A former chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Professor Chidi Odinkalu, has said that the unending crises and conflicts being witnessed in the country are being sponsored and promoted by those at the corridors of power and non-state actors who are raking in billions of naira in the process.
Nigeria in the last 15 years has been challenged by Boko Haram insurgency, banditry, ritual killings, agitations from Niger Delta militants and kidnapping for ransom.
Odinkalu, a human rights activist and lawyer, stated this at a two-day training on “Conflict-Sensitive Reporting for Journalists” which was held in Abuja on 5th and 6th July, 2023 organised by Global Rights Nigeria in collaboration with the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).
According to Odinkalu, the security situation in Nigeria has become a conduit pipe to siphon money and a steady booming trade for some groups and set of people who would not want the security situations in Nigeria to stop or end anytime soon.
He said military personnel, military contractors, the political class, humanitarian and aid workers, caregivers groups, others and non-state actors are the greatest beneficiaries of conflicts in the country.
“A lot of factors are responsible for the unending crises and conflicts we have experienced in Nigeria. State and non-state actors are making a lot of money from these crises. You would observe before the last general elections, killings in the country go down and crashed but after the elections, it has started again.
“Military personnel, military contractors, the political class, humanitarian and aid workers, caregivers groups, others and non-state actors are the greatest beneficiaries of conflicts in the country and will go to any length to escalate it in order to continue to line their pockets at the expense of innocent Nigerians. Have you not seen how military personnel are fighting to be posted to crisis areas because they know what it means?. Government agencies are also involved,” he said.
The resource persons at the training, Messrs Musikilu Mojeed and Dayo Aiyetan, the editor-in-chief of Premium Times and the Executive Director, International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICRI) respectively, tutored the participants on what an investigative journalist needs to succeed in his assignments.
Mojeed, who spoke on the topic ‘Tapping Sources for Investigating Conflicts and Atrocities’, said an investigative journalist must carry out proper research and rely on good sources of information to make his job easier.
“We must not take sides, must be objective and factual in our reports. We have the responsibility as journalists to engage in sensitive reporting.”
For Aiyetan, a journalist should engage in evidence-based reporting, must be multi-sourced and ensure that his report is original. He added that a journalist with good research skills, strong work ethics and passion will be a success in his profession. Aiyetan spoke on ‘Introduction to Investigative Journalism’. 29 journalists across the country attended the training.
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