Not too fast, Oga Michael. Recall that my column was stopped at the Daily Trust at the prompting of the presidency. Tribune has also been under tremendous pressure from the presidency to stop my column, but the people there have refused to give in to the threats, intimidation, and blackmail of the presidency.
Conscientious reporters are often attacked, harassed or jailed; social media critics are "disappeared," fired from jobs; critical, anti-regime broadcast stations are shut down arbitrarily, etc. Read this November 10, 2019 Premium Times report titled "Under Buhari, Nigeria records worst attacks on journalists in 34 years — Report"
Snippet: "An analysis by www.pressattack.ng, published by the Coalition for Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom, shows that 352 total cases of attacks and harassments on journalists have been recorded from 1985 till date.
School of Communication & Media
The year 2018 was initially recorded by the analysis to have witnessed the highest number of attacks (58). But the group's latest release shows that 2019 has already surpassed that record with the 61 attacks so far, and is still counting.
According to the research, as at May this year, the total number of physical attacks on reporters was 189; equipment searches and seizures, 9; equipment or property damage, 17; arrests, 60; denial of access, 21; threats, 44 and 'harassments', 12.
Of these attacks, 322 were on media houses, while the remaining 30 were meted on individuals. Also, 95 per cent of journalists affected were males while the rest were females.
About 114 of such attacks were carried out by uniformed personnel (military, police, SSS, SARS, NSCDC, prison officials, EFCC etc)."
Full disclosure: I was interviewed for an expert opinion on the story.
Farooq
Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Journalism & Emerging MediaSchool of Communication & Media
Social Science Building
Room 5092 MD 2207
402 Bartow Avenue
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com
Twitter: @farooqkperogi
Author of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
On Mon, Mar 23, 2020 at 2:59 PM 'Michael Afolayan' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:
--I am 100% in agreement with Ken here, and I have said the same in the past, rating the press freedom in Nigeria higher than what entailed in many European countries and the United Kingdom, not to even mention China, Russia, the other Eastern Block or the Middle East. Come to think about it, despite the death of Dele Giwa, and even during the Abacha regime, the Nigerian press was hardly ever docile. Of course, you have to pray for them, as I do weekly for Farooq. whenever I'm reading him, wishing him well and hoping he would never accept any invitation to Abuja any time soon, regardless of the benignity of such invitation. Farooq's column is well circulated and well read in Nigeria - I know that for sure, I just came back from there! That the "Tribune" office has not been burned down and the editor has not been summoned to Ask Rock for questioning have agitated my intellectual curiosity. Even our other colleagues on. these forums, Professors Olukotun and Olaopa have not been butt-licking with the government of Nigeria in their columns either. My point: regardless of how we slice it, it is some degree of credit to the freedom of the press that we enjoy in Nigeria. Would it be something to celebrate? No, we are to there yet; but let us face it, it's not bad at all.Thanks, Ken; your observation is valid!Michael O. AfoláyanOn Monday, March 23, 2020, 1:08:53 PM CDT, Harrow, Kenneth <harrow@msu.edu> wrote:say what you will, a country that permits free press to exist is apt to be more just in the long run since govt abuses have a chance of being reported on and seenby the people.]farooq wrote of buhari, below, "After so much pressure, which my widely shared Saturday Tribune back-page column added to, the Aso Rock cabal finally forced Buhari, a dementia-plagued, insentient old geezer who masquerades as "president," to address the nation today on the new Coronavirus."
if he had written the equivalent of the presidents in rwanda, burundi, or the drc--cases about which i know--he'd be dead or in prison, and the president would continue to do as he pleases with no public check on his actions.
i have always been impressed by the nigeria press, ever since living in cameroon in 1977-79 where there was no free press whatsoever. when i went over to nigeria and saw the guardian and other papers, i was astounded.
you all should know about one troubling recent case in burundi: the iwacu 4. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/02/04/burundi-journalists-convicted-flawed-trial
if you want tohelp, write a letter of protest to the burundian authorities. here is the url for the amnesty action: https://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent-actions/urgent-action-update-journalists-sentenced-to-imprisonment-burundi-ua-149-19/ken
kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
517 803-8839
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Farooq A. Kperogi <farooqkperogi@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2020 12:26 PM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Buhari's "Kovik One Nine" Pronunciational Mishap Proves My Saturday Column--Sunday, March 22, 2020
Buhari's "Kovik One Nine" Pronunciational Mishap Proves My Saturday Column
By Farooq A. Kperogi
Twitter:@farooqkperogi
After so much pressure, which my widely shared Saturday Tribune back-page column added to, the Aso Rock cabal finally forced Buhari, a dementia-plagued, insentient old geezer who masquerades as "president," to address the nation today on the new Coronavirus.
Although his speech was pre-recorded, (which means it wasn't live), his handlers couldn't get him to retake the portion where he mispronounced COVID-19 as "Kovik one nine"! And the video clip of the mortifying pronunciational disaster was shared on social media by Buhari's paid social media aide by the name of Bashir Ahmad.
Incompetence is supposed to be the strong suit of the Buhari regime, but they've shown themselves to be incredibly incompetent at even being incompetent!
More crucially, though, the video is powerful, irrefutable evidentiary proof of my assertions (which I repeated in my Saturday Tribune column) that Buhari is too wracked by the ravages of dementia to even know what's happening around him, much less in the world.
There's no sentient, living being on this earth today— and certainly no world leader—who doesn't know that there's a global pandemic tipping over the world that is called the new coronavirus or COVID-19. Watch the video below:
Apparently, his speech writer avoided "coronavirus" because Buhari's dementia-inspired speech impediment would make him slur the word. COVID-19 is easier to say, yet Buhari bungled it. He obviously had never heard it said anywhere even when it's the most commonly heard word on earth now.
That is all the evidence you need to know that Buhari is practically in the land of the living dead. As I said in my Saturday column, Nigeria is currently presidentless.
Postscript:
Buhari's social media aide, Bashir Ahmad, took down the video clip of Buhari's 27-second broadcast a few hours after this post, which went viral on social media. But the video has already been downloaded and shared by millions of people. As usual, Buhari's handlers chose to close the stable door after the horse has bolted!
Related Articles:
Coronavirus: Why Buhari Won't Address Nigerians
Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorJournalism & Emerging Media
School of Communication & MediaSocial Science BuildingRoom 5092 MD 2207402 Bartow Avenue
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.comTwitter: @farooqkperogiAuthor of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
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