Defeating Boko Haram through Objective Reportorials, Discourse Etc – By Sanusi Muhammad

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There is ground to doubt the fact that the media as the
fourth estate of the realm, has the capacity and moral obligation to educate,
entertain and inform the people on issues of importance to their existence.

In the same vein, the media has the capacity to create
awareness and inform the citizen on Counter and Prevent Act of terrorism by
making them approachable enough so that every citizen can approach them with
suggestions on how best to create a terrorism-free world.

In making reports on Boko Haram, the media should give
adequate information on the activities of the insurgents. Such reports should
always be accurate and objective, free from sensationalism or religious bias.
It is not enough reporting on the surface as is obtained today like reporting a
bomb blast that claimed some innocent lives, arrest of suspected insurgents,
aerial bombing of insurgent’s hideouts, repealing of insurgents attacks, attack
on military facilities etc

In the usual straight news reporting, it is the usual, he
said, she said, eye witness said, from military spokesman: a usual reliable
source confirmed etc, none of the reports ever goes further to give more than
quotes from those in authority, the victims and sometimes the security
operatives. What the public usual get from mostly straight news stories are
largely second-hand reports that hardly give insights into the real issues at
stake.

A journalist that knows his onions should not always be
neutral in his reportage when the security of the nation is under threat and
the people are ruthlessly and mercilessly being butchered by Noko Haram bombs
and bullets. The reporter should first consider it a duty to report the
killings objectively and subjectively, provided it is the truth with
documentary evidences.

Journalists should find out through discreet investigation
what has emboldened Boko Haram to escalate its attacks instead of retreating
going by the stories dished out by those in authority. Furthermore, they should
present their findings to the public for the formation of serious decisions on
the best way out of the quagmire.

It is apparent also for Northern leaders and politicians at
this critical point to call an emergency regional meeting to harness and
dispassionately x-ray the problem of Boko Haram insurgency, rampant cases of
kidnapping and banditry which are fast turning the region to nothing in terms
of infrastructure, investment, unity and development in general. The ongoing
destruction of lives and properties in the region has the tendency of eroding
bequeathed legacies of past leaders and setting the region 40 years back in all
sectors. Whatever the governors of the region are doing in terms of development
without checking the menace of Boko Haram and other criminal elements will
amount to a fruitless effort.

Since the firing of the first shot by Boko Haram in 2009
signaling a war with Nigeria, several suggestions were proffered to government
on the best ways to contain and defeat the insurgents, put the records straight
for the good of the country and move forward. In most cases, those suggestions
were either ignored by those in authority, or underrated from ignorance,
misunderstood, greed and lust for wealth and other obvious reasons that landed
us where we are today. Whoever says Boko Haram has a terminal date with the
present style of operation from those in authority must be sick upstairs. The
ongoing conventional warfare embarked upon by our security agents will never be
the solution to the end. Boko Haram insurgents are guerilla fighters. They
prepared for the fight, stock-piled arms, trained their fighters including
suicide bombers and spies in other claims before daring Nigeria. They believe
they are fighting a holy war. They were brain-washed and deceived to believe
falsehood. They see any conventional government as that of infidels. They are
heavily funded, supported and trained by our detractors. These are facts that
the Chief of Army Staff should either know or knows. They are facts that the
Chief of Air Staff should know. They are facts that the National Security
Adviser should know. They are facts that we all know. Why are we then still
pretending that things are getting better? Agreed, the insurgents have been
degraded, does that mean they have been defeated to surrender? The better we
introduce other strategies to defeat the beasts than living in a world of
illusion.

That reminds me of the need for the Senate President, the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and the Chief of Staff to
the President to join other patriots on how best to defeat the insurgents that
are busy destroying their ancestral sub-region. Of all those, mentioned, none
can claim that few relations were not directly affected by the brutal actions
of the insurgents. A regional Summit request targeted at the downtrodden is
there before the Senate President and the SGF for sponsorship to educate and
inform the vulnerable on the need to put a defense against their murderers. But
any hope for the requested sponsorship of such a summit? And any concern to the
plight of the people by those mentioned? We are watching! 

 From the behaviors of
the present leaders, Nigerians, particularly those in the North-east would not
forget the threats issued by some sadists in 2011 that should Goodluck Jonathan
be elected as president, they would make the country ungovernable. True to
their threat, there was a post-election violence in Bauchi state that claimed
nine lives of NYSC members despite the fact that Jonathan’s opponent had won
the election. Everything Jonathan did was heavily criticized and rubbished. If
a Boko Haram member was killed, they sadists accused Jonathan of trying to wipe
out the north. Ironically, the same sadists who criticized Jonathan and never
proffered any tangible solution on how best to defeat the insurgents, are now
requesting Nigerians to support Buhari to defeat the insurgents. These are
facts that should be highlighted by journalists to the public for their
meaningful contributions as the proposed regional summit wants to achieve.

To this end, our leaders and the stakeholders particularly
in the affected areas are not sincere to themselves and to the people in the
fight against Boko Haram.  

Journalists should dig deep down to the roots of the
insurgents, identify and expose the roots and realistically use different
journalistic strategies to proffer solutions to curbing the menace for a better
Nigeria.

My colleagues should wake up, the use of the military and
other security agencies cannot put a stop to the insurgency as expected. We
should use our pens, venture into discreet investigations, expose their modus
operandi and publish the identities of their hidden sponsors and leave the rest
to God.