By Tony Erha
Television viewers across the globe, mainly Nigerians, must have been jolted that what promised to be an exciting and ‘no-holds-barred’ interview between the Nigerian Arise TV News, and Mr. Michael Freeman, Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, was ruined and escalated. Nigerian viewers had anticipated adequate exposure from the Israeli envoy, on the ranging war between Israel (backed by the United States) and Iran, and its spillover in Nigeria. The high-profile interface was also expected to expose fresh vistas on the internecine insurgency, allegedly by Muslim extremism, against the Nigerian state, culminating in killings, maiming, arson and sacking of local communities.
Alas, the interview exercise was burgled and inclined to ‘false bravado’, a guise where individuals hide their true feelings and emotions behind premeditated cover-up actions.
The traditional media – television, radio and the tabloid had been very noisy, particularly the ‘Vuvuzela’ social media genre. It took the dance-steps and singsongs to the gossiping streets of Nigeria and the world, that our own Rufai Oseni, the boiling cauldron of Arise TV, had done it again. But this time much bigger, as he tried to grab screaming headlines of ‘overpowering’ a mascot of the untiring Israel, said from the ‘ancient times to nowadays’, as fighting wars like a vocation.
In the unusual clime of Africa’s most populous country, things are down differently, oftentimes head-down; professionalism and ethics are the last of relevant considerations or not given any attention. Here, the freedom of self-expression and a free-human-enterprise don’t seem to matter, where press interviewers and interviewees are the cross pollination of objectivity and correctness!
Media news is more widespread on the wings of the internet and its light-years speed, than with the traditional media. Social media is the ‘all-comers’ unconventional wedlock to the internet, where all manners of reportage hold. A recent worldwide poll says that the advent of the social media has wreaked untold pains on the world.
With the social media, every Tom, Dick and Harry arrogates to being a journalist, simply because he has internet access and a browsing component, at will. The inflicted pains on society, as it may, is what some readily summon the courage to call ‘freest social media that professes to press freedom and a safer world’.
“This renewed order is ‘more appealing’ when the news is worthier ‘if a bites a dog, than when the dog bites a man'”.
The sins of Michael Freeman was ‘daring’ to voice out on the Arise set, the obvious that the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), a canopy-bulk of the country’s Shite sect, is “sponsored by the Iranian government”, another word for Iran’s mediated liability as backer of the jihadist and terror groups that had besieged Nigeria for decades, causing human massacres, religious persecution, local community sacking and its attended miseries. He also warned that undue Iran’s influence extends beyond Nigeria to other parts of West Africa
Freeman pointedly accused the recently-exterminated spiritual leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a mastermind of the unabated insurgency by backing terror groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, as well as attacks in countries such as Argentina, Bulgaria, the U.K., Australia, and Nigeria. To him, Iran’s development of ballistic missiles and nuclear ambitions were further evidence of its deadly threats to the world. He capped it that the current Israel-US defensive actions against Tehran, was morally justified.
To imagine Khamenei, with the weapons obtained from Russia, China and North Korea that mainly practice Christianity, the Chinese folk religion and Atheism, respectively, are also intended to impose Islam and sharia, to the detriment of religious practices of the same mentor-nations of Iran, should have been dismissed as vaunting ambition. But, insinuations by a cautious Freeman, was that if it was possible in Australia, UK and others, it would also be in aforesaid Iranian allies.
Set-bullying of guest interviewees is a trademark of Rufai Oseni, as again evident in his harassment of Mr. Freeman not to “interrupt him”. Unfortunately, it’s encouraged by many well-placed Nigerians, that cherish unusual doings as means to feathering their nests and religions. It is not funny having Sheik Ahmed Gumi, Asari Dokunbo, Shehu Sani and many ‘praying Mantis’ from the religious divides chanting the knell.
Interestingly, Ruby Mohan, American writer and poet, in his satire on transcendentalism, ethics and certainty, reasons aloud; “There is a way men watch the woman they admire, and then there is a way men watch a woman they cannot believe is for real.”
Unbelievably, Owei Lakemfa, a versatile writer and theoretician, who should’ve known better, is one amidst the attackers of Mr. Freeman, for ‘daring’ to echo what is already known to the world. In journalism, external censorship and media men’s obvert, self-censorship and infringements, are setback to the press union and freedom of speech that hinders public progress, than external abusers of free expression.
It is likely that Lakemfa, and labour activist, is inclined to the learnings of the leftist East; and cold to Westernization and Zionism zeal. What one wouldn’t know is whether he is amongst the Mullahs (holy prophets) who are called and bound for the ecclesiastic red-carpet of heavenly reception that is much hyped. Still, it could be for the same reasons that Lakemfa penned a short and acerbic piece;
“The Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria is irresponsible”, a heist on the Nigerian intellects, that flowed with his impossible assertion that “… Nigeria has no problems with Muslims or Shittes”.
A bird is roasted and the chickens are not happy!
If Iran and Khamenei hadn’t been sponsoring jihadist groups in the country, as alleged, why the spontaneous wild demonstrations by IMN members, in cities, including Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Niger, Gombe, Bauchi, and Yobe, to condemn the killing of Khamenei and expression of solidarity with Iran, following US-Israeli airstrikes? There were incidents of the Israeli and American flags matched upon and burnt by the angry IMN protesters. What hatred could be more than that against the countries their protests are directed and for the country they carry out the protest actions?
A justification that the Arise TV News could also be independent in its business, Dr. Reuben Abati, a leading anchor of the crew that Rufai belongs, had rebuked the Nigerian protesters, thus questioning the benefit of Iran and its leaders to the Nigeria’s situation, where the same protesters failed to similarly protest against the worsening insecurity in the country.
The Iran’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mahdavi Raja, had spoken contrarily to the Freeman’s weighty accusations, through the same Arise TV News, arguing that Iran always solidarized with Nigeria against threats from Boko Haram and ISWAP, hence it condemns terrorism in all forms. As he buttressed his rejection of Israeli claims of Iran’s involvement in terrorism, dismissing them as “attempts to weaken Nigeria-Iran relations built over six decades”, there was no Oseni Rufai to similarly dress him down.
Whilst the public information domains are dotted with incidents of Iranian support for extreme jihadists, as well as in Nigeria, which it may not have contested, like the Michael Freeman’s accusations, however, the imposition of the sharia variant laws of Islam, which Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had aggressively pursued for his country and around the world, is an aberration to secular statehood, and is hardly substituted for a country’s constitution.
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