₦airaland Forum

krendo:
Saraki is the Hero of democracy in this government

May God continue to grant him courage

Without Saraki the fascist aspiration of Buhari and his gang would have been achieved

God of the common man does not sleep that was why he threw Saraki into the mix!

You mean hero of corruption

Senate acting in whose interest?
1. Saraki was arraigned before CCB for false asset declaration and the Chairman of CCT was swiftly summoned by the Senate. Attempts were even made to change laws governing CCB by Saraki
2. The AGF initiated the arraignment of Saraki on forgery of Senate standing order and he was immediately summoned to appear before the Senate.
3. Won't bore you with the Magu's story. We all know how it went.
4. Saraki also decided to ride a # 300mRange Rover but Ali, the CG crossed his path by asking for the payment of the right duty. We all know what wearing of "Uniform" caused in the Senate.
5. Lest I forget, the SGF truthfully made it known that the constituency projects will not be executed by the Senate since that is not their constitutional responsibility.
Haaaaaa he was again summoned as usual to come and explain his "grass cutting" assignment. Hmmmmmmm the big questions are;
(1) Is the Nigerian Senate now Saraki's Senate?
(2)Is Saraki acting on behalf of Nigerians or on his own behalf?
(3)Must Saraki continue to be holding Nigeria to ransom as he did in Kwara?
(4)Is it not high time we called this bully to order by telling him that if Kwara State has been turned into the personal property of the Sarakis, Nigeria is not. Probably he is living in the world of illusion.
I don't actually know if i too will will be summoned after this post... # lolz
©Emmyleo cares

Hum

NANS was designed to fail
By Abdulrazaq O Hamzat
Few days ago, Barrister Abdul Mahmud a former president of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) between 1990-1991 ignited debates on the social media about the rot in NANS, making reference to the ugly revelation that came out in the Dino Melaye’s certificate saga.
The respectable legal practitioner touched on several interesting issues I cannot begin to address, but what interests me more was his conclusion in the write up.
He said, ‘’ One thing we must take away from the Dino Saga is to return NANS to those starlets I meet each time I visit our campuses. NANS should not become the retirement association of old men and never-do-well.’’ I agree with this conclusion in totality.
From the tune of the write up, Abdul Mahmud painted some generations of NANS leaders as lions, while describing others with not too interesting adjectives and some out rightly ignored. This didn’t go down well with a lot of senior comrades, particularly Baba Aye another distinguished comrade. I quietly followed the debate between both of them and I find their engagement very rich and eye opening. In their heated engagement, the old NANS practically came to live again and we read about the ideological blocs, cadres, PYMN, Stalinists and some so called retrogressive forces. Many of this generation’s NANS leadership have never heard anything about those things.

Also, to pinpoint the era that defined the death of NANS, Abdul Mahmud and Baba Aye disagrees. In the words of Baba Aye, ‘’ the split of 1995 was fostered by former NANS leaders (including Abdul Mahmud) playing on the ignorance and distraction of activists at the Jnue 20, 1995 Special Conference turned "Senate meeting" at Makama Hall, Unilag. This moment, according to Baba Aye marked the death blow for what NANS was’’.
However, Abdul Mahmud argues that, ’’those sectional ideological groups that thought they were fighting PYMN and the Stalinists by aligning with retrogressive forces, captured and handed NANS to the state. They should just go and bury their heads in shame. For me that "marked the death blow" of NANS. He said.

From my understanding of the debate, different ideological blocs within NANS are not only working to reform the society through their own ideology, they are also working, partly through sponsorship of one imperialist power or the other, and others to hand over the organization to the state agents. We the young ones can’t truly understood what went wrong, as different ideological blocs continued to accuse each other of handing over NANS to the state.

