VANGUARD
June 1, 2013
The Federal Government has again
stated that the on-going State of
Emergency in Adamawa, Yobe and
Borno is meant to protect the civilian
population and the territory from the
macabre and dastardly assault on the Nigeria rather than the country
reports from some media houses.
This was made known in a statement
signed Saturday by President Jonathan’s Special Adviser on Media & Publicity, Reuben Abati stating that Al-Jazeera’s report on state of emergency and “civilian casualties” is contrived and misleading.
The statement reads
We view with grave concern, the
attempt by sections of the media,
especially the foreign media to mislead the general public and the international community about the ongoing State of Emergency and military operations in three states of the Federation:Adamawa, Yobe and Borno.
For the avoidance of doubt, the
declaration of a state of emergency
and the consequential security
operations are meant to protect the civilian population and the territory
from the macabre and dastardly assault on the Nigerian state by insurgents and terrorists. It is not an operation against innocent citizens as Al-Jazeera and others are suggesting.
In executing this sovereign objective, President Jonathan explicitly directed that the operations be conducted in line with applicable rules of engagement and peculiar care in managing a unique situation.
In an earlier statement, he had also made it clear to the military high command and received assurances that those who violate their operational orders will be disciplined accordingly. In line with this regard for the rights of the civilian population, President Jonathan had ordered the release of women and under-aged persons in protective custody, and made arrangements for their immediate rehabilitation. Fifty eight persons in this category have been released.
The Armed Forces have also secured the release of six women and children in Boko Haram captivity. There is nothing to suggest so far any violation of operational orders by the troops operating in the North East. Their intervention has received popular
support, among the civilian populace,and within two weeks of operation,the possibility of calm and normalcy
resonates even as enclaves of terrorists are raided and their capacity to continue their reign of terror heavily compromised. This is a process and the Government owes it to the people of the North-East to see it through.
The Jonathan administration believes that media reporting of the reality of
living in a state of emergency is needed to keep the local and international community well informed and to hold accountable those prosecuting the military operation to help build trust and sustain the public support needed to build lasting peace.
Rather curiously however, the last two
weeks have witnessed mischievous
attempts by a section of the media to
generate negative propaganda around
these operations in the North East. Most recently, a video report by Al- Jazeera yesterday titled “Civilians among dead in Nigeria offensive” (May 31) sought to put the government and the people of Nigeria in bad light. This is regrettable.
While we welcome an open interrogation of government’s activities, we reject any attempt to exploit the security situation in the North East to malign,discredit or otherwise undermine the country’s efforts by other surreptitious means. There can be no doubt that the Al Jazeera report of May 31 is in very bad taste.
Two quick points will highlight the
concerns here:
(1) the video is that of the unfortunate incident that occurred in Bama on May 7 and has no connection with the current operation. If anything, the victims shown in the video were those the Boko Haram attacked before they launched an
offensive on the Bama prison
(2) the claim that the man in uniform shown in the video is a Nigerian soldier
cannot be sustained, because in a war-like theater as we have on our hands, anybody could have been clad in a military fatigue; and we have seen Boko Haram members appear in military fatigues in their propaganda videos.Besides, no soldier has left the frontlines since the beginning of the operations.
Surely, this type of reporting on a serious national security issue is irresponsible and should be deplored by all.
We reaffirm the Government of Nigeria’s commitment to and belief in the professionalism of the Nigerian Military, an institution that has served with distinction on many occasions across the region and outside.
We deplore the effort to encourage terrorists through unverified and
inaccurate reporting and the desperation to blackmail the current
peace and security process.
Beegeagle's Blog 
This is the swift and robust response which a clear campaign of calumny deserves.
SSS need to have the crew of Al Jazeera confined to Abuja for security reasons until the full extent of their collaboration with terrorists. This has been a highly unprofessional showing by Al Jazeera TV.
Because muzzling the press is a sure sign of a confident government?
Or maybe take the AJE crew to the area of operations and let them show evidence of their allegations?
You don’t seem to get it, if you take them to the front then they have won.
They will use it for their advantage and say you are desperate to hide your crimes. It doesn’t matter if they find something or not, they will be confident that they made you yield.
Algeria and other arab countries siad the same thing about aljazeera and sent them away.
I don’t consider aljazeera a press organization at all. So yes, they need to be confined.
I would rather have that than have them giving vital information to terrorists as they did in Israel.
This is what you get when you continue to run operations in 2013 like you were in the 80’s.
If the army releases visual evidence on daily basis, would we be having this conversation at the moment?
See how the kenyans executed their media strategy in somalia, journalist were out both they made sure the press reported the news they way KDF wanted it to. Not by muzzling the press, but by presenting daily photos from the conflict.
We should learn how to do things and evolve with the tide.
I do not think letting the press near the operation field is a good idea.
How do you know who is spying for boko haram among the press ?
How do you know who is there only to make propaganda for boko haram ?
How do you know who is determined to tell any lies in order to get the pullitzer ?
Letting them in gives them unprecedented credibility in anything they say.
We need the army to make its own press team.
Displays of confidence or jitters are immaterial when you are speaking to people with made-up minds.
This free-for-all was absolutely demoralising for Algeria until the foreign media all got evicted from their turf. Ever since, the foreign media, desirous of being ushered back in, have stuck to the dictates of professional journalism. So much so that even when the gas plant in the Sahara was attacked ealrier this year and with the hordes of Western nationals caught in the middle, none of those foreign media dared to wax flippant. Sobriety engendered?
