STATE OF THE NATION SERIES

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BANDITS & HERDERS:

Life-threatening Media Lies In
Nigeria
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By 'A Voice Crying In The Wilderness'

First published, August 2021. ©️ All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION
When Afghanistan fell to the Taliban recently, I knew that terror elements from across the
world would soon get significantly emboldened to further pursue their infamous trade. America
was terribly demystified.

Subsequently, nations and groups that looked to the US for protection were shocked and
mocked on social media and elsewhere. The time was set for everyone to think for themselves.
Bitter TRUTH?
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As this went on, one country where I knew that the Taliban victory would soon reverberate was
Nigeria. All too soon, my prognosis may just have begun to get proved as Nigeria's Number 1
military college was not only successfully attacked but top Nigerian military officers also
became victims in the hands of a class of people that otherwise respected media outfits have
consistently identified merely as 'bandits'.
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This is just one instance of the "life-threatening media lies" that this project is focused on. As
innocuous as they sometimes appear, these lies are a major fuel that has kept the fire of terror
acts burning in the country all these years - according to my observation.

Why did I think that the echoes of Afghanistan would get to Nigeria faster than most other
regions around the world? Answer: There is a level of religious extremism I observed in Nigeria
that can only be imagined in an overwhelming majority of the other regions of the world. A
Nigerian top official even celebrated the Taliban takeover openly obviously based on religious
sympathy. Ironically, huge numbers of Afghan muslims themselves dread the Taliban.

While Islam is often the culprit when people are talking about the destructive influences of
religion, I have found very subtle and yet very dangerous ways that religious extremism is
plaguing Nigeria from virtually all sides. One of these is in a certain culturally 'pious'
misrepresentation of facts that are doing serious damage such as in weakening or blocking out
interventions and reinforcing the nocturnal secrecy of the terror elements bedeviling the
country.

To be fair to Nigerians of other faith persuasions though - and throwing political correctness
out the window - it has to be admitted that Islam is at the center of the seeming war by the
religions against the society. By that token, I have found how a Nigerian-Islam-engineered
culture of secrecy is at the heart of the spread of terror, first, in the North, and then, in the rest
of the country.

The fact that the present central government in Nigeria has ticked all the boxes for being
pro-terror doesn't help matters here. In fact, one of the things I am going to be dwelling on
herein is some strong indications that Nigeria's Federal Government may be exerting financial
muscles - by means of the national treasury of course - in fueling the media dishonesty that, in
turn, fuel the security crisis across the country.

The speed at which the situation in Nigeria is deteriorating is really alarming. High-profile
terror acts are taking place in very quick succession. From 'bandits' shooting down a military
reconnaissance jet to the same 'bandits' going right into the Nigerian Defense Academy to
kidnap and kill top military think-tanks (supposedly) a few weeks down the line, the Afghan
scenario may well be playing out in the West African country sooner than anyone imagined.

There can hardly be any doubt that we are at a tipping point right now and that the times are
horrendously ominous. The question is: If Africa's most populous country (Nigeria) finally
explodes, how ready is the world to contain the humanitarian crisis that would ensue?
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Thus, I think that we currently need to work as close to the facts as we can get in order to
prevent as much trouble as possible.

So, having identified strong flashpoints of media misrepresentations that have kept Nigeria in
an interminable roll of conflict, I am out to exhaustively work out the details of my long-drawn
and keen observation of the situation as briefly expressed above. I am sharing my view as
someone in the theater of events.

I hope that my work turns out to be a valuable document in the hands of conscientious decision
makers. Although things have degenerated to unimaginable levels in Nigeria, there is no doubt
that better informed interventions would always mitigate the effects of an otherwise hopeless
situation.

The Terrorist-Journalists: A Bird's Eye View

Terrorists may kill with their guns. But journalists kill with their pens (nay, keyboards).
Terrorists may kill individuals and communities, but journalists kill generations.

As I go into detail to share my observation of the situation in Nigeria, here is a poor sampling of
how media liars (or the terrorist-journalists) have kept the terror conflagration alive so far.

1. 'Farmer-Herder Crisis'
A great majority of people beyond the shores of Nigeria still believe that years of
consistent acts of terror by the Fulani Militia are nothing but cases of 'clashes' between
crop farmers and animal herders in Nigeria. That is a result of subtle media
misrepresentations:
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There are more like this. They seem to know the situation but misrepresent it in their
word use.

For example, a Wikipedia entry entitled 'Herder-farmer Conflicts In Nigeria' details a

few attacks that occurred between 2016 and 2018 at the time of writing this.
Surprisingly, the list includes cases of attacks on worshippers in a church, wedding
guests, people sleeping in their homes at night, and other such vulnerable targets. How
then could any one of these qualify as 'herder-farmer clash'?
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If you caption a case of outright terrorism as a clash, you give the immediate impression
that it is a case of two fighting - which reduces its gravity to a profound degree. Mind
you, most people do not have the time or the expertise to analyze the content of each
report and get acquainted with the exact situation. So, these media reports leave
millions out there with the impression that we are faced with a case of isolated clashes
between armed groups. Imagine the number of interventions that these blatant lies
would have prevented!