Furthermore, the debate between Abdul Mahmud and Baba Aye wasn’t the only important one. The most eye opening revelation that practically revealed what led to the death of NANS was the debate between Abdul Mahmud and Abubakar U Kari. In that engagement, the fact that NANS was never designed to succeed came to fore.
Many NANS old comrades are quick to relay news of the good old days, blaming the new generation of NANS leaders of lacking in courage and ideology, but having carefully followed the debates between both respected figures, my take home from the debate was what led to the death of NANS. The simple truth is that, the old comrades, who prided themselves as symbol of the struggle, killed NANS before handing over the coffin to the younger generation burial. But again, they didn’t kill NANS per se, the organization was not structured to succeed due to the segregation and lack of unity of purpose, even in its most active days.
The first time I ever heard about certain ideological divides in old NANS was from Comrade Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim. My understanding of such divide, as I understood it from his explanation wasn’t destructive. I saw ideological blocs more as contending global ideologies, which seems appealing to different caucuses of organizations in Nigeria. I also understand that when the need for solidarity and joint action arises, all ideological groups tend to unify their forces to achieve a common purpose. This was my previous view of the different blocs. However, what I understood from the engagement between Abdul Mahmud and Abubakar U Kari tells me that those ideological blocks serves more destructive purposes than anyone had imagined.
Talking about the blocs, Comrade Abubakar U Kari explained that, ‘’ I was recruited into P Y M N, but was persuaded by Soetan and others that it was undemocratic and anti-democratic. I opted out, but refused to join D S M, M23M and others. He added that, Yes, under P Y M N, leaders were imposed, communique of meetings were issued before the meetings themselves took place, some senior comrade in Lagos claiming to be a socialist but hobnobing with and being funded by Western imperialists, was pulling the string. Tutelage under Gbenga Olawepo reaffirmed my resolve.’’ Comrade Kari said.

Additionally, comrade Abubakar made the most shocking revelation when he said, besides, the same P Y M N comrades in the legal and human rights community, abandoned and betrayed our struggles to return to school. We were rescued by "non-alligned" comrades. He concluded.

However, in the most indicting response, Abdul Mahmud queried, ‘’How could the Stalinists PYMN have rescued you folks, having accused them of being imperialists? Yes. As a young lawyer I chose not to defend those on the other side. Those of your guys democratically elected as NANS leaders abandoned you guys.

In a probing response, Abubakar U Kari asked, ‘’so you guys chose who to assist? Your idea of human rights activism is weird, indeed. By the way, Gbenga Olwepo and Gbenga Komolafe quit your P Y M N and publicly denounced its tactics!

To imagine that the old NANS, which prided itself as fighting for democracy was itself anti democracy in practice was shocking. To make it worse, anyone who disagrees with such undemocratic posture within the organization is seen as working for the retrogressive forces or aligning with the bourgeois. Certainly, no organization that seeks to have a bright future is structured in that manner.
Abdul Mahmud justifies the reason for abandoning comrades in struggle simply because they belong to the forces asking for democracy be practiced in the pro democracy NANS. In his own words, ‘’ As a young lawyer, I chose not to defend those on the other side.’’.
If this is how the old NANS looks like, certainly, those who continued to accuse the new generation of killing NANS are being economical with the truth. A NANS which abandons comrades simply because they belong to another camp is a dead NANS. A Nans that sees those promoting democratic practices within the organization as enemy is a dead Nans and a segregated Nans is a dead NANS. It was not designed to succeed. The coffin handed over the younger generation has now been buried; it’s time to allow it rest in peace. Let a new sun rise.

True

MEDIA ESCALATION OF ETHNIC BASED VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA AND THE NEED FOR CHANGE IN REPORTING PATTERN
By: Foundation for Peace Professionals

This report is to draw attention of the public and appropriate authorities to the role being played by media inappropriate reporting of conflicts that often fuels escalation of ethnic based violence in Nigeria.

Over the years, we have observed a particular pattern of media reporting of conflict, which not only fuel ethnic based violence, but also influences reprisal on innocent people. This inappropriate reporting often come through information distortion and misrepresentation, which not only influences reprisal and escalation, but also transform ordinary conflict between two individuals or groups into ethnic based conflict. The danger of this is that, every conflict between two people of different ethnicity is branded as ethnic conflict, which is not the case whatsoever. While ethnic crisis and conflict is not a new feature in the Nigerian society, the menace, even from inception, owe its growth to irresponsible political/ethnic instigators and its spread and sustenance to the media.

