SaharaReporters is being regarded with great favour, approval, even affection especially by the general public. By my own estimate, it has become a best-selling propaganda against corrupt Nigerians at the helm of affairs. I have no doubt in my mind that such voice is inevitable in an effort to battle impairment of virtue and moral principles among those who lead Nigeria. Bit by bit SaharaReporters has become part of a larger drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving.

Perhaps it is this activism gesture that makes it difficult for me to fault SaharaReporters irrespective of its method which of course is obvious. Its political orientation favouring revolutionary change in government and society cannot be avoided or prevented in a nation where the oppressed have been programmed to glorify their oppressors. Despite its defect approach as reasoned by a group of commentators, I'd rather escape Nigerian rulers' meretricious captivation for the glorious melancholy in SaharaReporters' invasive reporting.

A voice is needed to combat those military forces whose determination to conquer the poor man's mind is without mercy or pity. SaharaReporters is one of the unmerciful voices garnered to fight the tempest of insincerity that pervades Nigeria’s polity and deeds. It is a radical and aggressive voice; angry and hungry; sad and mad; yearning and churning. Others may not be as radical, aggressive, angry, hungry, sad or mad; they are equally fighting intensely. One needs to visit Pointblanknews, Nigeriavillagesquare, Newnigerianpolitics and other voices being operated by Nigerians in the Diaspora in order to understand, and probably appreciate the quiet revolution going on.

If at this point in time there is no such voice marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions; inclined to react violently – against those military forces – why are we then dreaming of a great nation where accountability, equity, justice and other goodies of life will be the hallmark? The historic phenomenon of Change has never been on a platter of gold. There will be speculation and persecution. There will be loyalty and there will be betrayal. There will be a mental state characterized by a lack of clear thought and behaviour. There will be a recklessly wasteful moment. Hum, there will be indiscriminate slaughter. And blood shall flow.

I suppose Change is a parasite of the society in which it tends to alter. Subsequent Nigerian “gunverments” have helped breed violently agitated and turbulent voices like the fierce thunders roar. These inevitable ruthless voices against corruption are being driven by the apocalypse of our time; the strong believe that it is now or never; the notion that our destiny is in our own hands; the import believes that the best way to confront a bully at school is to bully him; the biblical injunction that approves an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Those who lead Nigeria have shown they are like a bully at school; murdering the nation and its people – lawfully. I wish I could express myself better without this extravagant exaggeration.

Don't we all know that Nigeria has been in a state of progressive putrefaction for quite a long time? Does it not dampen your heaven's spirit when the victims of this decaying bacterial do very little to get rid of such an offensive odour? And that anyone who tries to bring normalcy to the polity is being nicknamed rebel and devil? Nigerians who have determined to curb rottenness in our polity would be surprised that even their spouses and children are not with them. It's such a lonely fight. And if I want to be sceptical, I would add: it's becoming a lost battle. The evidence abounded with a challenge to readers to do their own research.

So when I read Kennedy Emetulu's We Are All Saharareporters in which he asks us to sign a petition addressed to "President" Yar'Adua, I knew something is not right. I wouldn't have problem with the petition if Emetulu had not adequately associated himself with SaharaReporters, a voice that roars and I can bet heaven listen to. It is not the content that bothers me, for it is well-written. And I would have probably signed the petition had Emetulu not muddled things, giving the impression that SaharaReporters is involved. Although SaharaReporters has not published the petition on its site as at time of writing, neither has it disclaimed the petition. Even the decision not to publish it on its site gives room for suspicion – a smart move though.

For SaharaReporters to be involved in writing petitions to the same man it described as "The Serpent Leader... leads pack of wolves, snakes and Jackals ravaging Nigeria", depicts confusion and if care is not taken, may be the beginning of the end (God forbid). SaharaReporters should not dapple into petition writings for it is above that. It should stick to what it knows how to do best: exposé. As far as I am concerned, it has done well in giving accounts of the facts of a situation that are shocking and which have deliberately been kept secret. SaharaReporters has shown it's not an empty barrel so there's no need to shout or canvass for support before it is heard. It has already sailed the Atlantic.

