It is no longer news that the Malabu oil deal has preached several sermons
over the years. Most recent is that the AGF, Malami, wrote Buhari, asking trial
of Adoke, Diezani, others stopped.
But that is not my major concern now. What bothers me right
now is the serial inconsistency that has beclouded the entire scenario. The Malabu oil transaction started in 1998 when
the military administration of Sani Abacha came up with the policy of
encouraging indigenous participation in the upstream sector of the oil and gas
industry. As years rolled by, names keep been mentioned and disappearing from
the news.
For example, some of the key persons involved in the
deal are Goodluck Jonathan, Sani
Abacha (who was Head of State from 1993 to 1998), Dan Etete (his minister of petroleum resources), Mohammed Abacha (son of the former Head of
State), Hassan Hindu (wife of Hassan Adamu, the
Wakili Adamawa and one time Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States), Olusegun Obasanjo, Shell, Eni, Mohammed Adoke (Minister of Justice under
Jonathan), and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
The
senior officials, who were frequently mentioned, included a former Minister of
Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, and a former Minister of
Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Bello-Adoke.
But of utmost importance is how some names keep going and
coming in the news. And that makes me query the consistency and integrity of
the media, especially the print media. The question, therefore, is how do these
names keep coming in and going out at random? There are papers that mentioned some
names at some points and then they are no longer in the mention at other
points.
The job of the media is to be as transparent as
possible with stories, especially those that concern the entire nation. To
trivialize stories such as the Malabu Oil Deal by writing anything one wishes
to fill more blank pages is grave injustice to the good Nigerians who deserve
to be told every bit of the truth. Some media houses, both local and
international, saw this as an opportunity to make headlines, and most of them
succeeded in posting unverified stories. Feeding the public with unverified stories
is nothing but information injustice. If the media cannot be reliable in
crucial moments as this to help keep the public informed, then we don’t need
them at all.
This scenario, if
anything, raises some suspicions as to the credibility of all the stories that
have been told about this whole episode. If reporters can mention anyone they
deem fit at any given time in any story they decide write about, then no one is
safe, as they can pick you as their next target anytime they want.
One can readily say that
most of the media houses went out against selected figures in order to get
their revenge on them for whatever reason that might be. It would be a golden
opportunity to drag anyone in the mud when an opportunity like the Malabu Oil
Deal emerges, especially if anything links them to anyone or anything around
that case.
We are in a great dilemma
of media onslaught. If the high and mighty in the society are not immune to the
onslaught of the media, then what is the hope of the common man on the street?
The Malabu Oil Deal has exposed the level of inconsistency in the nation’s
media. We now know that there are a lot of unfounded, untrue and inconsistent
stories and reports out there in the media.
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