Investigation reveals that when conflict occur between two individuals or groups over materials, business or other forms of disagreement, rather than report it as it is, a conflict over issues between two individuals or groups without any ethnic agenda or consideration, the media concentrates on finding the ethnicity of the conflicting parties and report the issue from that narrow ethnic perspective, thereby empowering ethnic mob to serially target innocent passerby of the other ethnicity. This inappropriate reporting often fuels the anger of one ethnic group over the other, especially in local communities. The accumulation of such anger over time is often unleashed on people of other ethnic groups at the slightest disagreement or provocation between ordinary members of the society.

We are worried that should this pattern of conflict reporting be sustained, the media will not only help sow permanent seeds of discord in the heart of the people, it will also destroy our people’s humanity, which enables them to act cruelly without conscience towards a fellow human being from different ethnicity, something we are already witnessing in the country.

This report therefore became inevitable, knowing that media and all users of social media can use their platforms to positively cause appropriate reporting of conflict and eliminate the distorted reporting that is prevalent in today’s media.

CONCEPT OF ETHNIC CONFLICT
For the purpose of clarity, ethnic conflict is not a conflict between two individuals of different ethnicity or groups over business or other natural conflict in human interactions. Ethnic conflict is a form of conflict in which the objectives of at least one party are defined in ethnic terms, and the conflict, its antecedents, and possible solutions are perceived along ethnic lines. Ethnic violence on the other hand refers to violence expressly motivated by Ethnic hatred and Ethnic conflict. Experts have however maintained that, care must be taken to distinguish ethnic violence, which is violence motivated by an ethnic division, from violence that just happens to break out between groups of different ethnicity motivated by other factors.

Lack of adequate understanding of this difference could largely explain reason for many media organizations falling into the error of misrepresentation, while at other times, media personnel deliberately engage in distortion for other parochial considerations. Media correspondents, as well as news editors must therefore understand that reporting ordinary violence that just break out, out of normal conflict between two individuals as ethnic based violence does more harm than good.

CONFLICT REPORTING
It has been argued that, news gathering, to be sure, is a highly imperfect art, and problems with basic facts, not to mention nuances, are common. But when you are talking about conflicts that are at their root ethnic or religious, the stakes are higher. News reporters and editors must realize that what they often say and write in news report is easily relied upon to cause people to act in certain way and for this reason, reporters should developed the principle that "you don't blow things up, you don't report in an inflammatory manner. The trend has been toward greater sensationalism born out of greater competition. Although, experts maintained that most journalists simply want to tell a story as best as they can.
The key is to change their perception of what constitutes 'best" so that it is understood to mean accurate, fair, in context and responsible. We at Foundation for Peace Professionals are ready to take the time and energy to work with reporters and editors to ensure that they understand what we're talking about for the good of the general society.

The media, both print and electronic, can play an important role in defusing tension, reducing and containing conflicts. It can do so by being deeply aware of the fragility of a country's' social fabric, of the efforts being expended at unifying a country's polarized and ethnicized politics and more importantly by objectively reporting conflict incidences as they unfold. However, recent reports appearing in cross sections of mainstream print media in Nigeria has cast a pale shadow on the role, neutrality and objectivity of media in reporting conflicts. This trend is replicated in greater proportion on the social media.

THE IFE CASE STUDY
Recently, a conflict broke out in the ancient city of Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. Verifiable reports confirmed that the crisis began between two individuals without any ethnic undertone. However, the media from the onset reported the incident as a crisis between two ethnicity.

