The enemies of Nigerian renewal are those who suggest the media should raise a flag of surrender by forgoing their responsibility to observe basic standards of decency among our leaders.
But while freedom of the press is essential to the vitality of representative democracy and to the protection of individual rights in a society, it provides an indispensable ground for open debate; and actually contributes to informing the electorate. That is why the nation’s founding fathers profoundly believed in the importance of freedom of speech and respect for, if not totally agree with, all expression of opinion.
Their hope was that intelligent people of our time would debate issues vigorously with a spirit of openness and tolerance. And if that were true, the zealots in our midst who complain about the behaviour of today’s media concerning Nigerian leaders must realise that similar complaints are as old as the republic. In spite of their incorruptible service to our nation, for example, former leaders like Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe and even the late political “Napoleon” of the west, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, all received media treatment as scathing as any political leader in the present era. The truth is that an adversarial media culture is always a fact of life in a free and open democracy.
Although the media bear their own share of the responsibility for the current loss of faith in the Nigerian political system, without doubt, some elements of the media are in the business of making money by lionising corrupt public officials through political propaganda, and thereby, undermining every effort by citizens of goodwill to stem the tide of political corruption in our country. Nevertheless, the shocking reaction of some political fanatics against the media, especially on trusting some dishonest leaders in Nigeria, is an example of going overboard in expressing as much sympathy for a corrupt politician as for the victims of corruption.
Whereas we cannot control political corruption in our society until those dishonest leaders stop being lionised by their fanatics, unfortunately, they will not stop being lionised by their fanatics until Nigerians put their feet down and make civilised behaviour our national standard.
Now, the points are: first, if Nigerian renewal is to become a reality, the media has to resolve to help the process. Therefore, Nigerian journalists must be able look in the mirror and not afraid their press invitation cards to Otta or any political shrine in the country will be revoked if they stand up and say, “I want Nigeria to be free, fair, strong and prosper again.”
As President Barack Obama recently said in his weekly address, “Because our time here is limited and precious, what matters now is not the small things; it is not the trivial things which so often consume us and our lives. It is only what we do on a daily basis to give our lives purpose. That’s what matters now.” And this is why all of us in the media must never compromise our principles and standards; we must never give away our freedom; and we must never abandon “kernels” of truth in the restoration of order and decency in Nigeria by observing our public officials carefully with a media microscope against disgraceful episodes that can discourage citizens from trusting the democratic process.
Second, the majority of these so-called bullies, phony and self-important political fanatics appear to separate the issue of trust and power, as if a person’s character is irrelevant to how much power he should be allowed to wield. The fanatical support for vesting power in untrustworthy leaders is simply a sign that only few citizens in our country understand the nature of government. It is even sad to realise that the greatest political paradox in Nigeria is that politicians are often considered dishonest, yet trustworthy. Perhaps not “trustworthy” in the sense of deserving a boy scout medal of honour, but trustworthy enough to be entitled to our trust and respect, regardless of their level of corruption; trustworthy enough to be permitted to single-handedly change the nation’s constitution in their own favour and seize more power over 150 million innocent citizens, regardless of how badly things worked out the last time they received public support; and trustworthy enough to spend millions of taxpayer money travelling around the world in search of foreign investors, regardless of the falling standards of education and health care at home.
After all, the nation’s founders believed that democracy is far more effective at reducing citizens’ fears than limiting Leviathan. They also believed that the rise of democracy makes it much easier for politicians to convince people that government poses no threat, because the citizens surely control its actions; and that the brakes of government power automatically become weak at the exact point where political leaders are more dangerous to the public.
That is the reason why the founders affirmed that in the same way the power corrupts, blind trust corrupts. And to say that people should not blindly trust their political leaders is not to call for violence in the streets. Instead, it is a call for people to cease deluding themselves about those who seek to rule them. Of course, politicians who deliberately violate the rule of law and their oath to uphold the nation’s constitution have proven themselves unworthy of trust in the first place. What is the importance of trusting elected public officials who have proved themselves untrustworthy by the irresponsible way they spend money or steal election ballots?
After all, we all have a choice of trusting corrupt leaders or trusting God. And those political fanatics who still insist that Nigerians have a duty to continue trusting democratic dictators must now explain: at what point will the citizens of this country be released from this duty? Or are they obliged to continue trusting their politicians until they are totally destroyed by political mob?
•Adeyeye is proprietor, Crown Heights College, Ibadan, Oyo State.
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