Al Jazeera are not the only foreign media here. If only Reuters and Xinhua remain here, nobody shall miss the antics of a clearly-compromised Al Jazeera.
Since yesterday, I have taken the pains to review their role in the Tunisian, Libyan and Egyptian ‘revolutions’ and the foremost voice of the dissidents who have now plunged their countries into theatres of wars without end was AL JAZEERA. Even the most vicious Western media were quoting Al Jazeera on account of their unmatched networking with dissidents – which is what they are going into at this time in Nigeria and it must not be allowed to thrive.
Reuters and Xinhua are quoted and reputable worldwide. If they are the ones ready to report responsibly, let them stay. They have stayed the balanced middle course thus far and that is okay.
We CAN do very well without Al Jazeera. All the regimes which correctly, for good or bad, identified Al Jazeera as the mouthpiece of subversion have since fallen – Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt and Libya – not that the countries have got any better. If anything, Libya and Tunisia exist in states of anarchy and are exporting terrorists to Syria and across the Sahel, not least to Niger where they attacked targets last week.
Reuters, AFP and Xinhua are fair enough. The fact that DHQ have, by the reckoning of some of us, not packaged their media delivery optimally does not afford Al Jazeera the latitude to attempt to bridge that gap using falsehood.
DHQ’s perceived inaction does not justify Al Jazeera’s recklessness. It is just their way and even now in Syria, where the govt side have packaged their media campaign well, dissidents still have a disproportionate share of the limelight insofar as some foreign media are approaching the story with made-up minds and clear biases.
Let us not mix apples and oranges. If Al Jazeera or ANYBODY step out of line, they should face sanctions. The falseheartedness of Al Jazeera on this matter goes against the grain of journalistic precepts. They have acted as propagandists rather than journalists and under no circumstances would their antics be justiciable. Pointblank and period.
We offered our fair bit of coverage from Somalia but we had the gumption to decipher between news and propaganda. There are many “Sahara Reporter-types” out there in Somalia, showing dead bodies of soldiers who they claimed to have killed. Did you ever see any of such on this blog? So how come Al Jazeera, who like PressTV, appeared to have been in support of Al Shabaab, do not know better?
The AJE report is at least 98% fabrication.
The only portion of the AJE report that could be honest is that “somebody told them something”.
I am not sure what the AJE report was about.
Possibility One:
AJE mentioned that a soldier shot videos for them. Were they implying that the video they showed in the report was shot by the soldier?
If that is the case, then they are completely incompetent. 5 mins of investigation would have told them that ALL the material in the video came from official government sources, press releases, or were source from PUBLICLY available clips from the Bama incident.
Possibility Two:
AJE was not trying to say that the video in the report came from the soldier; rather, the AJE team create an impactful video from recent clips of the fighting. The video in the report was only meant to create a visual impact about the fighting.
If that is the case, this points to overt deception: where IS the video that the soldier shot?
Who went to the Maiduguri market to buy a camouflage hoodie for the soldier?
They say that they have known the soldier for a long time? what is that, 6 months?, how long has AJE been on theater?
Why didn’t they mention the name of a town or city?
How could they think that a soldier sent on a combat operation could possibly take time off to do a video for them?
DHQ should counter the AJE report with a VISUALLY rich press conference. They should take pictures from the AJE video and clearly show where ALL the components of the AJE video came from.
And clarify if the camouflage hoodie is army issue or not.
DHQ should, politely, seek to interview the AJE team; DHQ must learn how to deal with incidents like this – it will happen again and again.
So it was not that we did not have ‘alternative views’ when we covered Somalia back in the day. I had access to a boatload of slime and propaganda but I knew which side was fighting a just war and also recognised propaganda from a mile out. Reported differently based on another mindset, Somalia could also have looked very ugly on these pages.
Yes, it was good to have taken the media in occasionally to see what was going on but trust me, the other side was not at all dormant on the propaganda front – out of Somalia, London, Minnesota and elsewhere. Pro-Shabaab vitriol was alive and handy for those who were interested to cash in on.
If Al Jazeera refuse to sanction their folks, we can help them out. A global media operator pulled a certain famous reporter-turned-novelist out of Biafra during the Civil War because he was deemed to have been filing pro-Biafra reports, remember?
Al Jazeera are filing pro-terrorist propaganda. Same way Jon Gambrell told the world that BH overran 202 Battalion at Bama – though he never told us who the new BH-appointed Commanding Officer is.
Here’s the plug and I say this with all the emphasis at my command. If Yvonne Ndege and Jon Gambrell continue to do pro-terrorist reportage, their work permits should be WITHDRAWN forthwith. That has nothing to do with what DHQ are doing for coverage. The fact that a man is unemployed does not make his decision to turn to armed robbery, justiciable. Whatever DHQ did or did not do, it is does not justify Al Jazeera blatant propagation of falsehood.
YES, I agree and have severally volunteered to go to Mali and NE Nigeria to see for myself and you trust, package a very solid report which could even be syndicated for our mostly clueless defence reporters.
That offer made by me, stands. The logistics entailed is not going to cost DHQ as much as what it costs a battalion organise WASA. Is that a big deal?