While many media organizations reported conflicting narrations about the cause of the conflict, one underlying fact in all the reports is that, the crisis didn’t start as an ethnic clash and there cannot be an ethnic solution to it. We are forced to ask, how does a conflict between two individuals or groups without ethnic agenda suddenly metamorphosed into an ethnic based crisis? The answer is not far fetched. A rumor backed by media alarm claimed that a member of one ethnic group has been murdered by the members of the other ethnic group. The rumored killing of a man from Yoruba ethnic group by Hausa’s eventually blew the story out of proportion, leading to massive reprisal attack against the Hausa community. A hitherto conflict between two individuals was suddenly turned into an ethnic based conflict. Some people have argued that the rumor didn’t begin with media and with or without the media, the reprisal might still have happened since the rumor emanated from the community. But disagree with this view. Media is a powerful tool, largely trusted by the people. When rumors of such gravity break out in the community, majority of the people do not entirely believe in its veracity. While their sense of awareness is aroused, they know the information could be true or false. However, when the rumor is amplified by the media, it is assumed to be a confirmation of the incident and at this point, many takes the rumor to be true, without holding any iota of doubt. In the course of our investigation, we attempted to convince some people that news from media is not always correct, but they insisted that if it is not true, it wouldn’t be broadcasted by Newspapers, radio and Television Stations. As far as they are concerned, if it is on news, it is true.

In the heat of this sensational report about the ife crisis, Foundation for Peace Professionals conducted its own investigation and discovered that the media claims at that time, about death being recorded are not verifiable. We attempted to caution the media through issuing a press release dated 8th March 2017, but only Daily Trust Newspaper and few other newspapers reported the caution. The crisis that erupted led to the gruesome killings of over forty-six (46) people.

In a sharp irony, the reason why the conflict turned ethnic and degenerated into a big issue was the reported killing of a vulcanizer in the community by some Hausa men. However, after over 46 innocent people were murdered as a result of the rumor and distorted reporting, the man identified as Mukaila vulcanizer, who was reportedly killed resurfaced and said he was never attacked by anyone. When approached and questioned, Mukaila said there was never a time he was at risk of being lynched by the Hausa community.

In his own words, "I was hearing reports from different quarters that I was dead and that the Hausas killed me during the crisis.”I was not even attacked by anybody during the crisis’’. I simply left the area on Friday and resume work on Monday after the crisis. He said.

The question now is that, since the person that was claimed to have been murdered showed up to say no one ever attempted to hurt him, can we also return the over 46 lives lost as a result of the false alarm amplified by the various reports?

We respectfully opined that journalists should avoid simplistic representations of issues by probing further and verifying their sources in order to uphold the dignity of the media and their role in peace building, well beyond reproach. We submit also that media should not be quick to seek gains from crisis; they should instead be fast to build peace and bridges.

CONCLUSION
When talking about the numerous unnecessary deaths, crisis and clashes that have claimed several lives in this country, which merely started as conflict between two individuals or group, but suddenly took the ethnic turn, media culpability, cannot be over looked. Biased and untrue reporting can breed cynicism and disenchantment.

In Rwanda, it is on record that media reporting was used to lay the groundwork for genocide. In Serbia, media was manipulated to stir ethnic tensions prior to civil war. In the former Soviet republic of Georgia, territorial disputes were exacerbated by the propagation of nationalist mythology in the media.

In such situations of misreporting, the ultimate losers are the ordinary people. A whole generation under the influence of canned information, who live in the shadows of the truth, but are filled with hate message that prepare them to permanently develop hatred for people of different ethnicity and view them as threat to be eliminated without conscience. In absence of truth, persistent propaganda reigns supreme and in the end becomes the "truth" because the alternative is missing or deliberately withheld.

We are urging the media to exercise caution in reporting conflict news. We urge media to desist from temptations of scooping stories that make headlines and instead embrace objective journalism that is bedrock to socio-economic development of society with the aim of building peace.

RECOMMENDATION
• We recommend that government should as a matter of urgency, setup an interactive forum to engage media editors about the need for change in media of reporting conflict.
• We recommend that government encourages and support media organizations to train their reporters and editors on the key element of conflict reporting to avoid misrepresentation.
• We also recommend that government make it a priority to host media editors on quarterly basis to jointly review the effect of reporting on conflict escalation in the country.

Thanks.