However, there's virtually the need for understanding based on comprehension, discernment and empathy. Not all Nigerians have radicalism in their blood. Although I admire certain radicals, by nature I am not and I don't pretend otherwise. I enjoy writing. I write not to show emotion but to relieve myself of certain emotions. I write to keep me sane in this moment of riotous living. I write because I don't want to keep quiet in the face of oppression, especially in a country where one man can steal a horse while another must not look at its halter. I'd like to be counted as someone who has realised that “gunverment” in Nigeria is a relay race in which juntas – military or civilian – passes the baton to one another.

SaharaReporter needs to protect its image at all times for it has accelerated itself to the limelight of crusading. To give the impression that a group of politicians is behind its agenda will quicken its collapse, and definitely humiliates or depress completely the initial struggle of this voice. SaharaReporters needs proper focus if it does not want to lose its wholeness. It must know how to avoid embarrassment or distress. It must begin to chew my people's axiom: iku ogun nii pa akikanju, iku odo nii pa omuwe, iku efun nii pa lekeleke. (roughly translated: whatever it is that peole love doing best usually kill them). I agree with Festus Keyamo that SaharaReporters must not be caught in an embarrassing position.

To stick its neck out for a public officer betrays the struggle of this voice. Although Omoyele Sowore denied being pro-Ribadu in his public letter to Festus Keyamo, the caption under Ribadu's picture on its web clearly speaks volume. It reads: “ Nigeria's erstwhile chief crime-fighter unceremoniously dismissed from service. Another sad testimony to the fact that, in some parts of the world, Crime WINS!” In my opinion, as much as Ribadu accomplished in his fight against corruption, he remains a paradox; a pun in the game of Nigerian polieatics tactically used by the master himself - Obasanjo. No one can be absolutely right or wrong about Ribadu’s tenure as EFCC chairman. He’s a riddle – an enigma. And that is his luck. I think Saharareporters has soft spot for anyone or thing that is against any “gunverment” in power in Nigeria.

Back to the petition, in passing his points across, Emetulu directed us to one of those exposé titled, How Farida Waziri and Top Nigerian Editors Got Abuja Land allocations. The story is a strong allegation against Farida Waziri, the current EFCC Chairperson and some editors. It portrays Mrs Waziri as someone who uses her executive office to steal while it points out that journalism is now for sale. The story is backed up by documents and accounts of different sources. I doubt not the story, especially when some of the editors involved actually confirmed they have benefited from the land allocations. For now, I shall leave Madam Waziri while I briefly comment on the conflict of interest regarding the editors. 

Indeed there's nothing wrong or unusual for these editors like any other Nigerians - to purchase the land legitimately. I believe they have every right to do so. But I shall speak from both sides of my mouth. So let me say this: it would have been better if these editors had stayed away from such purchase due to the nature of their job. Doing so would have been an enduring sacrifice. It simply doesn't augur well for Nigerian editors to benefit from corrupt governments they criticise. This may be a sacrifice, but it is one that every journalist must be willing to undertake, especially in trouble times like this.

In his Critics, Commentators and Gadflies, Sabella Abidde warns commentators to be cautious in their dealings with the society as there are those who might want to trap, entice or soil their names. Abidde goes on to list about eleven lessons he has learnt. I found it quite instructive. As the so-called Fourth Estate of Realm, journalists should strive to be above board in their deeds and actions. If these editors actually got the allocation specifically to kill the story on Madibbo's corrupt deals as alleged by SaharaReporters, then Nigeria is really in a mess; and nobody – not even the voice that heaven listen to – would be able to clean the kettle of fish.