Ihave said this repeatedly to THE D.H.Q do not allow THE CLIP and PASTE FOREIGN PRESS TO CONTROL the absolute nonsense THAT THEY PASS FOR JOURNALISM by resorting to doing nothing
1) Embed a well respected NIGERIAN journalist a well respected camera person with the troops KEN iwelumo, oga beegeagle, RAY EKPU come to mind these are people that are known fro their integrity, EVEN oga peccavi
2) Right now there is a foolish article on CNN .com talking about civil war in NIGERIA the reporting in the western world at best is terrible at worst is CRIMINAL.What civil war? is it the same numbskulls who are dying just to leave Nigeria fleeing to chad? pshaw!
3) Nigerian GOVT HAS ITSELF TO BLAME. OGA PECCAVI . I am in agreement with you muzzling the press does nobody absolutely no good however. foreign journalists time and time again to come to Nigeria and become absolutely irresponsible objective reporting goes out the window and dressing down becomes the norm which is what quite a few of them do .lf.
4) As long as the NSF go to REASONABLE LENGTH to ensure that collateral damage is not done to Civilians ALA ODI . Then the responsible thing in addition to the highly respected Brig CHRIS Kolade is to release not just still photos but also live footage on a daily basis through the lenses and voice of a highly respected journalist and camera man. THIS 2013 NOT 1990 LIBERIA. .
5) I am sure the dhq can find someone in the vanguard/ Independent/ or the punch who will report objectively.
6) Nigerians want to see and hear from their own fellow Nigerians.
whoever reports must be a true patriotic Nigerian.
Thank you sir !
igbi i saw your statements on aljazeera website keep it up
these b*st*rds were lusting for acess to the front lines to feed their insatiable and depraved desire for the skewed and distabilizing reportage they are known for. Fortunately, their dreams never came true and this ‘exclusive’ report was the best they could come up with. Honestly, I think it’s time the FG drastically change the rules of the game. This report is a clear threat to national security and ALJ. Should be declared persona non grata. All her staff should be made to leave Nigeria within 48 hrs. Let the west yap and quack for ‘free press’ for all I care. The last time I checked democracy was not a one size fits all affair.
With all the Talent that NDA is graduating every year, The top brass of the Nigerian armed forces should let the mid level officers be a bit more innovative.
Our armed forces should have their own TV and radio assets. Mastery of cyberspace should be welcomed in the NA.
We still have not learnt from media debacles dating back 20 years in Liberia and sierra leone.
If you don’t tell your stories, others will tell it for you. In a way that suits their interests.
Since our current service chiefs are all buddy buddy with the Pakistani military brass, they should visit Pakistan’s military websites, and marvel at the sophisticated presentation.
There as so many top notch Nigerians in all fields of endeavor around the world.
Nigerian institutions should resolve to put our best foot forward in all things. Not to continually embarrass the nation with intolerable mediocrity.
In WW2 or Vietnam you could have a daily press conference and call it a day, to try it nowadays is ridiculous in extremis. To clear examples of how it should be done are KDF/ AMISOM and Op Sevral, there is enough good.
All conventional armies are bad at this but to be honest we have other armies learning curves to steal from so this is patently ridiculous.
If you give me a stretch of desert 12 soldiers and 2 vehicles I can keep the press busy for a week so this media policy is stupid.
We can complain about the press from here till tomorrow but it exists, evicting a media organisation just makes you look like you have something to hide, you keep your friends cloes and enemies closer. Press conferences and grainy photos are just silly.
Do Nigerians not deserve to see what is happening in their country?
BH gets the idea, who is going to watch a press conference? But a video of troops will go viral.
This is very silly
You guys know I’m going to say… But I’ve said it b4. Deny all these foreign media but give NTA, channels and AIT and as many print media outlets all the assess u can give. Forget just for a little while these foreign press (u’re are helping them make their money). Like oga peccavi has said NIGERIANS DESERVE TO KNOW WHATS HAPPENING IN THIER COUNTRY. DHQ wake up and use your head otherwise you will not be able to control this nonsense should it get out of hand
Gentlemen, one is unfortunately not under any pressure to conform to any externally-authored standards. That idealistic outlook presupposes that Al Jazeera’s lurch into the perfidious could have in any way been stymied by any manner of alternative viewpoints and videos released by DHQ. That is antithetical to the freewill of men to do good or evil. Al Jazeera TV, going by their antecedents in Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen and Libya would necessarily have gone on to publish their cascade of half-truths regardless of anything that DHQ do or do not do. For them, it is just another warped scoop and more bare-faced pro-dissident propaganda.
Tell me, what would DHQ do if the CNN, Xinhua, Reuters and AFP were all in on this Al Jazeera TV plot? You sincerely believe that 24 hours of DHQ damage control would redress the ensuing damage? That is utterly unrealistic and simplistic to boot.
So in the exercise of their freewill and in conformity with ‘openness’ and the expectations of free societies where reportorial malevolence is supposedly permissible, a BH spokesperson if found today, should be allowed to continue on the prowl since he was only found with a webcam and not a rifle? What at this time differentiates a BH propagandist from an Al Jazeera TV reporter in Nigeria? You call this tissue of lies and incongruent pairing of video and story, journalism?