AMB. Abdulrazaq O Hamzat
President/Executive Director
Foundation for Peace Professionals
Discus4now@gmail.com

MAKE ME EFCC CHAIRMAN, ANGRY YOUTH BEG BUHARI. A Nigerian youth, Mr Babatunde Salau has urged Nigerians to help him prevail on President Muhammadu Buhari to make him the EFCC Chairman, so he could promptly end high level corruption in Nigeria. Mr Salau who posted this on his face book page vow that, should the President appoint him as EFCC chairman and give him the authority to hire and fire anyone deemed unfit or incompetent at the commission, he promised to ensure the conviction of at least, 70% of all former governors who have stolen public funds in Nigeria. In his words, '' Help me tell Buhari to make me the EFCC Chairman''. '' I promise to declare all my assets before and after my term''. '' Give me the absolute power to employ and fire anyone in Efcc. '' 'Then make we see, if 70% of ex governors will not be jailed. He wrote on his Facebook page.

Dedetwo:
The bolded is the major issue at stake with the thoughtfulness of the above post. Brother Waheed according you is an Igbo, does he not have Igbo name. If indeed he has an Igbo, why campaigning under the assumed name of Waheed? We must shun pretense in Nigeria because it makes Nigerians insincere bunch of goons.

Can you read properly at all? If you have eyes problem, please get a glass

True

Hum

It's really disheartening to see how some of our Igbo brothers act so ignorantly and abusively towards others, yet they want better treatment from others

Few hours ago, I saw an interesting post on nairaland front page. It's about a Hausa man vying for counselorship position in his place of residence in South East, Ebonyi state. Apart from the high level of ignorance displayed by many of the commentators who are mostly from a particular section of the country, the post also shows how greedy and ignorant some people can be. It is so disgusting to an extent that one began to wonder whether those people writing those comments were actually citizens of Nigeria. You will also be forced to ask yourself whether those people actually know what the law says and whether Indeed, these are Nigerian students and graduates. While I was in Kano, I know of many Yoruba and Igbo people that contested to various elective positions during election. One particular person that come to mind is brother Waheed, who gained wide acceptance. Some of his Hausa admirers in the area composed a song for him to increase his acceptability. Part of the song goes this way : Waheedi mu ke so, ci ma Dan Kano ne. Meaning, Waheedi is who we want, he his also from Kano. Kano is the heart of Northern state and people from other parts of the country are free to contest for elections without abuse. As we are speaking right now, people from Eastern parts of the country are holding various elective offices in South West, Lagos. From state house of Assembly to federal house of Representatives including appointed offices. I don't think there is any big deal about this anyway. Even in far away Europe and America, UK, Spain etc, Nigerians of various ethnicity are holding various offices. As a matter of fact, a Nigerian woman vied for the presidency in Spain. So, if Nigerians can contest for offices in far away Europe and America, what is the big deal in Vying for office in any parts of Nigeria you reside at? However, It's an irony that the same people who celebrated, when people of Eastern origin won election in South West, are the same people calling for the head of a Northerner who is contesting in the east. The kind of freedom and acceptability igbo's are enjoying outside their region is not being replicated back home. Igbo's enjoy elective position outside Igbo land, but when none Igbo attempt to contest for office, it is regarded as taboo. This kind of attitude from some Igbo people is very disgusting. More than anything, it is hurting the Igbo's than they know. May God open the mind of some ignorant people to reason, so we can all enjoy the dividend of democracy.

I really wish too

?

we are together

NGO offers Tonto Dike and her estranged husband free mediation service, urges them to Embrace Peace

Foundation for Peace Professionals has offered Tonto Dike and her estranged husband Olkunle Churchill free marital mediation services.

