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Messengers Of Peace?

The role of the press in covering Nigeria's hydra-headed ethnic conflicts continues to generate controversy. For the press, the coverage of the recrudescent Ijaw-Ilaje conflict, which dominated headlines most of 1998, was an all-comers affair. Newspapers, magazine, radio , and television stations sought to sell the exclusive angles and stories manifested by the event as the orgy of violence and arson continued.

Soon after, the reports began to take on a life of their own. Statistics citing the number of victims rose exponentially. Reports of conflicts began to tilt, depending on which sources were friendly to the reporter. The prospect of balanced coverage was undermined by the risks that such suspicious initiatives exposed the reporter to the hands of overzealous parties in the conflict.

In the heat of this war, the Guardian wrote an editorial on October 5, 1998 reviewing the genesis of the hostilities and offering solutions to a way out. But the Guardian's editorial team, apparently uncomfortable with the way the press was reporting the incident, also took a look in the mirror on behalf of all press. Its verdict: "the mass media have not helped matters at all. Their sensational reports speak of massacres, of communities razed by 'marauding armed youths.' Frightening fatality figures are mentioned, some as high as 500. Other reports speak of over 100,000 rendered homeless. Yet these statistics are attributed to sources which have political reasons to be alarmist."

These alleged unprofessional practices of journalists in covering the Ijaw-Ilaje conflict seem to have reared their ugly heads during the spate of other inter-ethnic violence or communal clashes that broke out all over the country in recent times, drawing much concern from professionals and readers alike. Still, the Guardian, in its pacifism, unwittingly underplayed the positive role that the press has played in managing ethnic clashes and seemed oblivious of the various influences that shape the stories.

Considering Nigeria's recent experience, ethnic clashes would most likely continue to recur because the state has been unable to generate and sustain allegiance. Thus, indigenous ties have become viable stepping-stones in the struggle of various ethnic constituents for political and economic power. But it is to the credit of the press that it performs the crucial role of alerting the government to the looming dangers of communal imbroglio before tension explodes into war.

No fewer than 35 major ethnic clashes have occurred since 1981; in most cases, the press reports the buildup of these clashes by drawing the readers' attention to the issues at stake and the personalities involved. For instance, on May 27 of this year, the Punch alerted the nation to a looming conflict in Niger State. The reporter, Inuwa Bala, reporting from Minna, captured the situation thus: "Tension is building in Niger State following renewed conflict over the control of Makara, a town carved out as a neutral land by the government." The correspondent's reports indicated that the peoples of Kontagora and Bida have been seeking to control the area and alleged that a recent reaction by armed police might have been initiated by one of the factions.

Also, on April 15 of this year, the National Concord reported growing hostilities in Ilorin, Kwara State, over the retention of the Ilorin emirate. According to its account, the Yoruba, under the aegis of Oke Moro/Oke-Asa Development Union, asked the government to discontinue the system or risk communal crisis. Their word: "As a matter of fact, the heavens can only fall if the government continues to disregard us and remain insensitive to our cause."

And, a few days after the Ijaw-Yoruba clash broke out in the ghetto called Ajegunle in Lagos, the Guardian indicated on November 11 that the situation could get worse. Its report, "Ijaw youths threaten reprisal against OPC," apparently provided the government and security agencies enough information to assist them in nipping a fresh crisis in the bud. According to the Guardian's Chido Okafor, based in Warri, the aggrieved Ijaw youths gave the OPC a seven-day ultimatum to produce two of their men allegedly kidnapped during the weekend.

How the government and security agencies react to these warning signals tends to shape the buildup of the crisis. In most cases, these reports are often filed away in cabinets, where they gather dust, as the crisis balloons. However, when authorities have followed up on the reports, it has been possible to avert the looming clash. One such rare example is the Ilorin report. Security operatives picked up the report and followed it. In September, they were able to avert a communal clash. Reporting how their intervention saved the day, National Concord's Kwara State correspondent, Wole Adedeji,wrote that "they swiftly averted what could have been a bloody clash between the Ilorin Descendants Union and Indigenes of Moro Local Government."

However, these incidents are often left to degenerate and clashes that could have been averted break out. For instance, after the Ijaw youths' threat, they finally carried out their reprisal by killing 12 policemen, mostly Yoruba, at Odi. Considering the prevalence of these communal clashes, it would be expected that media organizations would have clear editorial policies on their coverage. But, as the Fourth Estate found out, most editors use the age-old rule of thumb espoused in the code of ethics.

Gbenga Adefaye, editor of the Vanguard newspaper, told the Fourth Estate that the newspaper expects its reports to reflect the opinion of both sides to the conflict, to ascertain the facts of the situation and to report neutrally. He admits, however, that this is easier said than done. Parties to communal clashes tend to recognize the role of the media in propagating their cause and often seek to compromise reporters to present reports favorable to their cause.