So you heard me, gentlemen. Since this is vile propaganda rather than journalism of even the most profane kind, I restate without fear of contradiction or recourse to convoluted analysis that, IF Al Jazeera or AP persist in their reportorial malevolence, the purveyors of same should have their work permits WITHDRAWN.
Even media houses have been known to withdraw the accreditation of compromised correspondents who have chosen to align themselves with a particular interest. NOTHING NEW. Were the media house also trying to hide something?
DDI can decide to open a radio station and a satellite TV station but in reality, it is unlikely to be the end-all which we are romantically postulating. We forget that government ownership automatically presents naysayers with an opportunity to say “they are defenders of an interest” or “they are a pro-government platform”. All of that, even without listening to the coherence entailed in their offering.
Have PressTV finally become more referenced than Reuters and Al Jazeera as they seek to redress the barrage of negative reportage aimed at Iran?
The Russian military against whom the western media continue to carry on Cold War-era vendetta own INTERFAX. How many of us knew about them before now and have they gained the upperhand over AP or CNN?
So let us face the interlopers within FIRST before attempting to go against the more daunting tide. If the FG withdraw their work permits, their employers are free to send new correspondents who, as these things go, would make a deliberate effort to straddle the balanced middle and be less tactless and malevolent in the conduct of their operations?
Even professional organisations sanction errant members, never mind governments with national security interests to protect.
Nigeria need to know what they are getting into before a small harmattan fire becomes a raging inferno. It was after all, a spurious report by the Hausa Service of Radio Dahomey, a report which was later amplified by the Hausa language services of the global media hegemons, about the supposed killings of Northerners in Enugu in 1966 which triggered off the September 1966 pogroms against Easterners in the North and subsequently dovetailed into a full-blown and fratricidal civil war.
The less said about this, the better. For each ‘tale’ which Al Jazeera get away with, they shall be inspired to go for something more hideous. As you can see, the big-lipped Nubian has already introduced ‘exclusivity’ to the tale-bearing and the next thing which we shall unwittingly get into is a near-tyrannical swing of the microphone in every despicable direction. With Al Jazeera, rights and freedoms do not necessarily go with any responsibilities
Watch this space.
ELSEWHERE,BEEGEAGLE WROTE(May 18th)
EXCERPTS
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All the scare mongering is emotional blackmail aimed at forcing the military into throwing open the theatre for all and sundry masquerading as journalists or activists to come and do their ruinous stuff.
FG, just stand firm. OKAY? If they are so balanced, how come nobody has gone to review the photos released by NSRDA? If it were HRW making libelous allegations, they would make it the lead story on prometime news.
If anyone wants to go in there, it has to be with ZERO participation by our security forces. No escorts for nobody. Tell your own story anyhow while the FG get Channels TV and AIT correspondents into the theatre to see and report on what they see. Let the world tune in to that or take a hike. Heads or tails, the more professional sections of the local media get their moment in the global spotlight. That is fair enough.
After all, the skewed reportage emanating from Syria which they have forced the world to tune in to, emanates from ‘activists’ who upload amateur videos to Youtube and that becomes the news. If they can work with that, never mind the heart-chewing activists and those who burn tyres in their courtyards and claim that it is smoke from bombed-out homes supposedly attacked by Assad’s forces, why not Channels TV who are respected around our country for professional and balanced reportage?”
There is a reason for everything.
What is the point of Media Operations?
To inform the home population,
To shape the perception and expectations of the home population
To influence and inform the population in the conflict zone
To influence the enemy
To counter enemy propaganda
To inform and influence external governments
To inform and influence external populations.
To do all of this we need to define a narrative and disseminate it. This stupid, video comes out boring press release follows policy is pointless.
Like I said about the US ‘human rights, human rights’ gist, what has been our counter? Have you seen credible pro-Nigeria analysts on different networks pushing back? Have you seen anything that suggests we are even interested. Yet now any reference to the conflict is now prefaced with ‘Nigeria’s heavy handed response’. The message and narrative has been created and all we are doing is reacting to it.
I have clearly tried to eplain the US rationale on this and the enemies. There is a reason for everything
What does any Nigerian know about what is being done with our money, soldiers and equipment on our territory to our own citizens?
One of the cleverest ideas from the Iraq war was embedding journalists. Even the most hostile journalist softens because (a) you are dependant on the soldiers for food, security, fuel etc (b) You seem them as human beings not monsters, friendly, happy, sad etc (c) they see some of the dilemmas the soldiers have to face (d) once you are being shot at ideology goes out the window.
WE all watched that fascinating piece on the fighting in Gao, not only was the battle filmed by an independent film-maker but by a French combat Cameraman, we had excellent footage and it showed the French as a tough, professional, aggressive force. Has there been a single allegation from Mali about French excesses? Even if they try it there is so much footage from areas just as remote as NE Nigeria that it will be easy to refute.
We do not need to reinvent the wheel, we can just copy what has worked for others
If the media does not have something to report they will report what they want. You can sulk, ban them and pretend they don’t exist or you can use them for your own purposes.
All this one na gist sha, next week we will have another video/ ‘scoop’ another verbose, long winded sulky boring press release and Nigerians and the world will still have no clues as to what is what
In year 2013, the Nigeria Military is yet to come to terms with the fact that aside from the land, the Sea and the Air/Space, the Media and the Cyberspace have become another frealm in which opposing forces will do battles. All the manouevers (frontal attack, flanking, counter-attack etc) that are executable in the traditional reals are also executable in these new realms.
