, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), New Nigerian newspapers et al -should be guardians of public goodwill, he urged, saying "there is still so much room to be made for improvement.....there is no attempt to privatise them. What is important is that they are guardians of public will, and are financed by public funds, they don't belong to individual functionaries of government but to the people."
This way, he remarked, the reputation and sanctity of the journalism profession would be enhanced. "I want an editor to tell me, 'Honourable Minister, I won't take this because it affects the ethnics of my profession, if you want me to do it, take your job."
Nwodo stressed that gone are the days when government would dictate to media houses, an apparent reference to the overbearing attitude of past military administrations in matters of official perspectives and positions.
Whilst promising to leave "significant foot prints in the sands of time," he sought the cooperative hand of the media. "I beg for cooperation, I plead for it, I ask you to be my friends," he said.
MULTICHOICE SETTLES PIRACY DISPUTE WITH CHARLIE BOY
The Cable Television distribution company, Multichoice Nigeria, has settled its difference with a Nigerian artiste, Charles Oputa, also known as Charlie Boy.
Mr. Kobus Bezuidenhout, General Manager of Multichoice, said that the company deemed it right to resolve the matter outside the court, because "copyright issue is a technical issue. Nobody could say who could win, whether Charlie Boy or Multichoice. The matter had become Charlie Boy against a multinational company. Nobody was talking of the real issue," said Besuidenhout.
The chief executive of the cable channel redistribution company in Nigeria, explained further that his company did not pirate the entertainer's works, but bought them from the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), without knowing that the station did not have Charlie Boy's permission to sell his programmes
"We take exception to piracy. We do not encourage it. NTA indemnified us, that was why we relayed the programmes," he revealed.
To avoid re-occurrence of the incident, the Multichoice chief said we are no longer buying from NTA, we now go directly to the producers of any programme we want."
Charlie Boy had taken the company to court last year on allegation of infringement on his copyright to his works that had been broadcast on the Multichoice Cable Channels.
INTREVIEW
MOSHOOD FAYEMIWO RELEASED, RECOUNTS ORDEALS
Moshood-Fayemiwo, publisher of defunct Razor magazine who has been in detention since February last year was released 2 September from the underground cell of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) Lagos. He recounted his ordeal right from the Republic of Benin where he was abducted to Lagos last year. Excerpts:
I spent about 18 months at the Directorate of Military Intelligence. Of course, you are aware that I was kidnapped by the Nigerian security operatives. I left Nigeria to seek political asylum in the Republic of Benin. I left in 1996. Of course, you know the antecedents that led to my fleeing the country. Prior to that, I had already dispatched my family to Ghana to wait for me. When I got to Ghana, (Ghana is an English speaking country) under the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) regulation, because I was seeking political asylum, it was incumbent on me to go to the next neighbouring country to Nigeria. And of course, there are two countries before Ghana and so I was referred to Cotonou, Republic of Benin.
I filed in my papers and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) examined my papers and found out they were genuine and that really I was being persecuted in Nigeria. So I was there waiting to be resettled either in Canada or America. But after I spent three months, I have been granted status as a refugee, we were being fed, the UNCHR was taking care of us. They tried for us. There were other Ogoni refugees. Precisely late December 1996 after I had spent about four months, you know we were waiting, they had to contact Geneva, there were a lot of regulations they had to go through towards resettling me. While we were in the refugees camp one day, we got some visitors who were Nigerians, one Professor Adesegun Banjo and his wife. They were referred to as "the promoters". Banjo called himself chairman of the People’s Liberation Army of Nigeria (PLAN). What we heard was that these people were procuring arms and ammunition to invade Nigeria, that they wanted to start guerilla warfare in Nigeria. So, they were brought to the camp and I was the spokesman of the Nigerian refugees community in Benin Republic. We felt it was necessary for us... because the Abacha government was after them. In fact, they were ready to bomb the whole refugee camp as we discovered in our investigation. In fact, the whole of Benin Republic was filled with Nigerian security agents following the red alert General Abacha gave them that Banjo and his wife and the other people should be fished out, dead or alive.