READ PRESS RELEASE
What started strangely like a rumour on social media few weeks ago has suddenly become true. The Nigerian talented actress, Tonto Dike and her philanthropic husband, Olakunle Churchill are going through the most troubling time in their widely celebrated marital union.
The celebrity couple, who are now living separately have been trading words on the media since the news broke out, and we consider this to be very harmful to their individual reputations and their collective interest. Beyond the two parties, we also consider the crisis to be harmful for their child, as such separation, if not reversed will deny the child the care of one of his parent.
It breaks our heart to see two people who once loved each other, but out of little misunderstanding turn around to despise themselves to the extent of doing everything possible to break and injure each other psychologically. This is not how couples should fight. We must all learn to be peaceful, even when we are fighting. Especially when fighting with people that will remain a part of our lives forever, we should fight to fight again, not fight to finish.
Couples who fight to finish fail to understand that nobody ever wins in conflict of such nature. No matter how much sympathy or advantage one gain over the other, both parties will end up as losers.
While we understand that both parties are still hurting in certain ways, we are urging them to shed their swords and give peace a chance. The one, who hurts you today, may make you happy tomorrow.
Every celebrated family passes through this stage at some point, Tonto Dike and her husband shouldn’t allow their own share of misunderstanding get a better of them. They can overcome this troubling situation together and bounce back better and stronger.
In view of this and to assist them in the process of overcoming this challenge together, Foundation for Peace Professionals would like to offer them, both individually and collectively our marital mediation service.
Marital mediation process is for couples who are experiencing marital problems or difficulties and are still willing to explore opportunities to stay together, work through their issues in a constructive way, learn to resolve conflict and avoid divorce. It is a practical, solution oriented approach to conflict resolution in which the couple identifies, brainstorms, negotiate and problem solve their own solutions to conflict. Through marital mediation to stay married, couple can develop concrete plans or modes of action that can be helpful to address their marital conflict and issues.
We appeal to Tonto Dike and Mr Olakunle Churchill to explore the opportunity of marital mediation with us or elsewhere to ensure they fix their misunderstanding.
Every problem has solution, only if we are willing to explore. Every misunderstanding can be resolved, if we are willing to try. And until we open our heart to peace, we can never know how peaceful we are. The love that once joined you together should never set you apart.

AMB. Abdulrazaq O Hamzat
President, Foundation for Peace Professionals
Discus4now@gmail.com

dokyOloye:
Bia,this islamist,don't ever in your life quote me again.
Is Ur brain paining U?

Don't worry, maybe the next time a police officer shoot, it's you that's going to be killed. Then when the officer is sentenced to death, we would say it's tribalism.

dokyOloye:
The other police officers charged with them are Danjuma Ibrahim, Othman Abdulsalami,Sadiq Salami.
They have sacrificed the christians among them.
Same way Murtala Nyako looted for 7yrs and has a case with EFCC,but d person that took over after his impeachment and looted for just 1yr was quickly convicted and Nyako is still walking about free.
And guess what,d name is 'James'.

Are you Alright at all?

Hum

Reject unlawful orders, group tell Police

A Federal Capital Territory High Court on Thursday found two police
officers, Ezekiel Acheneje and Baba Emmanuel, guilty of extra judicial
killing of six traders in 2005.

The court presided over by Justice Ishaq Bello convicted the two
police officers to death for culpable homicide. Although, the two
officers claimed they were ordered to carry out the killing by
superior officer Danjuma Ibrahim, who was then a deputy Commissioner
of Police, the court however freed Danjuma and two others due to lack
of evidence against them.

We at the Foundation for Peace Professionals welcome this judgment
with open arm, even though we feel bad about the prospect of losing
two fellow human beings. We do not want anyone being killed, but when
police officers, saddled with the responsibility to protect, assault,
violate and extra-judicially kill defenseless citizens, nothing can be
expected as judgment, other than serving them back in like sum.

On regular basis, we hear of police assault and brutality against
defenseless citizens, we also read of extra- judicial killings,
torture and other illegal activities being carried out by the police,
but officers must understand that being a police is not a license to
violate others and commit crime.

What we desire is a peaceful and violation free police force, in which
officers treat citizens with high regard, taking into account their
rights and responsibility and we hope that this judgment will serve as
a lesson to all officers.

From this judgment, it should be clear to all police officers that
they are not above the law. It should also be clear that the
fundamental human rights of all citizens cannot be violated without
consequences. If officers’ act beyond their lawful authority as
contained in the police act, the law will catch up with them, no
matter how long.

The law doesn’t permit officers to carry out unlawful orders, even if
it is ordered by the Inspector General of police. More importantly,
the law forbade officers from violating basic rights of citizens, no
matter how much they are provoked.

As seen clearly in this judgment, each officer will be held
accountable to their own deeds, irrespective of who ordered it. To be
on the safe side, officers must learn to reject unlawful orders made
by their superiors, because if they are dragged before the law, only
those who carried out such unlawful orders will face the music.