Copyright 2009 mysmallvoice@yahoo.com

Robot  # 1 | 15.01.2009 03:38

SaharaReporters is being regarded with great favour, approval, even affection especially by the general public. By my own estimate, it has become a best-selling propaganda against corrupt Nigerians at the helm of affairs. I have no doubt in my mind that such voice is inevitable in an effort to battle impairment of virtue and moral principles among those who lead Nigeria. Bit by bit SaharaReporters has become part of a larger drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving. Perhaps it is this activism gesture that makes it difficult for me to fault SaharaReporters irrespective of its method which of course is obvious. Its political orientation favouring revolutionary change in government and society cannot be avoided or prevented in a nation where the oppressed have been programmed to glorify their oppressors. Despite its defect approach as reasoned by a group of commentators, I'd rather escape Nigerian rulers' meretricious captivation for the g...Read the full article.

MrOneNaija  # 2 | 15.01.2009 07:42

A WORD OF ADVICE On account of its relevance here, I'm reposting in this space my reaction under the Sowore vs. Keyamo thread. THE CALL OF HUBRIS Sowore's reaction to the rejoinder by Festus Keyamo has amply demonstrated that his indictment (as contained in the published e-mail he wrote to Keyamo) was as misguided as it was unnecessary. At the end of it all, we are left with the fact that no case of collaborative abdication and compromise has been established against the person of Keyamo. Like in the reckless insinuations by Sahara Reporters (SR) regarding some newspaper "editors", the initial letter to Keyamo has undermined Sowore's claim to the moral highground by exposing a troubling streak for mischief bordering on blackmail. In his response, Sowore has stated that he and his SR are not pro-Ribadu in their reporting of EFCC activities. When I read this bare-faced falsehood, I said to myself that Sowore may have a far bigger problem than he is willing to admit. A cursory look at the coverage of the post-Ribadu era EFCC by SR does leave one with an unmistakable impression that Sowore and the outfit he heads have become an ardent megaphone for the peddling of a pro-Ribadu discourse whose schizophrenic reflexes are dangerously setting the tone and temper of their anti-corruption struggle. Consider this: Gani Fawehinmi, apparently a mentor to Sowore, was reportedly one of the individuals that offered their services, not free of charge, it would seem, for Nuhu Ribadu's EFCC. When Ribadu and the EFCC engaged in scorched earth assaults on the Nigerian democratic project during the satanic tyranny of the demented potentate called Olusegun Obasanjo, Gani, instead of calling Ribadu and his fellow thugs to order, did constitute a cheerleading chorus around the Obasanjo factotum and his impunity. Sowore and his SR did not, to my knowledge, write in our public spaces to castigate Gani's apostacy regarding the wayward conduct of Ribadu and his EFCC. Today, sadly, the eccentric tantrums by Gani regarding Ribadu and the EFCC are framed ( by SR) as latter-day sermons on the mountain. Let me reiterate my advice to Sowore and SR. The noble enterprise of fighting sleaze in our dear Naija which they say they are engaged in risks being sacrificed at the altar of hubristic incompetence. At some point, they will have to choose between truly investigative journalism that does not take prisoners and the facile temptation to peddle in partisan rants and innuendo masquerading as a crusade against an untenable status quo.

i-go-better  # 3 | 15.01.2009 07:54

"Its political orientation favouring revolutionary change in government and society cannot be avoided or prevented in a nation where the oppressed have been programmed to glorify their oppressors". Excellent article. The underlined phrase synthesizes all that is wrong with Nigeria.