This is why a Hezzbolla will launch primitive rockets into Isreal and manage to kill just one or two isrealis while IDF will launch a full scale invation from Land/Air and Sea that will kill thousands of ‘terrorists’. Yet Hezbollah will be seen by the whole world has having ‘won’ the war.
It is baffling that we keep churning out graduates from NDA on a yearly basis, yet the DDI still opeartes like this.
It is sad that things as simple as updating a website is like rocket science to our military.
It is worrisome to me that more tha half of the icons on the official webpage of the NA are inactive!
Yet we keep shouting about ‘modernisation’ of the military. Please modernisation should be wholistic! It shouldnt be limited to the acquisition of NVGs, body armours, TAVs, corvettes and ASFighters. War is very dynamic men!
God! What are they teaching at Kaduna, Abuja and Jaji sef? I don’t even understand anymore.
Why are we giving BH cheap victory? I have said it once on this blog:ADOPT THE FRENCH METHOD OF COVERING MILITARY OPERATIONS.
During the Gulf War I, the US military packed a C-130 full of radio and TV broadcasting equipment, sent it airbourne and treated the ‘liberated’ Iraqis to music, movies, sports (mostly in local language) from the air!.
Brig sir, the whole world respects you and we expect more than this from the DDI sir.
Oga peccavvi has just described what is known as Stockolm’s syndrome. It is what makes a lot of victims of kidnapp/hostages swing to the side of and adopt the ideology of the kidnappers/ hostage takers. No matter hard-hearted someone is, by the time he spends weeks embedded with soldiers, eat with them, take fire with them, watch them die, he will grow to like them and what motivates them and automatically hate their enemies. It is just natural that his report will favour them without anybody influencing him to do so.
If the DDI is not ready to equip soldiers that will provide quality videos and the local TV stations are not willing, we on this blog are ready to do so. Beegeagle as said it countless number of times. We are patriots here on this forum and our word is our bond!
I implore everyone reading this to go and read the words of King Sennacherib’s commander in II Kings 18:17-37 and see propaganda/psychological warfare in action 700BC!
This is the WAR OF THE WORDS!
And NOBODY has EVER been opposed to having pressmen embedded at the frontlines. I have championed that cause for as long as CTCOIN operations have gone on in Nigeria. It attained a crescendo when there was nothing coming out from Mali by way of photographs.
Still, I daresay that in this 2013, even the British parliament toyed with the idea of curbing the excesses of the media on account of libelous reportage targeted against the reputation of a respected individual who was actually, innocent. Last week, a former top commander in the Balkans also stressed the need to curb the excesses entailed in unfettered ‘media work’.
REGARDLESS of what DHQ do or not do, when a foreign media house which has little to lose if Nigeria became an expanded cauldron, wilfully and knowing how wide the margins of error are, decide to air utter fabrication without a care for the impact on national security, it is incumbent on the FG to sanction such an operator. Laws are meant to be enforced regardless of the extenuating circumstances. The kind of ruinous free-for-all reportage which we appear to be rationalising simply because DHQ did not do this or that, is inexcusable.
Even in the leisurely world of NOLLYWOOD, there is a National Film and Video Censorship authority to ensure that unscrupulous directors do not allow everything which catches their fancy to be aired in the name of a home video, just because the Federal Ministry of Culture do not make home videos to counter their excesses and the directors are taking advantage of that ‘lacuna’
By the same token, we have a National Broadcasting Commission which regulates the business in Nigeria and I am aware that reputable media such as Channels TV and AIT are on record as haven been taken off the air over what was adjudged to have been infractions.
Al Jazeera TV have erred twice as much. Why should they go scot-free? So that we are seen to be compliant to some nebulous foreign-inspired standards of ‘press freedom’? What has their unethical antics got to do with successes or shortcomings of a Directorate of Defence Information? Is that really the issue here namely OR that Al Jazeera TV have acted out of sync with the most fundamental precepts of responsible journalism and deserve to be sanctioned, so as to serve as a deterrent to others who seek to cut and join clips and make a defamatory story therefrom just because this is not their country and as such, they can set it alight and leave at anytime?
Seriously, I am looking to learn why Al Jazeera should not be sanctioned. Because DDI have not matched their antics, they become permissible? On the strength of these notions of relativity, should we also allow bunkering to continue unchallenged since the authorities have not yet apprehended all the perpetrators and as such the culpable who have yet to be arrested cannot be held morally accountable for their ruinous actions?
Because to sanction them you would need to prove their allegations were untrue.
The British media is a nightmare, I can say in my own miniscule capacity the things they get up to, even when this incident in Woolwich happened one I spoke to years ago got in touch with me to ask stupid questions.
thee is a particular clown of a lawyer here ho follows the Army around to Iraq and Afghanistan trying to sue the army for war crimes, with stupid documentary makers doing his bidding. But at the end of the day the sky has not fallen, The Army in the UK one of the most popular institutions and operational security is not compromised.
Unless a news organisation is actively aiding the enmey banning them is by far the most foolish thing you can do, you co-opt them
You keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I don talk my own finish
Aljazeera is actively helping boko haram. Your idea of keeping your ennemies closer doesn’t apply to the world of today.
