CNN,The Nigerian Government and The Niger Delta

On Friday the 23rd of February, a new phase in the Niger Delta struggle emerged. A Lebanese engineer was killed in circumstances described as deliberate. His death marks a shift from the pacifist nature, Niger Delta militants treat foreign workers. The sudden departure from the soft-handling approach isn’t unexpected as many believed that time would come, when death would become normal, faced with a government unwilling to accede to militant demands. This year marks the forty seventh year, Nigeria’s bloody civil war ended. Three years of war claimed the lives of more than one million Nigerians.

When Uche Nworah, a journalist based in the United Kingdom announced in an article he wrote in a Nigerian website -Nigeriavillagesquare.com - that his views pertaining to the Niger Delta were going to be aired on the Cable News Network (CNN), I felt terribly unhappy because I wasn’t going to be around to hear them.I was anxious to know how he would cease the opportunity to present a case for the Niger Delta.I must say that I was terribly disappointed when I watched the video clip today. He posted it on a real-player type format on the same website. It was an opportunity lost.

The Jeff Kionange report exposed the criminality of the Nigerian State.His report called into question the future of Africa’s most populous nation.His report was brutal and indicted the various government apparatuses in Nigeria.My heart surged with excitement when he declared that if asked to go back to the Niger Delta he would do so ‘in a minute.’ Jeff Kionage is one of the most visible faces I see when I tune to CNN.His casual style of news reporting drew me to him.

The rebuttal of the Nigerian government reflects an inherent intolerance for any negativity of supposed reforms. His report may have been driven by the desire to portray CNN in global light but it was frank and soul-piercing, one that got the Nigerian government expectedly cringing and spewing fire and brimstone. In the face of stiff competition by new entrant Al Jazeera - the English version - it may be appealing to see this sword-sharp journalism as an astute ‘angle find’ but below lurks a blatant emasculation of a people who bear the brunt of the failed Nigerian State - Africa’s colossal waste.

Reports after reports indict the Nigerian government of poor relationship with the Nigerian media.The Reporters Without Borders(RWB), an advocate media body, based in France, in its 2007 annual report revealed series of repressive attitudes towards the Nigerian media at State and national levels. This is indeed worrying. The role of the media in any setting cannot be underestimated. Media can serve as an irenic and expository force against wrongs .Frank Nweke’s - Nigeria’s Minister of Information- rebuttal is nothing short of the demagogue he his. It is high time everyone who has a true stake in Nigeria came together and ironed out a plan, a gateaway for an strong nation.

The Niger Delta must always be at the front burner of our consciousness because it is through the region, Nigeria earns most all its revenues and achieves a semblance of reputation.

I mustn’t fail to write this.The internet has afforded me an immense opportunity to know about Nigeria.I have lived outside Nigeria for years and any news report that exposes the nation in true light is always welcoming to me.Before discovering the internet media I was bereft of the true state of Nigeria.


Anybody who aspires to be the president of Nigeria must be probed about his plans for the Niger Delta.

The Nigerian government’s response by cancelling its advertorial contract with CNN over the February 8 news report, mirrors a dictatorial tendency hell-bent on having its way all the time.The government’s response reminds me of a statement a child of a Niger Deltan Governor made while we were talking: ‘It is nice there, things have improved.’ Yet articles written from the horses’ mouth indicating daily horror, stream out with uncomfortable ease and speed. They live in good houses while the teeming masses are left out to grass and watch their land despoiled. The Nigerian government thought that by shouting CNN down they would back down in the Nigerian impotent fashion.They are so used to bribing their way, coercing people to do their dirty ,repugnant jobs and with that mentality, supposed that a world media like CNN would cow at the prospect of withdrawing their bloodstained money.This act of government is a projection of societal decadence.

Till today, nothing has been said about the billions of petroleum trust funds stolen. Accusations and counteraccusations have been leveled by President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar against each other, but it appears they are gone.

Gone also is the dream I and many Nigerians had at the birth of this democracy. Abacha’s death blossomed hope, clothed hope with a rich sense of esteem.We became hopeful that change would occur, that for once a Nigeria founded on justice, equity, amiability would emerge but alas it was a steamy dream .The realities of rampant crimes, road and air accidents, religious fanaticism have tightened their grip on Nigeria than ever before in its troubled history.Nigeria at no time, has had it so bad.The talk about debt relief and reforms are what they are:talk.They are all a snowball of a depraved conspiracy aimed at salvaging an image mired in helpless incompetence and corruption.

Frank Nweke said on CNN: ‘ We have evidence that some of these people were paid to put up a show, they were counseled on what to do…and we thought that this ran against the grain of every practice of responsible and objective news-reporting everywhere in the world.’


Frank Nweke like every historical mouthpiece of oppression must do the bidding of a repressive establishment to survive. I have since consoled myself to the fact that every evil in this world has apologists. I ran into a small book in a library detailing the involvement of banks in financing Apartheid South Africa against the majority black Africans who paid with their blood and time and the general lopsidedness of the system. There would always be people who profit from evil, who would do everything within their reach to stymie every breath of protest or liberty. It could also be an anticipatory desire of jumping on to the wagon of filthy gain.

The Niger Delta is too valuable a region to be rebuffed with useless words. Jeff’s exposition adds to a growing mountain of information on the Niger Delta and should be taken for its brutality.On many occasions I have been cautioned from publishing articles by advice. The quest to achieve ‘objectivity’ shouldn’t deflect pressing realities. I like writers who are too brutal to a fault, who would stick out their neck in the line of fire.


The effect of every government would always be felt by the citizenry, whether negatively or positively. After eight years of presiding over the highest increase in oil-wealth, this forty-six year old West African country has experienced - the verdict of leadership returns abysmal failure at all levels. People should begin thinking of developing their own land and quit expecting easy oil remittances. A thorough federal arrangement of resource control should be put in place.

Asked if he would go back to the Niger Delta region by Becky Anderson, the news broadcaster, Jeff Kionage, CNN correspondent said: ‘In a minute and I wouldn’t change a thing. The fact that we did expose those facts.The fact that we ran into these hostages, twenty-four philipino hostages that had been held for the better part of a month…I feared for those men when I saw them and all those masked men dancing around them…you just don’t know what is going to happen next. The good thing is this story ended well and they were released unharmed.’