And we complained actually to the UNHCR because they had just served sentence and they were released so they came to the camp thus jeopardising our own security. Meanwhile, there was a woman, who was the chief protection officer at that time, Mrs. Funtus, from Haiti in Latin America. She called me, I was the spokesman/president so to say of the Nigeria refugees community in Benin (excluding the Ogoni people). So, the woman called me and asked me what do we do? Will it be possible for us to squeeze these people out of Benin Republic, maybe to the neighbouring country. So I said as my protection officer, if she gave me the go ahead I won’t mind. So, we were able to get those people out, that was around December 30. I used my accreditation letter to get them through the Togolese border to Ghana.
So when I came back the woman started accusing me that I was a member of PLAN. I said what do you mean. When I came, I came as a journalist. Okay, I was against the Abacha government but I was not carrying ammunition. So there was a shouting match between the woman and myself.
Unknown to me, I did not know that the woman was an agent of the Nigerian government. The Nigerian government was paying her. So, she was double dealing. Actually, I do not know whether the Banjos gave her money or not because our own safety too was paramount. The security men were after them (Banjos) and they were staying near my apartment. So, all of us protested. Eventually, she called me again, we settled and that was all.
All of a sudden, I saw this woman going about saying that I was a member of PLAN and she won’t resettle me and my wife because that would jeopardise the quota that America government was giving to Benin Republic towards airlifting refugees to US and Canada. I protested. She was the person who gave me the money. She gave me 20,000 CFA. Unknown to her, when she gave me the note, I photocopied them and when we were discussing on how to get the Banjos out of the camp to cross the borders to Ghana, I had her on tape. She did not know. I had an inkling that this woman was up to something. So to safeguard myself... because if I should be able to prove to the wolves, I should be able to cry out, so I told her. We agreed on what to do, all of a sudden, you have not kept to your own side of the bargain. I had a part time job with one of the papers in Benin Republic. My wife was working, the children were going to school, we were alright. We were waiting for the time they will eventually airlift us. And if in the alternative, the situation in Nigeria improves, we will come home. I wasn’t an economic refugee when I left. I was also attending a Bible school. One day a security guy who I know so well called me and said Mr. Fayemiwo, Mrs. Funtus would like to see you in her house, when you are coming from the Bible school. I said why at night. He said, the woman just wanted to see me so that we could discuss. I say you know I had a shouting match with this woman few weeks ago. He told me all those ones have been forgotten, she just wanted to see me, show me the list of Nigerians that have been shortlisted to be given political asylum in America and Canada. Innocently, I left the school around 10.00 p.m. I got to this guy, we sat, we discussed. I didn’t know that the guy could be doing double game. I slept in his house before. So innocently, after we had discussed, I say okay, let’s go. Interestingly, the house we went to had been hired by the Nigerian government. So, as I sat down in the sitting room, this guy got up and told me he wanted to call Mrs. Funtus, the next thing I saw, I was surrounded by five hefty men with guns. Nigerian security operatives. They were dead drunk, they were smelling. They were speaking Hausa language. They asked, who are you? What are you doing here? Who are the Banjos? We have been looking for you for a long time. I said I am not a member of PLAN. What do you mean? They beat me. They took me. We got to Nigeria Saturday February 15, 1997. That night they tried to revive me because I was unconscious as a result of the beating.
Then I was eventually taken to the underground cell at DMI, I got there I saw graffiti on the wall by predecessors who were there. Mamman Vasta was kept there, Major Gideon Orkar and the rest were there. Then on Wednesday February 21 they interrogated me. What they were asking was that why did I leave Nigeria to join PLAN and I told them that if I were to be a member of PLAN, I will tell you point blank. And it is even foolish of me to go to Benin Republic because Benin Republic is just an annex of Nigeria. So, I left Nigeria because I was being persecuted.
What happened to your family?
When I was kidnapped they did not know what happened, it was when I was released last Wednesday that I had to go and join them. I went back to Cotonou. I addressed a press conference, just to expose everything because there were a lot of insinuations.
Can you tell us about your normal day in detention?