And as Beeg has said it, just go and do some research about aljazeera and their boss, the prince of qatar. There are a lot of incohrences in what you wrote. You can not compare the Nigerian situation with that of the UK.
You should rather compare the Nigerian situation with that of Algeria when Algeria sent all foreign journalists parking. I don’t think you understand that some of the foreign journalists would be verry interested in pushing Nigeria into a civil war.
Beeg, I feel you strongly and I am in total support of whatever sanctions the FG may decide to impose on AJE or any other media house that wants to compromise our national security. But let us understand these;
1) Nature abhors a vacuum. Wether you like it or not, your story will be told. So you better say it yourself. Even if AJE and co are asked to go or the licences of their correspondents seized, who will take over? Where are the correspondents from AIT, Channels etc? Are they ready to go into these hotspots or they are comfortable with reporting happenings in Maiduguri and Yobe in the comfort of the AC offices in Lagos?. Naturally, things wants to fall apart, houses want to crumble, citizens want to commit crimes, materials want to decay etc.It is the Law of Entropy. So also Media houses (foreign or local) want to air sensational news that will sell. It is the duty of the management of that media house or government to resist such. Countries where pipeline vandalisation, terrorism, corruption, kidnapping etc are not common place is not because they are populated by angels. It is because they either dont have oil/pipelines or they will be caught and punished if they commit those crimes!
2) Bad news sells better than good news. A lot more people (especially foreigners) want to watch the clips of government forces ‘caught red-handed’ killing ‘civilians’ than those of goverment forces playing by the rules. That is what sells better the world over. Hence, even our local media will sometimes down the line be tempted to try it. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that media houses do not step out of line.
So I say it is still the fault of our government/military that a tout from AJE can be messing with us like this. I can mention a lot of African countries whose economy are smaller than that of Lagos state where AJE cannot try this rubbish.
If we keep quite hoping that others will also keep quite then WE ARE DEAD WRONG! It is an opportunity to further humiliate’ an African dog’ that has already been given a bad name;NIGERIA.
The way we keep quite about the things we should shout about baffles me. We keep taking what other smaller countries break diplomatic ties over. I guess it is the ‘Gentle Giant’ syndrome.
When you open your door wide open during your party,then you may let in alot of uninvited guest that might tend out to be your enemy’s friends who are bend to spoil your party! For sake of National Security,kick Al Jazeera and any damn media or bloody f**cking foreigner that would not obey our laws out of Nigeria.
DHQ should do better than what it is actually doing about the War on Terror in the North East,show Nigerians what is happening at the front-line from time to time,else BH might be winning through psychological warfare with its sympathizers.
By the way, I never got the chance to tell you that since the State of Emergency commenced mid-May, two European arms manufacturers have tried to advertise their wares on this blog. Wait for it…one of them was a woman.
@Gen. Beeg,they should pay you money jare!,i mean good money!hahaha…
That’s what frustrates me about Nigerian foreign policies. our government want to please the whole world, even if it will bring total collapse of the system. just go to Yvonne’s twitter account and see how some mugus are praising her even to the extent that some are recommending she be rewarded. This is how aljazeera have managed to cause sectarian tensions in north Africa, and now it’s coming to the west.
Gentlemen, as we are here – some people are somewhere plotting this country’s downfall. Which will be a big boom for their weapons industry.
What we face is the kind of situation that have put countries in chaos they still find hard to resolve. and our government is still forming international best practice “something they are not even doing well”. Even the US that are shouting human rights will put that aside when it comes to their national security, (i remember US branded aljazeera “a terrorist network” during the iraq war and arrested some of their cameramen). all these because of what aljazeera just repeated with this boko haram propaganda, and our government dey here dey lick draw soup.
Abeg make i try calm down before i slam my laptop to the ground.
But Beeg i want to ask if its possible that you can Seek a meeting with DDI through any of ur connections, i know right now things are “hot” and so he might be too busy to be accessed but anyhow it wont be a bad idea to talk to one of the topbrass to begin a Nationwide Media Counter using Pro-Nigeria Media houses and begin an Online Campaign to correct all impressions, this matter should be Balanced, Both Good or Bad should be Aired and if any one wants to ridicule us We ask the Questions about their countries and Create a Bluff, Trust me they will backdown.
TOPE, IF they need us to play any role, we can always be contacted via our email which DDI already know about. I would show up at DHQ within 48 hrs.
My email was where NN SBS left me a message. We built trust and had a face-to-face encounter. Specifically, if the DDI want to run a background check on us,the best person to ask would be the boss of the SBS commandos. He is the one person who can reach us at anytime.
If they set their minds to this lofty task, we can work together to push all these jokers and confusionists to the wall and leave them clueless. God has given us the grace to communicate and get the world to take notice. Ndege, Adow and Hazzad in combination “nuh pass wetin we go fit handle”. They merely have the power of an institution propelling them and therein lies the facade. Individually, these are pretty much average communicators who would run out of their wits and made to become nervous and stuttering parrots in a jiffy. For now, let us say that “fish rotten, na im mek worm fit enta mouth”. Dem get chance.
We only need to give Nigerians something to tune into everyday ala a best-selling soap opera and even Al Jazeera themselves would be too busy learning to have any time to air their usual dose of tripe.
