The last 72 hours were probably the most intense in my
life. The love, kind words and support I’ve received in
that period from, mostly, total strangers have been
overwhelming. I want to thank everybody who saw the
good in what I did. Though, to be honest, I think it was a
little silly. What was I thinking putting my life and
probably my career on the line in an attempt to change
something so entrenched it seems unchangeable? But
really I’m not fazed by the trash talk from those allergic
to the truth.
It’s a long time coming and someone has to put the Big
Ben on the fat cat, I guess.
During the same period I’ve also been insulted like never
before. I’ve been called the most uncomplimentary names
and all the curses in Deuteronomy hurled towards me.
They should be ashamed that the brushed ego of their
spiritual Godfather meant more to them than the over 90
lives that perished under the rubble.
I can deal with the trash talk and name-calling. But I’m
also not naïve. I’ve made plans to evacuate my family to
safety at the shortest notice in case things escalate. I hope
they don’t. But one can never be so sure with these
fundamentalists.
They said I’m an attention freak; that I published the audio
clip because I yearned to be a social media celebrity
(whatever that means). Well, I won’t lie; I enjoyed the 15
minutes of fame. I loved the thrill of being in the eye of the
storm. In case my accusers are reading this, I got over
2,000 followers on twitter within the period. I don’t know
what to make of that yet. I’m not so sure about this Twitter
thing but if there’s a way I can convert that to money, that
would be something. Gbenga Olorunpomi, how much does
one twitter follower exchange for a dollar these days?
So why did I publish the audio?
I had recorded the audio six days before posting it on
Twitter. To be sincere, I didn’t think much of it until
Saturday morning (I’d explain later). I was intently
watching the way the collapsed building was being played
out in the media after the rather disappointing way Lagos
State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, dodged reporters
through a back door after his private meeting with TB
Joshua on September 14. I observed that Nigerian media
were being too gentle on TB Joshua despite the glaring
irregularities surrounding the collapse. I read more reports
about the “hovering craft” and how Boko Haram could’ve
sabotaged the building and other poppycock the
televangelist wanted the world to believe.
Very little was reported about the structural defects of the
building. Not much was written about the fact that the
building originally had 2 floors and was being illegally
refurbished with 4 additional floors when it collapsed. We
didn’t come hard on the Synagogue Church goons who
attacked first responders. We didn’t highlight the fact that
many of those that perished could have been saved if
NEMA officials weren’t barred from the site for almost
three days! We didn’t make an issue of the fact that our
colleagues who had gone to report the collapsed building
were molested on Saturday.
So when I woke up last Saturday morning and saw the
picture of Jonathan shaking hands with a grinning TB
Joshua with headlines like “Jonathan consoles TB
Joshua,” I said damn it! I couldn’t stomach this blatant
impunity.
TB Joshua is perhaps the most powerful preacher in Africa
and politicians all over the continent fawn at him. But as
watchdogs, journalists must hold entrenched powers to
account. If Nigerian politicians didn’t realise that more
than 90 lives had just perished underneath a building
without requisite permit and that those responsible should
be held accountable, then the responsibility falls on
journalists to force them to do the right thing.
Journalists shouldn’t be seen or heard telling the prime
suspect they would write “just like you said” after he
offered to buy their consciences with N50,000.
Some of the reporters who collected the N50,000 have
called me after the audio went viral to complain. They told
me they have been getting calls from colleagues and
family members who recognised their voices in the
recording. One even accused me of a breach of trust. I told
him I didn’t sign a pact of silence with anybody. For me
the decision was between covering the ethical
shortcomings of my colleagues or doing that which is right
to make sure those who died and their families get justice.
The decision was easy.
Why didn’t I publish the audio the same day I recorded it?
Nigerian journalists habitually ask for gratification at
press conferences and corporate events that it has
unfortunately become a norm. Reporters actually think
you’re a fool if you turned down what they call “brown
envelope”. There are several excuses to justify it: “We’re
poorly paid,” “We have not been paid for months,” etc.
Honestly, it’s hard to dismiss some of these excuses
sometimes. Nigerian Journalists are perhaps among the
worst paid in the world. This is where the Nigerian Union
of Journalist should do more. Its officials should stop
paying courtesy calls to politicians (of course, we know
what exchanges hands during these visits) and do more to
force Jet-flying owners of media organisations to pay
reporters more and on time. We deserve it.