There was nothing normal there. I was kept in an underground cell. I was quarantined, physiologically and physically but not spiritually. I was handcuffed. I was being fed twice a day. I was being chained down like a dog. These security operatives will come around 9.00 a.m, they will wake me and they will be counting. You know it was a count down, when you enter the toilet, one two, I had to hurry myself, I will come back and again they will chain me down. Then around 5.00 p.m they will bring my ‘dinner’ mostly eba. At times, if they feel like, they will give me something better.
How eventually were you released?
What happened was that after Abacha’s death, the whole thing took a dramatic turn. God showed me the death of Abacha, almost nine months earlier. And there were other predictions that God Almighty Father spoke through me. I was called around 8.00 a.m, one of the security operatives came and said I should be packing. Immediately after the death of Abacha. I was relieved, I was brought to an open cell but still quarantined. I was alone there. It was a little bit clear. I was forced to bath and change. I insisted that a photographer should be brought because I want to keep a picture of how I looked. I had bushy beards and I was looking like a wild animal. If I had come out with these bushy beards, nobody would have spoken to me. I was looking so wild.
As at the time you were leaving DMI, were there still other detainees?
No, we were only two. Immediately after the death of Abacha, the detention camps were ordered open. We left Major Banjo, the former ADC to Diya, not the ADC indicted in the phantom coup. We were always speaking to each other across the fence. He was there as at Friday 11 September. He appears to be the only one because I am not sure he has been released.
Are you saying you were in chains throughout?
Yes, I was in chains until Abacha’s death. You can ask anybody who was detained with me.
What will you say you have learnt?
Spiritually, I went to the gulag. I am just quite different now. You know the Bible says everything works out for good for those that believeth. God deliberately took care. I was coming from the Bible school. God is not a wicked God. I already gave my life to Jesus when I was in the university almost 15 years ago.
I was a Muslim. God used me. Looking at me, you won’t believe that I spent almost 18 months in detention.
Now that you are back, what do you intend to do?
Thank you very much, I will be back to journalism very soon. I’m setting up a weekly newspaper in the next two to three months. I am just trying to settle down and at the same time, get myself acclimatized. God Almighty asked me to set up a Christian paper. It is the first daily newspaper for Christians. We will start with the Sunday in the next two months. It will be called "Christian Vision".
Where is your family now?
I have brought my family from Republic of Benin. There is no need again staying there. There is a new regime.
Source: Saturday Punch, September 12, 1998.
SPECIAL FEATURE
WE WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE
By Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar.
Journalists are known to guard their freedom jealously and will not part with a bit of it. But on this occasion, they have been gracious enough to allow me the freedom to choose a topic knowing that a speaker always finds himself in a dilemma when given a free choice of topic. The temptation is to choose those topics that are likely to generate popular applause or to go for topics that have become cliches. For that reason, I am going to avoid such over-flogged topics such as "the role of the press in the society", "government-press relations in a nation in transition" or what have you. I have chosen on the contrary, to address a very sensitive subject which most people would prefer to shy away from because of its numerous implications and potential for controversy.
My chosen theme: "The military in Nigerian Politics," is awe-inspiring. But I am going to dwell on facts and history than profess self-righteousness. My choice of topic is predicated on its relevance and timeliness since we are approaching the end of military rule in Nigeria, after a long interregnum of 28 years. It is good to provoke thoughts on this subject so that we can reach some measure of consensus before we heap all ills of our dear country at the doorstep of the military.
There is a general impression that military intervention in the Nigerian political process, has been a disaster. Citing as examples, the failed transition to democracy programmes and wanton abuse of human rights. Another school of thought thinks that military intervention has not been a woeful failure, citing gigantic development projects, preservation of the country’s sovereignty, unity and foreign policy successes. The debate is hardly conclusive and I do not pretend otherwise. I will only share a few thoughts with you for our own education and understanding.
The traditional role of the military anywhere in the world is the defence of the territorial integrity of the country. However, due to a combination of factors such as intra-military, societal and external factors, the military has had many occasions to intervene in the democratic process in Nigeria.