There is also the problem of the reporter's affinity. Since newspapers often deploy reporters with a fair knowledge of the situation on the ground to the states, their familiarity with influential people makes it easy for parties in conflict to seek their support. Adefaye says the Vanguard manages this problem by ensuring that reporters who cover conflict zones are not from the areas. When they do, people from other ethnic groups join them to balance their reports and to ensure the newspaper's neutrality.

Still, once the conflagration deepens, it ignites a media war of sorts. In the competition to be first with the news, a gory contest of depicting horrid scenes and displaying alarming figures begins at fever pitch. This seems to be the period when even editors let down their guards as each medium applies the shock treatment to persuade readers to part with money. A sample of these headlines: "5 injured in Abuja ethnic clash," the Guardian 10/9/99; "7 Ijaw youths shot dead," Vanguard 22/4/99; "Another 15 killed in Ijaw/Ilaje crisis," Nigerian Tribune 30/1/98; "20 killed in clash," Daily Times 7/5/99; "Ilaje/ Ijaw clash, 13 killed," Daily Sketch 30/11/98; "50 killed as Ilaje and Ijaw renew hostilities," the Guardian 3/8/99; "16 killed in Lagos Mayhem," Post Express 10/9/99. Significantly, only a quarter of the reports attributed the figures to police or government authorities. Most were attributed to competent sources or parties to the crisis.

For the enterprising reporter, covering both sides of a conflict can be stressfully illuminating, as Gbenga Fayemiwo, national Concord's correspondent in Osun State who covered the Ife-Modakeke conflict found out. At a stage in the raging feud, he discovered that many corpses brought from the battlefield by a party to the crisis betrayed no traces of cuts or gun shots in their bodies. But he did notice tiny black spots, particularly on the back. This confounded him and he sought to unravel the mystery. A conversation between two people on the opposing side, who were inclined to give him information, gave him the clue: The other side had resorted to using rice as bullets. This gave birth to Fayemiwo's exclusive story in the Sunday Concord.

Another aspect of the coverage of ethnic conflicts that has generated a lot of controversy is the use of pictures. Emphasizing the crucial importance of pictures, the International Organization of Journalists published the "Textbook of Press Photography" in 1981. It states that "the pictorial communication supplements the verbal news by making it more graphic and thus enabling readers to form a more precise picture of an event. Photography has one very important feature in fulfilling this task, it records reality with unsurpassed precision, or as is often said, with documentary faithfulness."

To observers, a key element in the reaction of Kano residents to the Hausa/Yoruba clash in Sagamu, Ogun State was the pictorial elaboration of this event by the media. There were gory, blood-chilling pictures of dead victims packed in trucks and station wagons apparently being conveyed to the mortuary. Although there were no visible marks to indicate the ethnic identity of the victims, the pictures served the disruptive purpose of rousing hatred between the divided. The result was the reprisal in Kano, which again left several dead. Media analysts, considering the impact of the pictures, believe the press editors should have exercised restraint in printing the horrid scenes. However, this lesson seemed to have been learned in the outbreak of inter-ethnic clash in Ketu, another suburb of Lagos.

Adefaye gave Fourth Estate the opinion shared by other editors: The emphasis of the pictures used by most newspapers during the Ketu clash was comparable to the salacious portrayal of the gory Sagamu incident. A large chunk of press space is filled with reporting on the efforts of the government and non-governmental bodies toward ameliorating conflicts and seeking lasting solutions. In the Sagamu crisis, the visit of the governor, ministers, and later, the president, and the decision to assist victims with relief materials, were published and the material's distribution monitored by the press.

The press played other positive roles. News features were initiated to explain the issues at stake from the accounts of the witnesses and victims. The paper also began to use editorial columns to review news reports and present pacifist options to end the gradual depopulation of the nation. For instance, This Day said on October 21, 1998, in an editorial titled "Again, Communal Clashes," "It is obvious that fundamental solutions are needed. The machinery for undoing all the damage done by the ill-advised creation of local councils should be put in place immediately. Since the issues are essentially local, it is necessary to find solutions at that level. The federal government should explore the possibility of sending social scientists from higher institutions located in these areas to study the problems extensively and come up with effective solution."

Also, the Nigerian Tribune, in an editorial titled "State of Emergency; Matters Arising," on November 17 this year, had this to say: "Neither self-righteous paternalism nor righteous indignation will restore inter-ethnic trust. Only continuous dialogue will. When gentlemen and women in the National Assembly are done with their petty bickering, they should spare a thought for the fire that may well consume us all." And the Guardian, commenting on the Umuleri Aguleri feud on May 5, last year offered this solution: "The state government should provide the facilities for the peace talks. There should be no difficulty identifying illustrious people and religious leaders to serve as mediators."

As soon as the situation calms down and the fighting stops, the government must take a close look at the recommendations of the 1995 investigation with a view to implementing aspects that can promote lasting peace. As it hurries into the second millennium, Nigeria, overwhelmed by the problems of the past, apparently needs the press not as an undertaker, but as a sympathizer. The problem: Will her leaders listen to the distress signals of the media?

1. Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan is political editor of the Punch in Lagos. he also edits the professional magazine Fourth Estate from which this article was culled.