ajimoh  # 4 | 15.01.2009 10:55

=i-go-better;313315>"Indeed there's nothing wrong or unusual for these editors like any other Nigerians - to purchase the land legitimately. I believe they have every right to do so. But I shall speak from both sides of my mouth. So let me say this: it would have been better if these editors had stayed away from such purchase due to the nature of their job. Doing so would have been an enduring sacrifice. It simply doesn't augur well for Nigerian editors to benefit from corrupt governments they criticise. This may be a sacrifice, but it is one that every journalist must be willing to undertake, especially in trouble times like this. In his Critics, Commentators and Gadflies, Sabella Abidde warns commentators to be cautious in their dealings with the society as there are those who might want to trap, entice or soil their names. Abidde goes on to list about eleven lessons he has learnt. I found it quite instructive. As the so-called Fourth Estate of Realm, journalists should strive to be above board in their deeds and actions. If these editors actually got the allocation specifically to kill the story on Madibbo's corrupt deals as alleged by SaharaReporters, then Nigeria is really in a mess; and nobody – not even the voice that heaven listen to – would be able to clean the kettle of fish. . Thank you for a well-thought article. The emphasis above is quite instructive and it is the core values missed by all those who saw nothing wrong in the convenient, deliberately timed, allocations to the concerned journalists ! It seems our sense of morality is perverse in Nigeria and, having seen the concerted defences mounted by some eminent commentators here, I am beginning to doubt whether they understand the meaning or significance of morality. The test of morality is objective and I am shocked by the very predictable arguments of all the people saying these journalists have done nothing wrong because they have not violated the laws of the land. Every man to his own sense of what is morally just. If Reuben Abati examines his conscience and sees nothing wrong in the circumstances surrounding this allocation, good luck to him. After all, Pastor Adeboye saw nothing in accepting a national award from a morally bankrupt regime whilst Gani Fawehinmi did the right thing to reject it. Therein lies the difference between what is legally right, morally right and legally right, morally wrong, the Pastor was legally right, but morally wrong; and confirms my belief that most of them are charlatans living in 'cloud cuckoo land'!

nijalaw  # 5 | 15.01.2009 10:59

I ndeed there's nothing wrong or unusual for these editors like any other Nigerians - to purchase the land legitimately. I believe they have every right to do so. But I shall speak from both sides of my mouth. So let me say this: it would have been better if these editors had stayed away from such purchase due to the nature of their job. Doing so would have been an enduring sacrifice. It simply doesn't augur well for Nigerian editors to benefit from corrupt governments they criticise. This may be a sacrifice, but it is one that every journalist must be willing to undertake, especially in trouble times like this. Exactly my misgivings on the editors. SR is great & it's the first website I visit once I'm on the net.

nijalaw  # 6 | 15.01.2009 11:15

A WORD OF ADVICE On account of its relevance here, I'm reposting in this space my reaction under the Sowore vs. Keyamo thread. Quote: THE CALL OF HUBRIS Sowore's reaction to the rejoinder by Festus Keyamo has amply demonstrated that his indictment (as contained in the published e-mail he wrote to Keyamo) was as misguided as it was unnecessary. At the end of it all, we are left with the fact that no case of collaborative abdication and compromise has been established against the person of Keyamo. Like in the reckless insinuations by Sahara Reporters (SR) regarding some newspaper "editors", the initial letter to Keyamo has undermined Sowore's claim to the moral highground by exposing a troubling streak for mischief bordering on blackmail. In his response, Sowore has stated that he and his SR are not pro-Ribadu in their reporting of EFCC activities. When I read this bare-faced falsehood, I said to myself that Sowore may have a far bigger problem than he is willing to admit. A cursory look at the coverage of the post-Ribadu era EFCC by SR does leave one with an unmistakable impression that Sowore and the outfit he heads have become an ardent megaphone for the peddling of a pro-Ribadu discourse whose schizophrenic reflexes are dangerously setting the tone and temper of their anti-corruption struggle. Consider this: Gani Fawehinmi, apparently a mentor to Sowore, was reportedly one of the individuals that offered their services, not free of charge, it would seem, for Nuhu Ribadu's EFCC. When Ribadu and the EFCC engaged in scorched earth assaults on the Nigerian democratic project during the satanic tyranny of the demented potentate called Olusegun Obasanjo, Gani, instead of calling Ribadu and his fellow thugs to order, did constitute a cheerleading chorus around the Obasanjo factotum and his impunity. Sowore and his SR did not, to my knowledge, write in our public spaces to castigate Gani's apostacy regarding the wayward conduct of Ribadu and his EFCC. Today, sadly, the eccentric tantrums by Gani regarding Ribadu and the EFCC are framed ( by SR) as latter-day sermons on the mountain. Let me reiterate my advice to Sowore and SR. The noble enterprise of fighting sleaze in our dear Naija which they say they are engaged in risks being sacrificed at the altar of hubristic incompetence. At some point, they will have to choose between truly investigative journalism that does not take prisoners and the facile temptation to peddle in partisan rants and innuendo masquerading as a crusade against an untenable status quo. As usual Mr. OneNaija's Ribadu's web auto search programme has discovered his name in this article and has zealously responded with his usual rants of condemnation & obfuscation. He becomes a delirious basket case once Mr. Ribadu is mentioned. Don't let it be permanent.