The first military intervention in the Nigerian political process took place in 1966 when the civilian government of Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was violently supplanted by a group of soldiers led by Major Kaduna Nseogwu, which gave rise to the first military regime headed by Major General Aguiyi Ironsi. The widely perceived imbalance in the execution of the coup gave rise to a counter-coup in July 1966. Intra-military suspicion soon coalesced with societal pressures to cause Nigeria’s unfortunate civil war which lasted 30 months. The fraticidal conflict caused the nation untold human and material losses and left long-term psychological scar on the national psyche. The Gowon Administration’s immediate response after the cessation of hostilities, was a three-pronged policy of Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Reconciliation.
The third military coup in Nigeria took place in July 1975 when General Yakubu Gown was displaced by General Murtala Mohammed, who barely six months later, was assassinated in an apparent failure to displace his administration. His deputy, General Olusegun Obasanjo continued with the administration’s democratisation programme and successfully handed over to a civilian administration on October 1, 1979. There was then a national sigh of relief and widespread hope that at least after 13 years of political interregnum, a permanent solution had been found to keep the soldiers in the barracks. This was, however, not to be as the 4 years and 3 months of President Shehu Shagari’s second tenure ended abruptly as a result of another military intervention on 31st December, 1983.
Barely 20 months later, Major General Muhammadu Buhari’s regime which did not announce any transition programme was displaced in August, 1985. General Ibrahim Babangida stepped aside in August 1993 after eight years in the saddle. The Interim National Government, headed by Chief Earnest Shonekan, which stepped in, was hobbled by the negative fallout of the truncated June 12, 1993 elections. The unrestrained threats to law and order and imminent disintegration of the nation necessitated the advent of General Sani Abacha, who could not conclude his administration’s transition programme due to his sudden death on June 8, 1998.
It is still very fresh in our memory how the sudden demise of General Abacha made me the new helmsan and brought me face-to-face with the arduous task of charting the "way forward" with the cooperation of my colleagues and all Nigerians.
Consequently, upon assuming office on June 9, I immediately embarked on consultations with a broad spectrum of the Nigerian society and the international community on the "way forward". A general consensus reached following these consultations is the apparent desire of all Nigerians for true democracy in a united and stable country. From my recent tour of military formations, even my primary constituency has come to terms with the reality of the yearning of our people and global desire for democracy.
As I noted in my July 20 broadcast in which I announced the broad goals of this administration, this is neither the time to cast aspersions on the motives of our past leaders nor apportion blame for the several wrongs of the past years in our national life. We must, however, admit that mistakes have been made. We must endeavour to make it right this time by avoiding the manoeuvring and manipulation of the political process by political actors and umpires. We now have another opportunity to sustain the nation’s unity, stability and prosperity of its citizens.
Admittedly, the military may have its faults like any other human organisation. Indeed, having ruled for 28 out of the 38 years of Nigeria’s independence, it is not surprising that the people now want a change. Apart from the transition programme of the Mohammed/Obasanjo regime which ended successfully, no other military supervised democratic programme has succeeded. We are poised to make a difference.
Be that as it may, it is unfair to single out the Armed Forces for blame for Nigeria’s woes. We should hold ourselves guilty for this situation. Moreover, we have never had a purely military regime without the participation of civilians. It has always been a military/civilian coalition. To be sure, the military has achieved a lot in the defence and preservation of the country’s territorial integrity and corporate indivisibility.
It has also recorded enormous development gains for the nation. In a more remarkable scope, it has garnered considerable gains in peacekeeping operations throughout the world particularly in Africa. These outstanding performances have earned Nigeria enormous respect among the comity of nations. Rather than outright condemnation, therefore, the military should be assessed in a proper context.
The challenge before us now is to insulate the military from further participation in the political process of the country through outright supplantment or displacement of legitimate civilian authority. While it is desirable for it to influence political direction through subtle pressure as in more stable societies, it must avoid the temptation to supplant political leaderships at the slightest excuse. It should also look inwards and shun the displacement syndrome which has caused the military institution in particular, and the nation at large, huge human and material losses.
The situation can be remedied if the succeeding political actors obey the rules of the game thereby denying military adventurers opportunities of any excuses. The behaviour of politicians holds the key to the problem of cyclical intervention of the military in the political process.
