The Fourth Estate

Burke said that there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters' Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate, more important far than they all.”

---Thomas Carlyle

On August 3, 2007 a child died. Tragic as it is, as indeed is the death of any person so young (he was just under a year and half), his death would have passed unnoticed by the outside world but for some sad facts. Baby P as he became known was killed as a result of abuse from his mother, her lover, and their lodger. Baby P was first admitted to hospital at the age of 9 months with injuries which the hospital staff considered to be 'non accidental'. He was subsequently put on a child protection plan and became the subject of regular visits from the social services of the Haringey Council, the council where his mother resided. Unfortunately, in over seventy visits to the house, council workers failed to spot and/or properly document the extent of the abuse the child was suffering. Babies can't complain, so eventually the child died.

In the aftermath of his death, the immediate reaction of the council was the typical bureaucratic attitude of 'CYA'. Blame was shifted around, excuses were made, and an attempt was made to sweep the whole issue under the carpet. Such a thing was not allowed to happen. As of today the British government has initiated new laws to protect children from the kind of abuse that Baby P suffered. Also a new inquiry has been ordered to probe the failures in the system which eventually led to Baby P's death, and I would bet that Sharon Shoesmith, the Director of Children's Services at Haringey Council would be forced to quit her position by the time the dust clears.

As a Nigerian watching these events, one question comes to mind. Why did the Baby P case refuse to die? Baby P's mother is just another one of the millions of under-age mothers (she's now of age physically at least) that the system in the UK encourages. Baby P's father has no connections, he doesn't have any godfathers in the country's Parliament. Yet...

The case refused to die because unlike in my country, the people with the real power here know that they have that power, and they don't hesitate to use it. They also seem to know that with great power comes great responsibility. The power of the media in the UK is almost legendary. Talking with a typical Brit, you find that his opinions are almost entirely shaped by what he hears from the media. This kind of power in the wrong hands can be dangerous, as totalitarian states such as Stalin's Russia proved. However, when used properly, this kind of power can be a vehicle for social change. That the British media refused to let the Baby P case die has led to a change in the country's laws and that change is a good change, one that will benefit millions of children yet unborn. Unarguably (as the picture above suggests), it is because Barack Obama was a media darling (except for Fox News of course) that he won the US election. That is the power of the media.

Now compare to the media in my homeland. The place is full of people who have no idea where of their function in society. The closest we have to a true societal watchdog in Nigeria would be AIT, which is why they were constantly in trouble with the Obasanjo administration. But one thing must be made clear here, were it not for AIT, Obasanjo, not Yar'Adua would be president of Nigeria today. For those of you who may not remember, AIT, despite objections from up on high, publicly broadcast the referendum in the House of Assembly on the third term issue. Had they not broadcast it, GMGs would have changed hands shamelessly, and the Nigerian constitution would have been amended. That is a good example of the power and more importantly the responsibility of the media.

Unfortunately, the majority of the media back home are lazy bastards who can't be arsed, and would sing the praises of the first person who signs them a cheque. In my mind I can see Bisi Olatilo.

One notable failing of the Nigerian media, which I keep shouting about is the tragic case of Augustina Arebum, Ekene Isaac, Chinedu Meniru, Tony Nwokike, Paul Ogbonna and Ifeanyi Ozor. Otherwise known as the Apo Six. They were killed over three years ago by men of the Nigeria Police. What has been the outcome of the case? Where is DCP Danjuma? No one seems to know. He has 'vanished' into thin air, and the Nigerian press has moved on to other things...

Last year some pupils killed their teacher Toyin Olusase. They were using the name of Islam to cover up the fact that one of them was cheating in an exam. In the immediate aftermath of that incident, arrests were made. Was anyone brought to trial? It would be grossly unfair on both the victim, and the suspects, if they have just been left to languish in detention as has happened so many times in Nigeria. Does our press care? No. They have moved on to other things...

British Airways insulted Nigeria in the well known case earlier this year. As is usual with our media, there was an initial kick-start, then it became stale gist. Other, more fanciful things caught their attention and the case was let to die. Soon enough BA insulted no less a personality than the Sultan of Sokoto. Our media gave it fleeting coverage, then moved on to other things...

I won't even flog the case of Uzo Okere. In a few weeks if I mention it, some idiot would ask me the following, 'you no dey tire?'

That question is the mindset of the Nigerian people. That is the mindset of the Nigerian media. Because we are incapable of tenacity as a people, we will continue eating shit. Imagine if our media was filled with people like Dele Giwa, people who at great personal risk pursued the truth. Would we be where we are? Would someone like the now deposed former governor of Edo state still be walking free? He stole a mandate, he has been removed by the courts. Elsewhere in the world where the media makes sense, there would have been a demand for prosecution. For us, it is enough that he has been removed. Live and let live. The very embarrassing incident of a N40 billion pig in geostationary orbit is all too real. There is no media to demand that the people who threw tax payers money away on that piece of junk be brought to book.

And we claim there is a press in Nigeria!