Before Minimah Wipes out the Insurgents…

Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Kenneth Minimah

On Wednesday, March 19, the newly appointed Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Kenneth Minimah, was in Maiduguri, the insurgents’ hotbed, as a surprise visitor, at least, in the eye of the ordinary residents of the city. He was not alone on the trip. His counterpart at the Nigerian Air Force, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, was also there. Their presence at a city that looks like ‘battleground’ was not only timely, but significant.

Minimah’s carefully chosen words in his message to the insurgents have also hit me like a bomb. What did he say? As a commander that he is, he should not be opposed to any action that will ensure victory for him in an operation like this. So, during his visit to Maiduguri, a city that has been devastated by the insurgents and their sympathisers – both in the military and paramilitary services and those outside the uniform services, i.e. politicians, businessmen, businesswomen and the academia – the army chief was unambiguous in his threat.   He had said: “To the Insurgents, the dialogue table is still open, else the national power is available to the armed forces to crush the insurgency.”

I have always believed that our military has the capability to decimate those fighters anytime, any day and anywhere, all things being equal. This belief, I must explain, is predicated on my working relationship, as a journalist, with the military institution.  Yes, we could smoke the fighters out from their hide-outs; can we confidently say that in the case of their financiers? Are these financiers and their arms suppliers not the invincible insurgents that we must also fight, disgrace and make a public show of?

Yes. Putting the fighters to flight is not a problem. But my greatest fear has to do with the military’s perception of journalists. This perception is not largely different from the views of political leaders equally hold of reporters. Take it or leave it, the official thinking is that most of us act as provincial writers to the detriment of the entity, called: Nigeria.

If you doubt me, read the following comment Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), made at a media workshop on ‘Military-Media Relation in Nigeria’ with the theme: “Enhancing Military-Media Relations Towards Improved Security” that was organized by the office of the Chief of Staff during the tenure of Lt-Gen Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd), that:   “Perhaps, this is an important medium for interaction with the media because everybody has an important role to play and in the exercise of that role and the discharge of that responsibility, none must make the work of the other more difficult”, the Governor said.

“Some of the things I have seen include people issuing threats; people who are not representatives of State institutions issuing threats and those kinds of threats are getting front page headlines. They do not help the problem at all”.

“For me, we appeal to the members of the media to be cautious of what makes headlines. What is newsworthy? Oh yes, I understand very clearly that bad news means very useful balance sheet at the end of the year; but how useful are those balance sheets when they have spread much more conflict?, he asked

“Crime does not discriminate, it gives no warnings and, therefore, I will like a healthy balance sheet and I will like to have it in a peaceful and secure environment. I agree with the need in reporting developments including crime. But I think we owe a responsibility especially to the younger generation, our children because they read these things”.

“Some of the things we put out there, headless bodies, etc, really for me they have to stop. I think in this new partnership, the sooner all of us began to look inwards and ask ourselves how we are making the situation better or more difficult, the better for our country and society”.

Ihejirika had said then: “Apart from this, terrorists use the media to publicise their political causes, convey the motives for their terrorist deeds and explain their rationale for resorting to violence. They also use the media to edify their leadership. On the whole, terrorists rely on the media as a tool to shrink the power asymmetry between them and the governments they fight, create an atmosphere of fear and suspicion, legitimise their acts and reach greater audiences.

“All these attributes have come to play in the activities of Boko Haram sect in Nigeria and that explains why we need to continuously partner with the media to deal with the menace.”

Yes, again, the army had done well by putting up that seminar. I dare add that as plausible as it was, it was primed for the very top echelon of the media – publishers, managing directors and the editors. The reporters that were there were merely on routine beat assignment. They were not the main target.

So, the ball is now in the court of Gen. Minimah and his group to get the media representatives in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States back to training on war reporting.

The military government of late Sani Abacha and later that of Abubakar Abdulasami offered Defence reporters such training opportunity. I benefitted immensely from it. The present crop of reporters and other media representatives on ground in the zone should be properly schooled on the art of defence reporting.

Regular media seminars on military reporting should ideally bring out the patriotism in every journalist.
Such training interface should be tailored to imbibe in the reporters the additional knowledge that during exchange of fire at a battle zone, information dissemination on progress of the operation, casualty figure, etc, is 100 per cent coordinated; the spokesperson is known and any information not from such source is largely informal, which can also best serve the interest of the insurgents. I expect the army headquarters to have by now seamlessly connected the various media representatives to the situation room of the current military operation.

The tragedy of the mentality of an average military spokesperson is that he feels, each time he gives a story, he is doing you and your organization a great favour. Apart from very few of them – air force and the navy – the army and defence are the worst culprits. That is their mentality and sadly so; most of the occupants of the offices do not act as trained media and public relations persons. The air force and navy guys are superb on their job, at least going by their response rate.

The past army/defence image makers - Generals Fred Chijuka, Godwin Ugbo, Felix Chukwuma, Emeka Onwuamaegbu and the late Solomon Giwa were simply fantastic on the job. They would pick your calls and even initiate same.

The friction line is always drawn by some of these military spokesmen who most of the time, arrogantly fail or refuse to confirm information bordering on their service promptly to reporters. Why they do that is beyond my imagination.

Now, if you decide to go to their office, another frustration! They’ll just keep you waiting attending to ‘contractors’; and those who do not want to see you at all will later tell you, ‘sorry the chief wants me…’

As Minimah works his threat to the insurgents, it may not be out of place if he also takes time to work his information management system. There is need for that sector to be proactive, especially in this era of digital media revolution.

Perhaps, the advice of THISDAY Chairman, Nduka Obaigbena, at the same seminar will suffice: “No matter how good you are as an army, you are not above the people. You are a reflection of the society you serve. Therefore, you must tell your own story and build the confidence and trust of the population.

“The workings of the army should be technologically driven. Do you have drones to gather intelligence, do you have the wherewithal, equipment and trained personnel? Are you part of your communities? In this regard, the army should understand the culture and religion of the people in those communities to be able to deal with the enemy within.”