When Search Gathered Niger Delta Journalist To Chart A Way Forward.

 

Origin of Violence In  The Niger Delta:

It is always said that peace is golden yes but not when a people are subtly yanked  off and denied of their ancestral inheritance all in the name of living in unity like in  the case of Nigeria and the Niger Delta. 

  Crude Oil was found in a  large quantity in  the present  day Bayelsa State in a small sleepy community called Otuabagi in  Ogbia local government  around 1956.  Then, the locals didn’t know what Crude Oil was. In fact story had it that the first international oil company that found the oil (Shell) parted with some bottles of hot drink to have their way.

 It was also recorded that just small ritual was done with some ingredients for them to have their way when it was difficult for them to bulldoze their way  through the thick forest  and the locals happily helped them to  even clear the forest without any multiple charges.

It continued like that until when the people began to find their voices and eventually realized that crude oil was actually a black gold and they were being ripped off their inheritance  then the oil company had done a lot of damage and made huge gains while  the drilling   kept on polluting their environment and their means of livelihood which were fishing and farming was already being threatened.

 

That actually was the genesis of civil unrest which led to militancy in the Niger Delta Region and since that time until recently, it was agitations upon agitations until the Federal Government who was also the beneficiary of the  environmental injustice started listening to the people because the youths through their militancy activities had already started destroying  oil facilities  and kidnapping the expatriates, oil bunkery and Kpo fire business cropped up thereby making the region very uncomfortable  for oil exploration to take thrive.

The agitation however snowballed into a full blown militancy after the December 1998 Kaiama Declaration by the Ijaw Youth Council and it lingered until 2009 when the Federal Government under late Umaru Musa Yaradua granted them amnesty while some other agencies like the Niger Delta Development Commission,  the Presidential  Amnesty Programme,  the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs cropped up among other intervention programmes.  Yes it not yet Uhuru for the the people but struggle continues with the spirit of Ubuntu now using  their mental agility instead of guns and machetes.

As the struggle continued, it gave room for international recognition thereby making room for some international organizations to come in. One of those organizations is Search fro Common Ground a peace building group which has once worked in the region before now. 

 And recently, precisely four months ago the group came back to the region to once more contribute their quota towards maintaining peace in the region. Search is focusing mainly on three states of the region namely Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States with about sixty six communities under review.

 With the theme  “a community centered approach to transforming criminality and violence in the Niger Delta, Search  with support from European Union organized a week training for about thirty five journalists from the concerned states who will help it take the messages closer to the people at the creeks and communities in a non adversarial way so that more conflicts are not created.

The week-long training took place at Warri Delta State brought both the new and old journalists who gathered together to cross breed ideas.

 

Resource Persons:

In one of his lectures, Temi Shola, the national media specialist, Search for Common Ground stated that it is always appropriate for journalists to analyze conflicts before reporting adding that  there are different segments of the society calling on journalists to report conflicts in such a way that it will lead to  solution instead of brooding violence.

Shola said “It is important for journalists to analyze conflict in their reportage because sometimes the audience is not clear about what the motives of the journalists are because we have different segments of the audience. We have those that will read and pass through and those that you can communicate better with pictures and figures and journalists have been equipped with tools so that they are able to cater for that different segments of the audience. 

 “It is important for journalists  to analyse conflict in their reportage because  sometimes the audience is not clear  about what the motives of the journalists are  so it is important for journalists to be equipped with some of these tools to analyse better because we have different segments of the audience.

On the need to deal with conflict in a non violent way,  he said “We have always found out that no conflict is solved with violence. And violence can only lead to more violence because parties are not happy, there must be a party that will be on the looser side and the other on the winning said. So if conflicts are dealt  with in a non advertorial manner whereby conflicts don’t lead to violence because not all conflicts should lead to violence,  I think it will lead to lasting peace. 

I’m encouraging journalists in the Niger Delta region to be more sensitive in their reporting. If there are languages that they have been used to that is capable of bringing division among communities, they should tune down on those languages.

Also in his lecture on Data Journalism, Sunny Dada, the mass media and information management coordinator added  that  the role of an average  journalist in the society is very simple  which is to carry power and has a conferral status in other wards anything she confers on any entity that rests on the entity.

