Mbu: The onus of discretion
Like similar events in the past, it promises to remain a reference point in the relationship between the media and power in Nigeria, for some time to come. For referring to Mbu as ‘controversial’ on a radio programme, Anakwe was corralled into police detention on the orders of the former. Eventually the benevolence of the […]
Like similar events in the past, it promises to remain a reference point in the relationship between the media and power in Nigeria, for some time to come.
For referring to Mbu as ‘controversial’ on a radio programme, Anakwe was corralled into police detention on the orders of the former. Eventually the benevolence of the law, through the ruling of a High Court of law saved Anakwe from a longer stay in the gulag.
All over the world, the use of words, whether rightly or wrongly has always generated issues, which may lead to engagement in warfare or the embrace of peace. Words are the framework and vehicles for conveying the thoughts of one individual to another. It therefore holds that for a communication to be well received, both sender and receiver need to be on the same page in terms of the meaning of the message.
During the course of duty of this author as Director of Information and Publications in the National Assembly, the simple resort to a dictionary changed the course of banter over a controversial issue. The public use of the word ‘stupid’ by a legislator aroused an intense debate over its impropriety or otherwise. When consulted, the dictionary simply described the word ‘stupid’ as “slow to understand”.
In the same vein the word ‘controversial’ is an adjective that simply states that a subject is enjoying more than a single perspective in the public domain. And hardly can the entire public see any matter on earth from the same perspective. This makes ‘controversy’ – the root word of ‘controversial’ a permanent feature of every human society, civilized or primitive. Some call it “different strokes for different folks”.
Given the characteristic incisiveness and audacity with which the Political Platform programme of Ray Power is launched, Anakwe can easily be absolved of any intention to single out Mbu for aspersion. The list of public officers (with the members of the National Assembly leading), who have been featured on the programme in equally ‘offensive’ terms is endless.
Anakwe only captured the public take on the man Mbu, in the public domain. It is akin to showing Mbu a mirror to see what the public thinks of the police officer. The situation actually offered Mbu the opportunity to ‘kidnap’ the programme at that point, and give his piece of mind to whoever was a fan or traducer.
In any case as self effacing as Mbu may be, the uncommon challenges he faced at the hands of Chibuike Amaechi – governor of the Rivers State and the Commissioner of Information, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, whose demeanour in office is not superior to those of Tariq Aziz of late Saddam Hussein in Iraq, have made Mbu controversial. Just as well, his outing over the Chibok Girls affair did not vitiate the case against him. Mbu, by his ranking status in the Police establishment must belong to the generation of Nigerians who listened to Jimmy Cliff’s hit song of yesteryears, Take a Look – the lyrics of which ask “when you look in the mirror what do you see…?
The Police and the media are two institutions which are mandated by the Constitution to operate as partners in progress, in the best interest of the country. The only difference between them is that while the Police is a monolithic institution that is publicly owned and controlled, the media acts under a different script. In spite of the loose reference to all organs of mass dissemination of information as the media, what is referred to is a constellation of disparate organizations, operating under public or private ownership, or even a combination of both. These find expression in practice in the electronic or print or even the new found social media platforms.
The foregoing situation accounts for the variants of orientations in the nation’s media practice which provides democracy with beauty, integrity and vibrancy. While the public owned media may be inclined to celebrate only the good points of the government in power, the privately owned ones tend to identify more with the public interest by holding government accountable for its actions.
Mbu’s reaction to the situation would have been more beneficial and elegant if he had exercised the onus of discretion, and that applies to future instances as there is no guarantee of insulation from similar developments and tendencies in the days to come, especially now that the nation’s federal capital falls within his brief as the AIG Zone 7.
There is a saying that if a man living in a fortified mansion with air-conditioning, bullet proof doors and other appurtenances of luxury living, complains of being harassed by a ghost in the night, what will another man sleeping outside in the bare jungle and under the elements complain of?
As long as Mbu pays heed to discretion, which the sages claim is the better part of valour, he should have nothing to fear from ‘unguarded utterances’ like control freaks in power, who are scared of their shadows. The Police authorities who promoted him saw quality in him to justify their action. He should not disappoint them and other Nigerians who identify with him.
For now it will serve Mbu’s interests and the police establishment if he embarks on a mission of fence mending with the media, to benefit from their cooperation, and put to rest any after taste of the tag – ‘controversial’.