Moving on and given the chance to advice on methodology, DDI should have a dedicated website which would be updated everyday. All the media units of the JTF, JSTF, STF, MJTF and special operations(Northeast) would be required to submit daily updates including photos and/or videos with which the website content shall get refreshed everyday..just like I try to do here. It should be such that without waiting for handouts, the lucid writeups and vivid imagery would be available for our energy-conserving defence reporters to freeload from. Makes their job too easy and before you know it, ALL newspapers would suddenly have defence reports on their daily menu. That would put the stories on operations firmly in our national consciousness while trashy stories such as Al Jazeera TV have on offer would suddenly become stuff intended for comic relief as Nigerians would juxtapose both sides of the story beside each other and be empowered to draw their own conclusions.
Make no mistake about it, everything factual and incontrovertible which we know about our military would be brought to bear on the job in such a way as Al Jazeera and such passersby who make hay only where ignorance thrives, shall never be able to match. That would dent their confidence and the fear of being ridiculed would leave them taciturn against their will.
In the meantime, they would be reading and saying to themselves “hmn..I did not know that” ever so often that the search for corroboration would force them to become research majors rather than the babblers which they currently are. Trust me, people do not like to sound stupid or ridiculous. So the more vacuous they realise themselves to be, the less likely that they would make baseless but categorical assertions.
Just giving you some of the trade secrets which have driven this blog to this point and I know it can be replicated and even surpassed at DHQ given the institutional backing and wherewithal at their disposal. Let’s save the rest for later.
For now, Al Jazeera TV are cashing in on a void which leaves them looking like they know what they are talking about. Trust me, Ndege and Hazzad do not know the difference between an APC, a scout car and a tank. It is very easy to ridicule and dent the confidence of people like that.
No need to continue say anything anymore…Ur guys have said it all. Peccavi, pardon me but i dont think any sane Govt, with what we have as a nation, in this trying times, should adopt what the UK military do to their own press. Thats how they do it over there, and it works for them. Over here we have our ways of handling things, we have learnt not to waste our time with explanations: People (Westerners,.especially when it involves Nigeria)only hear what they want to hear. We are a soveriegn nation, with a responsible Govt, trying to avert a prediction by the CIA. Whatever we do now is done in the interest of NATIONAL SECURITY. So make anybody wey wan talk go hug live transformer!!!! I know very soon something would be done to aljazeera and her wannabee journalists. Dem no follow!!!
Well stated.
Oga, a responsible government does not try to avoid predictions by foreign intelligence services, it does what it right for the country.
I am not advocating the British method, French method, Israeli method or Japanese method. I am saying what we are doing is not working and needs to be changed. We do not need to fumble through we can look around see what has worked elsewhere and adapt to our situation.
We have learnt not to waste time with explanations is fairly true and absolutely idiotic. If I come and burn your house would you not at the bare minimum want to know why?
Nigerians deserve explanations, please lets stop this acceptance of mediocrity and demand the country we deserve
With all due respect, you are not making sense.
And I don’t think you are qualified to say if “what we are doing” is working or not.
You also advocated not to look for shekau.
it is quite difficult to follow your reasonning.
With all DUE RESPECT OGA IGBI
Much respect to your comments normally I do not respond but since I was the original person to ask the question.I will interject. THIS IS NOT TO STOP oga peccavi from replying to the question that was asked to the detriment of the focus of DESTROYING BOKO HARAM should we look for shekau. OGA peccavi said it would take old fashioned police work and a lot of hard work and luck ( osama bin laden took ten years and one phone call ). he did not say we should look for him what he continually pointed to is that it is not just shekau it is those who are ABOVE shekau that should be hunted down.
In essence shekau DEAD OR ALIVE he already DEAD MAN WALKING the question is the people above shekau who sponsored him initially.
OGA IGBI with the greatest amount of restraint some of us on this blog are more qualified than you can imagine, some of us have been in actual combat situations, some of us have to be more discreet than others because we know a lot more than we disclose . Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. It is impossible for someone to agree with everyone’s view all the time however it is possible to respect everyone’s view.
Oga Igbi, we are better off if we address the issue, not the person.
Oga Peccavi is contributing his knowledge, based on his own life experience.
Let me add that I greatly appreciate reading Peccavi’s comments.
Oga Peccavi, is it possible that a raw recruit can take part in vertical envelopment operations after only 2 weeks of training?
I suspect that if you train a raw recruit for only two weeks, he can only manage “shoot and follow” operations.
The same applies to DHQ’s handling of media operations.
The British Army was present at the birth of the war correspondent – the Crimean war I believe. Western armies are beloved by the population, the western press can’t even be harsh even if they wanted to.
A person’s belief in what may be a successful venture is based on their past experience.
If DHQ doesn’t have critical mass in terms of modern, media-savvy experts, they will employ tactics they belief will be “satisfactory” – whatever that maybe. The only goal is to defeat BH.
Whatever operation being carried out now its been done for the best interest of the country. I believe that the Nigerian Military learnt its lesson in previous operations regarding the western press…that they only believe what they want to hear. Its not their job(Nigerian Military) to please these press guys but to clear the insurgents. If they want to join the bandwagon of unethical journalism then way to go for them. The Nigerian armed forces i believe would release videos and stills as at when due. What they have released so far may not be enough for data thirsty peeps like us, but its ok for majority of the masses. They still have an overwhelming support from the masses, even from those in the affected states. Its these wanabe journalist thats trying to throw mud into our garri. I still repeat: Choke the foreign press but carry Nigerian pressman along. Its our country and we are responsible only to ourselves. We need to forget about others and concentrate on ourselves. CNN,BBC, aljazeera are free to report anything they want to…Lets see who gets embarassed when the truth finally comes out. Maybe they would learn from that. We need to follow China’s path on this Brothers. Enough of these western all talk and no work.
