When DHQ, media partner on national security

As part of efforts to deepen the relationship with the media, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) recently organised a 1-day capacity-building workshop for Defence Correspondents. BENJAMIN SAMSON was there.

 There is no doubt that the military and the media play significant roles in nation building. While the military is empowered by the constitution to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation among others, the media has a constitutional role of holding the government and its agencies which includes the military accountable. This has more often than not led to conflict between the military and the media.

Also, beyond defending the nation’s sovereignty, Nigerian military personnel can be found on active deployment in no fewer than 30 states of the federation, tackling internal security threats that ordinarily should have been left to the police and paramilitary agencies to contain. This has brought the military activities to the limelight leading to frequent clashes between the military and the media.

Capacity building

However, in a bid to smoothen the relationship between the military and the media, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, organised a 1-Day Capacity-Building Workshop for Defence Correspondents with the themed, “The Role of Defence Correspondents in Enhancing National Security: Imperatives of Conflict Sensitive Communication,” to broaden the knowledge of Defence Correspondents in understanding nitty-gritty of conflict sensitive communication towards conflict resolutions.

Irabor’s plea

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor in his remark, urged journalists to use their media platforms and reportage to galvanize citizen’s support in the promotion of national unity and peaceful coexistence.

Gen. Irabor who was represented by the Chief of Defence Administration, Rear Admiral Abdul Adamu charged journalists covering defence beats on the need to align themselves with media campaign strategies of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) tailored at winning hearts and minds of the populace in the operational theatres.

The Defence Chief described conflict sensitive information management as a critical element in national development. He noted that the manner in which conflict sensitive information is being processed and disseminated to the public could positively or negatively affect national security.

He further explained that the capacity building training will facilitate needed discourse towards identifying viable media approaches and collaboration which would support kinetic efforts of the AFN in combating present and emerging threats.

He assured the media that DHQ would continue to partner with them in order to build a peaceful, harmonious and prosperous nation.

DDDI

On his part, the Deputy Director Defence Information (DDDI), Air Commodore Wap Maigida in his remark, said the complex nature of asymmetric warfare fought by the Nigerian military involves interplay of factors and actors which the media is inclusive.

 The DDDI urged the media to carry out coherent activities with the military in order to achieve more feats in the theatres of operation.

 According to Air Cdre Maigida, unpatriotic and negative reportage by the media over the years, have continue to distort military operations against insurgency, terrorism and more recently banditry.

Mutual partners and patriots

In his presentation, one of the resource persons, Jibrin Baba Ndace of Blueprint Newspapers, discussed the relationship between the military and the media globally.

He argued that while the military and the media carry out dominant roles in national development, it is in the course of the military carrying out its professional responsibilities and the media playing its professional roles that friction usually occurs.

He established the fact that the frosty relationship between the military and the media is not peculiar to Nigeria. He said  research indicates that even in advanced democracies such as United States and the United Kingdom, there have been what experts call “vicious circle in which each side accuses the other of unfair practices….(where) journalists distrust military officials, while the military view the press as subversive and unpatriotic.”

He said despite these challenging relationships, the military and the media have always worked together.

He also discussed the concept of embedded defence correspondents and how 2003 Operation Iraq Freedom redefined the concept of war reporting where the US Military embedded 775 journalists with the Allied Forces from the beginning of the operation. He shared his experience as an embedded defence correspondent with troops in the Northeast at the instance of then Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen TY Buratai.

He buttressed his presentation with views of military historians, defence and security experts that while there is clear difference between the mission and goal of the military and the press particularly centering around issues of access to operational sector which makes historical tensions between the two inevitable and poses a huge challenge for defence correspondents, their aspirations of professionalism makes cooperation a reasonable possibility.

Therefore, both the military and the media must realize that “we are in it together” as mutual partners and patriots.

Marriage made in heaven

Speaking further, he said the military will always have areas of disagreement but both parties must find a way to work together in the interest of the nation.  

“Despite the challenges that the military have with the media, the military cannot do without the media. Whether the military and media like it or not they can’t do without one another because this is a marriage made in heaven. There is nothing either side can do about it. The military cannot do without the media and the media cannot do without the military.

“My take on the relationship between the military and the media as someone who follows the game of polo is that every polo pony is first a horse. But not all horses are Polo ponies.  So every defence correspondent is first of all a journalist but not all journalists are defence correspondents. We are special breeds, therefore we must recognize the fact that we occupy a very special position.

“The military needs to rethink its relationship with the media. How it relates with the media. How it engages with the media. The military cannot afford to fight with the media. I work with Blueprint Newspapers, the Blueprint is not established by the ministry of Defence nor Defence Headquarters (DHQ). Don’t take any ‘negative’ story about the military that I do personally. Every media house has editorial philosophy and independence. Is not every story that will be palatable to the military and you don’t perpetually get angry over a negative story from a journalist forever. You get angry and get over it.”

He concluded his presentation by asking whether journalists with military personnel are allies, adversaries or enemies.

“I dare say that they are adversaries but not enemies. So I advised military spokesmen not to make their adversaries their enemies because these disagreements will continue. The media will always want more information while the military has the responsibility to keep certain information secret.”   

National interest

Meanwhile, the convener of United Advocacy Group (UAG) Ifeanyi Aigbedion has appealed to journalists to prioritise Nigeria’s national interest in their reporting.

Aigbedion who made the appeal in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, said security is everybody’s business and without security nothing can be achieved.

He, therefore, enjoined journalists to always cooperate with security agencies, to protect the national interest in their reporting and avoid giving undue publicity to criminal elements.

The statement reads: “I call on journalists to refrain from reportage that could jeopardize our corporate existence as a nation and hamper the peace we have been enjoying. National interest built on corporate existence needs to bind our patriotic engagement in advancing the interest of the nation.

“National interest is more important than any other interests, including public interest; because when you protect national interest, public interest will automatically be covered.

 “The media is a veritable instrument to promote the public good. In many instances, some sections of the media had exploited our fault lines of ethnicity and religion to undermine Nigeria’s democracy and even threaten national security.

“Knowing too well that no investor would sink scarce resources in an environment marked by violence and general insecurity, the media has the responsibility to exercise restraint in promoting provocative reportage.”