No doubt, these foreign sources are influenced by the local Nigerian media:
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It's simply outrageous how a journalist who lives in Nigeria would report what is clearly
a case of state-sponsored terrorism as 'herder-farmer crisis'. But, that's what we have.

The truth is that, there used to be farmer-herder clashes in parts of Northern Nigeria
before 2015. But, this has since escalated into full-blown terrorism targeted at
populations across the country. In very isolated cases, there have been cases of reprisals
by local populations who are provoked by having their rights to life and livelihood
repeatedly trampled on by groups of marauding killers who have national and regional
spokespersons and who are clearly under the protection of Nigeria's Federal
Government. The terrorist media army has since capitalized on these cases of
provocation to make the situation appear as a chain of violent clashes - which it is not
absolutely.

If anyone still doubts this, my further explanation and analysis within the body of this
work will certainly make it clearer.

2. Banditry Or Terrorism?
For me, there can be no easier way to be certain that the present Nigerian Federal
Government is pro-terrorist than through its policy direction and operation. This is a
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government that is yet to agree with the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) that the Fulani
Militia - including the Miyetti Allah groups - is a terrorist movement. In fact, the Federal
Government has consistently shown itself to be working hand-in-hand with these
GTI-proscribed terrorists. Yet, the government is always quick in tracking down and
clamping down on ethnic uprisings against these well-documented acts of terror by the
President's kinsmen.

There are a ton of other indicting indicators and indices that easily betray the present
Buhari Administration in this regard. We will have enough time to talk about them. For
now however, I want to mention a major one among these media lies that seems to be a
favorite of the government of the day: Tagging terrorists as 'bandits'. It has helped to
take away a good dose of deserved negative attention from this government, making it
look far more innocent than it actually is.

In view of this, the first question we must answer is, "what is banditry?" or "who is a
bandit?"

A 'bandit' is hardly anything more than a neighborhood robber. Do we honestly think

that it's even near the right word for a group that went from town to town in state after
state killing 2,539 Nigerians in 654 attacks in 3 years? And they hardly ever stole an
atom of money or item during those attacks! So, how are they bandits?

How is that the right word for a cell that can shoot down a military plane and kidnap
military chiefs from a topmost military citadel? How can we call them bandits when they
have known associations that have identified with some of those acts of terror a number
of times?
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But, media moguls have continued to commit the gaffe. And we must continue that way
since it serves the interests of the terrorist cell the best. That's the much you can know
about the level of influence that terrorism has in the current Nigerian System.

An Open Living Book

I'm strongly of the view that mass information is the most potent weapon that would break the
stranglehold of terror in Nigeria right now. By 'mass information', I mean that people on the
smallest Nigerian streets should have the awareness of the exact state of things. That's because
we've come to a point where no one is guaranteed state protection anywhere across the
Nigerian landmass (not even in the military ivory towers).

So, self-defence of all kinds is becoming the only hope for the survival of the average Nigerian. I
dare say that the greatest weapon of self-protection is awareness. Therefore, to help in making
the information needed available to the last Nigerian, this document is free and open for
anyone to access from anywhere.

At the same time, the content will continue to get updated with new information as they come.
So, it keeps growing. Apart from keeping the information fresh and truly relevant, this
living-book style will make the content less overwhelming since the readers won't have to read a
lot per time.

But we must read because only a reading country becomes a leading country. While we now
have enough access to multimedia, there is a level of mental discipline and cultivation that only
reading up things affords.

A Call for Contributions

Sometimes, it may feel right to say that we Nigerians deserve what we get from the
political/religious class. After all, don't many people agree with Edmund Burke's assertion
placed above?
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As things fall apart in Nigeria, all we see are blames being traded. The blame game goes on
indefinitely with zero rules. Everyone seems to have the right to hold it against everyone else.
The President says the people are lazy and the people say that the President is cruel, and more.

But, none of those can solve the situation. Instead, we've got to fold our sleeves and work out
solutions to the problems ourselves. We really can if we are ready to work at it. Yes, we can.

The most important rule that has propelled traditional medicine in Africa for centuries states
that "there is always some solution to any problem that ever arises". It is also the rule that
champions the development of tech in the modern world. But, the simple rule seems mostly lost
on modern-day Africans. We all seem to have lost all hope in the face of so many problems
reproaching our dear continent.

But no! Instead, it's time to arise and stop the evil forces before they stop us and our own. We
can only do this based on a keen understanding of the situation and our role in it all. This is the
only way to throw up genuinely concerted efforts.

So, Please, Contribute To the Success of This Project!

What you have been reading is a part of a larger project aimed at digging up the deep roots of
the current insecurity situation in Nigeria. If it must succeed, therefore, it needs every help it
can get.

So, do you have truthful information that we may need to tell the world the present Nigerian
story as it is? Do you have photos and videos to validate your information? Is there any other
way you think you can help this project to succeed? Please, kindly send your good desires or
contributions to doctordes101@gmail.com.

Based on deep examination, your contribution may lead to you getting invited to join an
exclusive group discussion on the realistic options for solving the besieging security and
economic crises troubling Nigeria and Africa in general. There will be other ways to recognize
your contributions.