We therefore call on all Police Officers to learn to act responsibly
and within the ambit of law, while carrying out their duties of
enforcing the law.

AMB. Abdulrazaq O Hamzat
President, Foundation for Peace Professionals
Discus4now@gmail.com

its really worrisome

thwarrior72:
^^
Off course it has something to do with the subject matter. U don't need to investigate or ponder when u see a comment from a yoruba muslim.

Keep it up until your brain is back to normal.

thewarrior72:
^^
Aren't u a yoruba muslim? Answer me with a straight face and shame the devil.

What does that have to do with the subject of discuss?

Standing5:
See mega media houses contradicting themselves . . ..

E tire me ooo

MXrep:
I knew it, after killing people in their town you still have the guts to come and say rubbish instead of apologizing for the unruly behavior of your brothers

Nobody even have an idea of who kill who, yet you in far away state already decided. What a person

IFE CRISIS NOT AN ETHNIC CRISIS
In the early hours of Wednesday, reports of crisis between Hausa and Yoruba in Ile Ife- Osun state flooded the social media, in which 5 people were reportedly killed.
Different newspapers reported different stories about the cause of the crisis, but none of the stories were close to the truth since they all claimed it was an ethnic crisis between Hausa and Yoruba when the facts as contained in their report says otherwise.
Here are the facts as reported by different newspapers:
• TheCable reported that trouble started on Tuesday after a vehicle driven by a Yoruba man hit the wife of a Hausa trader. Some youths were said to have attacked the driver with machete and this angered members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) who chose to fight back to defend one of their own. The security agents deployed in the town were said to have foiled an attempt by the NURTW members to gain access into Sabo community, where the majority of those who attacked the driver came from.
• In its own report, Business Day newspaper reported that sources in Ile-Ife told its correspondent that crisis erupted when a Hausa man was caught in bed with the wife of an indigene of the town.
• Another national newspaper, Punch in its report claimed that the fight was caused by a misunderstanding between a Yoruba man and an Hausa man at Sabo area of Ife. The Yoruba man was said to have been beaten by some Hausa traders and he in return came back to the market with his group to confront those who beat him.

For the purpose of clarity, ethnic conflict is not a conflict between two individuals of different ethnicity or groups over business or other natural conflict in human interactions. Ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. But the crisis in Ile Ife has nothing to do with ethnicity. It is merely a kind of conflict that often arises from natural human interaction.
However, it is saddening that media organizations in the country are now becoming notorious for deliberately twisting reports to create tension and escalate ethnic divide. They report distorted news in other to portray certain ethnicity in negative light and widen the gap between people of different ethnicity.
While social bloggers that are not tutored to report professionally or guided by any known rules may be excused for their irresponsible reporting, established newspapers that prided themselves as professionals and guided with certain code of conduct cannot claim ignorance. Newspaper editors must therefore be aware of the destructive tendencies of this kind of reportage.


From the three (3) contradictory reports above, one fact was established. The crisis has nothing to do with ethnicity per se, it was more of a badly managed crisis between two people, which subsequently transformed to crisis between two groups.

For the same media that reported the above facts to then describe the conflict as an ethnic crisis between Yoruba and Hausa beat our imagination.

Similarly, none of the newspapers verified the killing of anyone, even though their headline all creamed 5 killed in Ile- Ife. We must then ask, what do these newspapers gain from unnecessarily heating up the polity with distorted report of ethnic crisis?

In the course of our investigation, we reached out to our friends around the area for verification and they did confirm the incident, but none of those we spoke can confirm if anyone was killed. They however noted that some people were injured and properties destroyed.

We therefore appeal to all media organizations in Nigeria to ensure they report incidents as they truly are, not to distort report to portray imaginary ethnic conflict where none existed. Many people have died in reprisal attacks fueled by distorted information.

We also appeal to social media commentators to desist from trying to portray each other’s ethnicity in negative light through spreading and promoting false and distorted information.

AMB. Abdulrazaq O Hamzat
President, Foundation for Peace Professionals
Discus4now@gmail.com

Hum