Journalists should also explore other related and
legitimate means of making money like researching,
writing and editing reports for NGOs, writing and editing
of brochures and reports, working as fixers to foreign
journalists, blogging (I recently met a Nigerian television
reporter that make quite some money monthly from his
blog), etc.
Like everything in Nigeria, this “brown envelope” thing
has been stretched beyond the limit of ridiculousness. I’d
give some examples: On August 15, 2010 a truck
belonging to Dangote Sugar Refinery caused an inferno at
the Ojodu Bridge outside Otedola Estate in Lagos. More
that 50 lives perished in the fire. An inquest was initiated
by a non-governmental organisation, Access to Justice and
Human Rights lawyer, Femi Falana. Please take a deep
breath before reading the next sentence. During the
inquest, officials of Dangote Industries distributed cartons
of Spaghetti (and some money, probably to buy
ingredients) to court reporters at the Ikeja High Court to
probably skew their account of the hearing. In case you
missed it let me repeat. Some Nigerian Journalists
collected packs of Spaghetti as bribes! Are we that
hungry? Some reporters got as little as 12 packs of
spaghetti. My friend, Ben Ezeamalu, was almost beaten up
for speaking against it.
In fact, they erected a wall of hostility around themselves
whenever he came around. According to him, a very senior
journalist pulled him aside and told him it was easy for
him to turn down the brown envelope because he wasn’t
married and had no school fees to pay.
Ben said his curiosity was excited while he was
researching for material on the internet for an article he
was writing days before the coroner’s verdict on the
inquest. To his surprise, there was very little material for an
inquest that involved Africa’s richest man and had lasted
19 months! After the coroner delivered his verdict, in
which he indicted Dangote’s company as well as the
Nigeria Police, the (short) article was tucked away in a
remote corner in almost all the newspapers the next day.
The fact that the coroner indicted Dangote was also
carefully left out in the articles.
Other journalists have tagged Ben “a spy” for
consistently refusing to collect “brown envelopes”.
Nigerian journalists no longer know where to draw the
line. A father that lost his son during last Dana plane crash
was forced to pay journalists during his son’s wake-keep
before it was reported. There are more puke-inducing
instances but I’d stop here.
For those of you saying N50,000 ($300) was too little to
entice Nigerian reporters, I’ve seen reporters scuffle over
N2,000 ($12) during a press conference.
During last year’s gubernatorial election in Ondo State,
reporters literally came to blows at Governor Mimiko’s
home after the latter released “appreciation money” for
journalists who covered his polling unit. The sharing
formula was N10,000 per head, until the cash ran low and
the formula switched to N7,000. Cue bedlam. The
governor’s PA, looking on with contempt, threatened to
evict them from his employer’s residence if they failed to
conduct themselves with decorum. One fellow even started
arranging for another group of journalists to go meet the
governor for another “appreciation money.”
Editors should also monitor their reporters too, but we all
know that some editors get theirs through subtler manner
(Bank transfers). I’m a Nigerian journalist I want to change
things the only way I know how to – going public with it.
I’m not saying anything new here, everybody who has one
thing or the other to do with journalists knows that these
things happen. Maybe I’m the first journalist to go public
with it in such a manner.
Corporate organisations and individuals should also stop
offering these bribes (I still insist that they are bribes and
nothing else). Journalist will report your events whether
they like it or not. They want to stay in business. My heart
skips anytime I get a call from my editor or receive that
email with a subject that reads: “Pending stories”. I know
I’m required to deliver. I don’t need that “brown envelope”
to turn around that copy. I know in the Punch for instance,
reporters are required to fill a certain number of pages
every week. They can’t sit around waiting for “money to
fuel your cars” to write stories to fill those pages. The
threat of losing one of the most lucrative jobs in the
industry is enough “inducement”. But the truth is most
pressers aren’t news worthy so PR officials feel they need
to induce reporters to write about them.
And for the fundamentalist followers of TB Joshua, this
isn’t about your spiritual Godfather. I would still have
gone public with this if the Pope was involved. I can’t say
I’m sorry that his ego was bruised. He clearly meant for the
money to influence the reporting of the event. “So what
are you going to write?” He had asked. That makes it a
bribe. Simple. I can’t help you if you couldn’t decipher
that. I’m a reporter not a brain surgeon.
This is the last I’m going to say on this issue unless
something drastic happens. Let the personal attacks
continue.
Source:- Nicholas Ibekwe Blog