 “You are aware that the Niger Delta has not enjoyed good press, anytime there is a story about the region, it is conflict and about  illegal oil bunkery,  about cultism, unemployment and all of that but in as much as some of these narratives actually represent the reality on ground, what we are saying is that there is  something called responsible  truth telling. So report these things that instead of driving development partners out of the region, it will rather open doors for development partners to come in. 

“Do your responsible truth telling in a way that you will move communities away from the usual adversarial response to conflict to a collaborative approach to conflict. Do your responsible truth telling in a way that will bring conflict parties out of their positions by making them to shift out of their positions.  

  Dada continued “It is the duty of a journalist to refrain  from some of the conflict narratives we are seeing across the region. There is something  we call responsible  truth telling so  instead of driving development partners out of the region, it will rather open doors for development partners to come in. 

“And that is what  we call the common ground approach because that is the tool box with which we use to move conflict parties from their very rigid position to the common ground table and that is the central massage we are also asking the media to take home so that the training that you received today will reflect in your future reports especially about communities of the Niger Delta and more importantly, use your reportage to draw the attention of duty bearers, policy makers to some of these conflict drivers in the communities.

 He also advised that journalists should be conflict sensitive adding that they should bear in mind that they are responsible for their reports.

Folashade Seye Ojo the European Union mass media and information management officer for the Niger Delta project  thanked the participants for giving out their best  adding that “Search hopes to see more news items that will reflect what we have taught here.

 “Behavioral change message has not been so much seen in our journalistic product where we have news writers just focusing  on the breaking of the news, we are now calling for a shift where people will focus on attitudinal change  and where people will focus on getting to the root cause of issues and if we did not mix it up with investigative reporting, it s a deliberate attempt to look deeply into issues and help the people with their perception and their perspective at which they  view things.

 “For instance we have the issue of Okuama, with  us being equipped with behavioral change messages, we expect to see people now making use of key messages that will talk to the minds of people not only informing them but trying to impact the way they think and respond to issues.

“We expect to see more productivity, more professionalism and of course ethics of the profession will be upheld.

 Participants Testify:

 One of the participants Constance Meju a veteran journalist   in her reactions said that as journalists, “We have to  keep developing ourselves. we also have to keep protecting ourselves because when you report factually you are actually showing that you are not in anybody's side or pocket. 

Awajis Chijindu said “It has been a wonderful experience, all these years that I have been going for training,  I have not  seen this type of approach where the participants are brought to bear.  So my take home is that of identity, before I used t see people from one perspective that people must agree to  your own identity and ideology but going forward, I have come to understand that despite our different ideologies and identity we are unique in our different ways.

 “ I also learned that it  is good to  be an active listener. Before, now I don’t use to have patience but going forward, if I  want to be a good listener I must pay rapid attention. Also about conflict reporting, most of our reports breed conflicts. You discover that journalists end up bringing conflicts and  more issues in the society but as a trained common ground journalist, I have come to understate that henceforth, my report will be patterned in a way that it will not bring conflict but peace. 

“I will do my report in such a way that no party is hurt, it does not bring conflict rather it will  be more of solution journalism where my report can bring people together so that there can be a better understanding because without peace, there will  be no development.

Elvira Jordan another participant said  as a social media and digital media space, we have the freedom of expression so our reportage has always been sometimes based on emotions based  on what we get from the public and give back to them but this training  has exposed me to a whole new level of journalism and its is not just about reporting the story and breaking the news, it is about following the ways of conflict resolution and peace building. 

“It is not about  identities of people but using those identities to unite people. I also learned about  Data Analysis, behavioral change and as far I’ m concerned, the  work starts immediately I leave here to infuse this components into my reporting. Not only to report to the public but to also make sure that I  pass a message across and I’m also doing things to facilitate development.

Femi Ogunkemi said  My take home from this training is to ensure that we are conflict sensitive in our reportage. Reports that will escalate issues of  violence should be played down and we are told to also be objective in our report and as investigative  journalists we should be data based so that we can fact check our reports.

 Conclusion:

Search for Common Ground will be in the Niger Delta for eighteen months. She has trained security personnel , civil society organizations the community folks and others. With what she has done so far  towards achieving her objectives in the region, it is believed that the project will be a success.