MrOneNaija  # 7 | 15.01.2009 11:40

THE ARID SKULL OF VERMIN =nijalaw;313410>As usual Mr. OneNaija's Ribadu's web auto search programme has discovered his name in this article and has zealously responded with his usual rants of condemnation & obfuscation. He becomes a delirious basket case once Mr. Ribadu is mentioned. Don't let it be permanent. All that from the mean-spirited, arid and whining skull of the vermin going by the handle of nijalaw!

crownabbey  # 8 | 15.01.2009 14:48

"iku ogun nii pa akikanju, iku odo nii pa omuwe, iku efun nii pa lekeleke" Mr. Babalola: I like this write-up and it is well written. Your metaphor here is very appropriate as well, but a non-yoruba or people who do not speak or understand the language would not understand or appreciate your point. As the forum is for all people, non-nigeria as well, it might be better to translate the meaning or in my opinion not use it all. It is a common "thing" for nigerian writers on the 'net to quote their mother tongue not knowing their readers do not speak the same language and are very diverse. As sophisticated as we are, we should know this simple point and try to be clear as we can to all readers. Good article though!

Kenn  # 9 | 15.01.2009 15:33

---------------- Hakeem, Thank you for your article. But you have to learn to express yourself better. Your write-up clearly betrays an attempt to speak from both sides of your mouth under the misguided notion that you’re being objective. Objectivity does not have to sacrifice truth, consistency and coherence of thought in order to be acceptable. When that happens, as is the case with your article, what you get is a piece riddled with multiple contradictions, unsupportable assumptions and lack of belief. I suppose the first clarification you need to make to yourself and those who read you is to determine exactly why you write. I say this because your attempt to explain this in your piece here has predictably been shot down, in fits of mental suicide, by the same self-contradictory impulses that govern your writing. For instance, what exactly do you mean when you say you write “not to show emotion”, but to relieve yourself of certain emotions? If you are relieving yourself of whatever emotions you hope to purge yourself of in one secret diary or notebook of yours or in a conversation with your puppy or cat, this would be partly understandable. Yet, you write on an open board, posting these writings to multiple sites, expressing diverse emotions as opinions therein, discussing these with others where necessary and you still come up here to tell us you do not write to show emotion? Except you’re some kind of stone or statue, I fail to see how that is possible. Indeed, relieving emotions is nothing short of showing emotions. Perhaps, what you intended to say is that you are not usually emotive or evocative in your writings, which is fair; but when you go further to say you write because you don’t want to keep quiet in the face of oppression or corruption and keeps calling government “gunverment” isn’t that showing emotion enough? The same contradiction can be seen in your view of SaharaReporters. As much as I can see that you have a bone to pick with the outfit’s style, I cannot see where you’ve impugned the substance of its reports, except to brandish its crime of captioning a Ribadu picture or describing Yar’Adua as a “Serpent Leader”. Indeed, you spent a huge part of your post praising SaharaReporters’ contribution to the present socio-political dynamism, but not without digging deep into your bag of contradictions once again to compare it unfavourably with the Nigerian Village Square and New Nigerian Politics. Do they have the same agenda or purpose? What is the reportorial ideology of these websites you mentioned? Of course, they are just Nigeria-related sites providing discussion forums for Nigerians and anyone interested in Nigerian affairs (and to an extent world affairs) without pretending to be news organizations like SaharaReporters. The closest to SaharaReporters is Pointblanknews, which is actually fashioned after SaharaReporters’, even though they aren’t as successful, so to speak. There is of course, another type of activism being championed by Nigerian Village Square of which I’m also a proud member and contributor. This is social activism in the form of charitable engagements using the strength of the cyber-community created. Yet, this has nothing to do with being a news organization. SaharaReporters is not just a website where Hakeem Babalola, Kennedy Emetulu or Tondu Aonduna can post their articles and opinions; it is a working site for advocacy journalism. Citizen-journalists, ordinary working