The officer corps, rank and file must be sufficiently schooled to respect the supremacy of civilian authority as ingrained in the Constitution. The back-to-Constitutional-role move entails the full engagement of officers and soldiers, regular training and re-training, promotion, good pay, better facilities and return to mess life etc. In other words, the return to the barracks should be accompanied by making the barracks comfortable and self-sustaining to encourage the soldiers to remain there.
This administration is fully committed to offer its best within the short period. The political education of the military is a continuous process which will outlast this administration. It takes time just like democracy requires time for its roots and values to be firmly implanted. We must begin by admitting that we can do it.
To my military colleagues, I say to you that, having been in charge of affairs of the nation for 28 of 38 years, it is time for us to give way and allow civilians to make mistakes and to learn in the process. Any false move should no longer be seen as an excuse to intervene. We have had enough national embarrassment and assault on our institutional integrity.
There is a perception among our people that the Armed Forces have lost their professionalism because of the long military involvement in governance. The respect that people had for the valour, loyalty and dedication to duty which are hallmarks of our profession, has been seriously impaired.
Today, the Armed Forces of Nigeria, the Police and Security Agencies are being blamed for all the ills of the nation. We are associated with arbitrariness, brutalization and oppression of those we swore to defend from aggression. Some have asserted that we are incapable of implementing a democratisation programme, yet, a previous military government has successfully executed a similar programme.
This sombre picture of the military is unfair seen against the background of the achievements of its patriotic members who had several times prevented the nation from disintegrating. Our officers and men have served the international community in several successful peacekeeping operations within the last 35 years. We have contributed immensely in ending the brutality that accompanied the Liberian Civil War, and continue to assist in keeping the peace in that nation. We were instrumental in restoring democracy and rule of law in Sierra Leone.
Surely, with these records of contribution and achievement, the nation expects a lot from us. The greatest task confronting the Nigerian military today is how to change the negative picture to positive one. The only way to do that is for the military to keep its traditional constitutional functions and be subject to civilian authority from May 29, 1999.
The military must decide today to ignore all future temptations to supplant the civil authority, however, corrupt and impotent. We have to revert to our traditional role through the democratisation of the polity, return to the barrack and willingly subordinate ourselves to a legitimate and constituted authority. That is our path to honour and integrity.
This is a critical moment in our history. With collective determination, we can make it a harbinger of the good time to come. In the true spirit of national reconciliation, we should stop wanton display of frayed tempers and move ahead. This is not the time to apportion blame on individuals or groups. It is time to forgive and to forget and move on with the job of entrenching democracy and harnessing our energies in service of our nation and people in peace, unity and prosperity.
Today, opportunity is available to all of us to add a glorious chapter to our history by pledging to work towards the creation of a new Nigeria really bound in freedom, peace and unity. There is indeed hope for Nigeria. It is my candid belief that in the course of time all Nigerians, not just our leaders or politicians, will acquire the necessary attitudes of tolerance, mutual esteem and goodwill which alone can make democracy workable.
The press has a leading role to play in this process of regeneration. The press is a critical element in the whole equation. Unarguably, the press is one of the greatest powers today anywhere in the world. No wonder that it is called the Fourth Estate of the Realm Estate after the Executive, Judiciary and the Legislature. In fact, with what is happening today, the Information Technology and the Super-Highway, its influence is growing in leaps and bounds and may soon overtake the other Estates to become the First Estate in real terms.
Freedom is to the press what oxygen is to the human being. In fact, freedom is the essential condition of its survival. Indeed, to talk of a democracy without a free press is a contradiction in terms. A free press is not an optional extra in a democracy. I am happy that today the press in Nigeria is free to perform its legitimate duties without institutional intervention or hindrance. The government is going ahead to review all existing legislation that are inhibitive of journalistic freedom.
I wish to remind our friends in the press to bear in mind that freedom without corresponding responsibility is inimical to the peace and stability of a new and emerging society like Nigeria. Gentlemen of the press will agree with me that journalism is not a business, it is a profession. A professional should always subscribe to professional standards and a sense of values. I am sure this is one of things you will be discussing at this conference.
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