Oga Pecavi, if you come burn my house pls dont wait around to find out if i would ask for explanations oooh. And i still repeat that whatever we tell the western press be it true or false they would always follow their perceptions. We need to get to the point where we dont give a hoot what anybody thinks about us. Does china, Isreal, NKorea,Iran , India put what others would think about them ahead of their National interest?
1st Gen, I remember asking you to do what Tope is asking now on another issue. I don’t know if you did. I have great respect for you and your pedigree is not small. By virtue of what you’ve done with this blog, there thing you can do or say, places you can go or have access to that the rest of us may not! Sir, please do this country a favour, sit back and articulate some of the most interesting discussions here and do a paper and send it to the various stake holders from DHQ, SSS, Senate president and NSA! We all know that all kinds of people follow this blog but we don’t know if the decision makers do and if the lower ranked don’t see this as good enough or kicking it up the chain of command is going to take too long, why not help out in the process? It’ll not cost you much! Don’t just do an email, do a letter. (As for wanting to anonymity, I think they know who you are, ha ha ha). Thanks
As for Ndege & co, well, let’s not be sentimental or reactionary, that again gives victory to the enemy. Let me ask us to follow oga peccavi’s argument a little more closely, I think with respect to Gen beegs position, it makes more sense. See, if you like get 500,000 or 1mn soldiers like someone was suggesting, the army will struggle if the people are not behind them. Especially if the fight is against an enemy who believes (irrespective what in). Go back and study your vietnam and afghan(against the soviet) wars. The south vietnam army was more than the north’s and the those pajamas wearing vietcons! They had actively behind them the might of the US and yet lost. Fast forward a decade later and the same thing happened in afghanistan! In fact, the economics of it is arguably the foremost reason why the soviet union is no more! Like I’ve said before, ban the foreign press all you can and it will have very little effect on them. Banning is a two way sword. Ask china and Iran etc. Today, it Al Jazeera, tomorrow it beegs blog. If you open that door, brother it’ll only lead to a show down at some square(eagle) when we wake up and can’t live with big brother any more. One of the best way to secure the nation is by knowing what elected officials and public servants are doing! The press is an essential in any society, moreso in a democracy. U can muzzle them or use them for national development! Algeria was effective in the 90s because there was no internet! If banning them is so effective, how come there flow of information(false and true) is not slowing? Has it stop cnn from reporting about iran? Guys, the only way to blunt if not stop this is to beat them in their own game! do you own telling. How? DISCREDIT THEM! U can’t honestly ignore them when the average guy believes them! Discredit them, cast doubt in what the say and the loose. News business is about trust. Ones they loose people’s trust, it doesn’t matter what they say as people not care to listen! That is why the west do it, even assad does it and Qatar and Iran spend a lot of money doing it. That is why NTA should be restructured to gain the people’s trust. Again, this is not so that MR Kerry will feel good, NIGERIANS DESERVE IT.
@ Oga Asorockweb, well how many times would I have to say that? As moderator,sometimes I have to keep quiet and observe because it is easy to misconstrue my interjection as an attempt at censorship or wanting to take sides with one protagonist or the other. That is the difference between being a moderator and a commenter. E nuh easy.
@Oga Igbi. Brother, methinks you ruffle way too many feathers in any one day and there are no prizes for that on here. I said that in the thread on “BAMA”. Does it not have you worried that you ALONE seem to have nearly everyone upset ALL the time? Why, why, WHY??? Why now? How often are we going to have to say this? From DAY 1?
PLEASE focus on the issues and leave the discussants alone. Would you be able to chat to yourself, if left alone? Even with a loaded gun, and I assure you that there are tank and artillery commanders among us who would do much greater damage given the chance, you CANNOT fathomably get everyone to toe your line. Deal with that empirical fact and device more acceptable ways of making your points. If you state your point of view in a lucid manner, it should sway opinions anyway. So why all the wahala and roforofo?
Even I caused divided opinions with my views on how Al Jazeera TV should be treated but I did not insult anyone who was not similarly persuaded. Hopefully, we can all show a little bit more consideration for opposing views.
If I were you, I would do the classy thing – APOLOGISE to the many affronted – and give myself an opportunity to make a fresh start. You never know, brother. You need friends, not enemies. Ask Jonathan Elendu.
Hehehehehehe. La Gen Beeg, never knew you had a degree in DIPLOMACY. But seriously,I as a person have learnt a lot from this blog and it has made a part of me awaken and yearn for more, and it has got me thinking outside the box. Cheers and thanks to everyone
Oga igbi, I agree with the Gen on this, people will not tow ur line all the time, how u deal with that is what makes u stand out. I love this blog not just because we have some smart and brilliant people here, people who u may get the shock of ur life when u open the doors of an office to see them sit behind the oga’s desk. Even if the are not the ogas at the top, every one deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. I think this blog is special, may we not condensed to those pakistan vs india, china vs us, west vs arab blogs who say despicable thing on account of free speech