folks like you and me, go risk life and limb to get information the powers that be don’t want Nigerians to know about and put this information out there on the website to empower Nigerians. Is that what the Nigerian Village Square or the New Nigerian Politics does? Of course not! Comparing cocoa and coconut does not help. As someone who fancies himself as a social commentator wishing to be taken seriously, I would have thought your main concern should have been the substance rather than the form of SaharaReporters’ reporting, considering its stated purpose as an alternative media. I think your asteistic rendition of its work is uncalled for, because what it does speaks for itself. Talking about contradictions further, I find it difficult to reconcile your thoughts in the first six paragraphs with the ones starting from the seventh. Obviously, the seventh encapsulates all you really want to say in this article, which is that you are no great fan of SaharaReporters and for this reason you will not be signing a Petition that you claim it is sponsoring. This of course calls to question your power of comprehension. Is it a crime for me to declare upfront in my article you referenced that I’m a member of SaharaReporters? Did I in that article tell you I am sponsoring the Petition on behalf of SaharaReporters? What is the crime in pointing out that the news item upon which the Petition is based is published by SaharaReporters, especially as it is the only news organization that has published the story (for obvious reasons)? Isn’t it obvious that you are the one deliberately muddling things up by trying to link SaharaReporters with the Petition when it is clearly stated as being sponsored by the Nigerians Against Corruption International (NACI), an organization to which I also belong? Did you have to play such a poor detective to arrive at your unfounded claims and insinuations when all the facts about the Petition, its authors and impetus are clearly evident on the face of it? What should concern any right thinking person is the fact that you admit that the substance of the Petition is germane, you admit it is well-written, you worry about the effect of such acts in the news report if found to be true, yet you will not sign the Petition that is simply asking for a proper investigation to be conducted by the Nigerian authorities because, according to your fanciful imagination, it has SaharaReporters imprimatur all over it! So, if as you conjecture such a story is true, what do you intend to do about it? Yes, me and a few Nigerians who are signing are doing something about it starting with that Petition (SaharaReporters or no SaharaReporters), but what do you intend to do about it? Is sitting on the sidelines, engaging in unhelpful tittle-tattles about those doing something all you want to do? You are comfortable solidly keeping sealed lips in the face of oppression and corruption, raising all sorts of harebrained excuses and misinformation to support your silence, yet you would be the first to tell us how you will not keep quiet in the face of corruption and oppression. I have given you some honest advice. Search yourself and determine first why you write. When you conceive an article, conceive also the purpose you want it to achieve. What you have here is a poor excuse. It is neither empowering nor reassuring on the issue in question. Telling us you “agree with Festus Keyamo that SaharaReporters must not be caught in an embarrassing position” may be your own way of joining the fray on his side; but be rest assured that you and Keyamo are already caught in the trap of embarrassment, though for different reasons. While I wouldn’t want to discuss Keyamo here (because I think Omoyele Sowore has given him an adequate response), I am prepared to let you know that on your part, your duck and dive antics have not gone undetected. Yes, it is unacceptable for you to disparage SaharaReporters and use the excuse of its non-existent sponsorship of the Petition as your reason for not signing it. Note that no one is forcing you to sign it and no one is saying if you don’t sign it you are not a patriot. Just don’t confuse yourself and confuse others in the name of commentary about this issue. CHEERS!

Zanderlex  # 10 | 15.01.2009 18:50

Saharareporters saw something wrong in nigeria and is taking the risk to do something about it for the sake of our children and grand children while some chickens among us can only see fault so they can cowardly stay clear. Friends sowore and co are doing danm great job and there way is the only effective way to halt a bad cancer..............radical excision.

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