General/Chief Obasanjo |
At the preliminary press briefing of the Economic Community
of West African States (ECOWAS) on the outcome of Ghana’s 2012 at the Best
Western Hotel in Accra on Saturday, a local journalist forced former Nigerian
leader Olusegun Obasanjo, the ECOWAS Head of Mission, to re-examine his
credentials as a democrat.
The occasion was the Question and Answer segment that
followed the presentation of the preliminary report presentation of the
Commission by the Deputy Head of Mission.
As one of the Commission’s recommendations curiously calls
for a media framework to curtail the “excesses” of the media in election
reporting, the first time such a recommendation has found its way into an
official ECOWAS document, a journalist in the gallery sought clarification on
the proposed the media framework, in a question addressed to “General”
Obasanjo.
The immediacy of the attack was not lost on Obasanjo, who
promptly tackled the reference, in the process exposing himself as the author
of the anti-freedom of information recommendation.
“My friend, I don’t know why you address me as General
Obasanjo,” the two-time Nigeria leader said.
“In Nigeria where I am the former president, it is my
political opponents that address me as “General” Obasanjo when they want to
show me as a dictator. My party calls me Chief Obasanjo. It now depends on
which side you belong”.
The exchange threw the whole room into uncontrollable
laughter before Obasanjo turned to the request for him to expatiate on his
media framework proposal which is regarded among journalists and other election
observers as reactionary and repressive.
Obasanjo said he believes there used a law to “curtail the
excesses” of the Ghanaian media in the reportage of election process, and tried
to distinguish between “right of information” as opposed to “freedom of
information” in journalism and access to information.
In Ghana, Obasanjo’s assessment and position contradicts the
popular verdict of independent, local and international observers of the
election. It is believed that the proactive, efficient, timely, accurate
and popular reportage of developments at polling units and transmission of
verified results for public consumption is the missing recipe for transparent,
popular, free and fair election in many African countries, including Nigeria.
In this regard, Ghana has over 1500 FM radio stations,
community radios inclusive. Correspondents and reporters have been in polling
units across the country, transmitting certified results live to their
stations.
It is believed that the positive influence of such media
participation does not meet with Obasanjo’s approval, as he is known to cherish
secrecy in the election process that can be manipulated at the last minute as
has been widely-done in his Peoples Democratic Party in Nigeria.
In 2006, Obasanjo single-handedly chose his party’s
presidential ticket, and superintended a rigged election that brought Umaru
Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan to power.
Source: Sahara reporters
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please comments are invited