Thomas Moore’s ancient poem, “the harp that once through Tara’s halls” was written in 1875. Many interpretations have been given by scholars, but the one that is apt for this opinion is that which views the poem as a requiem for Ireland’s nationality and independence erosion under the rule of England that at that time had spanned centuries. Tara’s halls represented the seat of power of the Irish government when it was in the hands of the Irish. Moore depicted Tara’s halls as desolate because of the loss of their nationality. Somehow, this imagery is a good metaphor for the current Nigerian media.
The ‘bye-gone’ Nigerian media suffered physical, psychological, and financial losses. Dele Giwa was bombed into smithereens under the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, the Newswatch magazine that he founded along with 3 other founding members (Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese and Yakubu Mohammed) with Soji Akinrinade as foundation member as well, though not on the Board of Directors never did recover from the brutal murder of Dele Giwa and the magazine began to make financial losses.
Moore described the hitherto purposeful and majestic happenings at Tara’s halls when it was in its elements: The harp that once through Tara’s halls and which shed music softly and soothingly was suddenly just a mural on Tara’s walls, mute and devoid of soul. The harp is the national instrument of the Irish, so the significance of its silence depicts the mood of a people who are desolate and no longer are free to express themselves without fear of repercussion. Moore concludes poignantly; “so sleeps the pride of former days, so glory’s thrill is o’er, and hearts, that once beat high for praise, now feel that pulse no more.”
Glory’s thrill was over for Ireland in 1875, as the national pride that was theirs had now become completely weather-beaten. Is this the same fate that has befallen the Nigerian media profession? Is glory’s thrill over for the profession that once was so lofty as the 4th realm of government, understanding the weight of responsibility and diligently assuming the weight, a true bastion of democracy and defender of freedoms of the citizens, defying all the weapons of obstruction fired at it by the Military, standing firm for democracy during the times Nigeria had glimpses of it interspersed with military rule.
A recollection of the authentic and dependable Nigerian media of old make the current experience of the media a sad shadow or a caricature. The ‘bye-gone’ Nigerian media suffered physical, psychological, and financial losses. Dele Giwa was bombed into smithereens under the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, the Newswatch magazine that he founded along with 3 other founding members (Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese and Yakubu Mohammed) with Soji Akinrinade as foundation member as well, though not on the Board of Directors never did recover from the brutal murder of Dele Giwa and the magazine began to make financial losses.
Freedom of the press had been severely damaged by the fear that had been instilled into the media through the bombing, but yet journalists were undeterred. They pressed on, at great risk to their lives and livelihoods and they suffered for their courage. Shall we talk about Godwin Agbroko, the THISDAY Editorial Chair killed in December 2006 in what the perpetrators staged as a robbery attack, but with evidence pointing to an assassination? His family have testified to many death threats prior to his death and the fact that nothing was stolen from the crime scene exposes the ruse of robbery. The daughter who is herself a journalist of international repute presently, testifies also to the psychological trauma that the family had endured for so long as a result of the threats they had lived through. Shall we remember Enenche Akogwu and Zakari Isa, both killed by the Boko Haram insurgents for covering the latter’s murderous atrocities? What about Ogunlola Ayanloloa Ohu, shot in his home and his laptop taken away? He had been working on a story at that time that was to reveal some secrets someone did not want revealed.
There are so many heroes of the former Nigerian media. It is not only death that makes their sacrifice notable. The duo of Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor, former journalists were jailed under the Public Officers’ (Protection Against False Publications) Decree No 4 of 1984 under the command of the present President Buhari who at that time was military Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. That Tunde Thompson forgave Buhari and even supported him in his bid to become the democratically elected President of Nigeria is uncommon mercy.
Apart from the sufferings of media practitioners in the past for the sake of their constitutional responsibilities, their professionalism was top-notch. Both the broadcast and print media understood the importance of facts in journalism and the need to cover the news fairly, seeking the views of protagonists and antagonists before publishing a piece. They were all investigating journalists, because they had to research background into feature stories to provide context to the readers. The Broadcasters as well were eloquent, stories presented were well-written. The current NTA is not even a shadow of the old NTA, it is an exact opposite. Whereas we had news that were reliable and delivered by proficient professionals (tautology intended), we now have mediocrity delivered in mediocrity. But one good thing about the NTA though, is that it still remains authentic to the truth whereas the private media both print and broadcast, and the online media are a collective bunch of the unreal.
The current media are composed of “On Air Personalities” (OAPs) rather than broadcasters. Whereas the former does not need to be a professional journalist, the latter is usually a qualified practitioner. Whereas in the former dispensation, only established brick and mortar media practitioners were in operation, now we have a predominance of faceless online media managed by ‘uncatchable’ urchins, many of whom just delight in publishing falsehood, fabricating stories from the comfort and protection of anonymity just on the go, on a whim, as revenge or just on a “libel for hire” venture. These ones daily libel and destroy both individuals, companies, and governments without repercussions while the government appear to be handicapped, perhaps because its President is afraid of being tarred with the toga, he wore during the military rule of being a dictator and is as such now overcompensating.
But it is not just about the government’s inaction, but also about the inability or unwillingness of the media practitioners to protect their profession. Why would quacks take over a profession willy-nilly if the professionals value their profession? Why would the legacies of media veterans like Tony Momoh, Duro Onabule, Frank Oliseh, Ruth Benamaisa-Opia, Ronke Dalley-Ayuba, Yinka Craig, Olatunji Dare, Abike Erogbogbo-Dabiri, etc be ‘rubbished’ as it is being done now with to the current state of media mediocrity where decorum is absent from most OAP’s manner of speech and comportment, lies are spewed by OAPs and published on media unapologetically. It even appears now that, there is a deliberate action of projecting just one side of every issue and also there is evidenced bias in reporting.
This again leads to the original title of this piece. For the Nigerian media is it safe to say that glory’s thrill is over? Surely the heart, which was beating high in the past feels the pulse no more. Paradise appears to be lost. Could it, be regained? I fear, NEVER! There were only two classes of people who can possibly assist the return of paradise and it seems that the first class are dead and the whereabouts of the other class can not be traced.
