Between Tinubu’s birthday and the lynching of Northerners in Uromi, By Yushau A. Shuaib

Regardless of the horror captured on video, most nationwide newspapers downplayed the incident. Shockingly, the atrocity was eclipsed by frivolous issues that obtained extra distinguished protection. On Saturday, 29 March — the day after the lynching — I visited the PRNigeria Centre in Abuja to evaluation the main nationwide dailies. To my dismay, entrance pages have been dominated by paid advertorials celebrating President Tinubu’s 73rd birthday. These shiny tributes…fully overshadowed the tragedy in Uromi.

At school, we’re taught that the media — typically described because the Fourth Property — exists to teach, inform, and function a watchdog for society. But, behind this noble excellent lies a troubling actuality: media narratives are ceaselessly formed by the pursuits of their proprietors, patrons, and editors. Even on deeply delicate nationwide points, editorial course will be swayed by business achieve, political allegiance, or ethnic loyalties.

The continued Russia-Ukraine warfare, as I mentioned in a current article, starkly illustrates the hypocrisy and bias in international media protection. Western shops routinely suppress narratives sympathetic to President Vladimir Putin, simply as some Japanese media demonise President Volodymyr Zelensky. At the moment, journalistic ethics are too typically sacrificed for partisan pursuits. The once-vaunted integrity of world journalism is steadily eroding, compromised by ideological alignments and the affect of sponsors.

Sadly, the Nigerian media isn’t any exception. Possession and editorial management more and more dictate which tales are amplified and muted — notably on points involving ethnoreligious tensions and nationwide safety.

I’ve at all times discovered it difficult to observe graphic footage of human brutality. The lynching of Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a Christian pupil accused of blasphemy in Sokoto in Might 2022, stays etched in my reminiscence. Her horrific killing obtained widespread media protection, with headlines invoking faith and regional identification —Islam, the North, and Christianity. In sharp distinction, that very same month, Harira Jibril, a pregnant Muslim girl, and her 4 kids, have been murdered in Anambra, allegedly by IPOB militants. This atrocity obtained scant media consideration and, when reported, conspicuously lacked references to her religion or origin. The disparity reveals deep-rooted biases in our media’s remedy of ethnoreligious violence.

A newer and equally distressing case underscores this troubling development: the lynching of Northern hunters —predominantly Hausa-speaking Muslims — in Uromi, Edo State, on Thursday, 28 March. The victims, reportedly en path to Kano for Eid al-Fitr celebrations, have been travelling in a truck when native vigilantes intercepted them and allegedly discovered dane weapons on them. This sparked a mob assault. A harrowing video confirmed the lads pleading for mercy as they have been crushed and burnt alive, whereas onlookers stood by with chilling indifference.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu promptly condemned the killings, describing them as “stunning and unacceptable,” and ordered a radical investigation and prosecution. He reaffirmed that jungle justice has no place in a civilised society and that every one residents have the appropriate to maneuver freely inside the nation.

A number of elements gasoline this persistent media bias, together with possession affect, whereby proprietors and sponsors form narratives to align with their pursuits; lack of range, as many newsrooms are dominated by personnel from a single area, resulting in skewed views; and business priorities, the place promoting income and political patronage typically outweigh the general public curiosity — as evident within the prioritisation of birthday tributes over nationwide tragedies.

Regardless of the horror captured on video, most nationwide newspapers downplayed the incident. Shockingly, the atrocity was eclipsed by frivolous issues that obtained extra distinguished protection. On Saturday, 29 March — the day after the lynching — I visited the PRNigeria Centre in Abuja to evaluation the main nationwide dailies. To my dismay, entrance pages have been dominated by paid advertorials celebrating President Tinubu’s 73rd birthday. These shiny tributes, sponsored by political allies and enterprise elites from each the North and South — together with Excessive Chief Authorities Tompolo and Senator Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar — fully overshadowed the tragedy in Uromi.

Newspapers like ThisDay, The Guardian, Vanguard, Saturday Solar, Saturday Telegraph, Management Weekend, and even Blueprint Weekend both buried the story deep inside their pages or ignored it totally. Their entrance pages targeted on far much less pressing issues: the demise of Humphrey Nwosu, political wrangling in Rivers State, forest reserve points, and ladies in management.

Solely 4 publications — Saturday PUNCH, Saturday Tribune, The Nation, and Weekend Belief — gave the incident the seeming prominence it deserved, with headlines reminiscent of: “FG Orders Manhunt as Outrage Trails 16 Edo Travellers’ Lynching,” “Tinubu Orders Manhunt for Killers of Hunters in Edo,” “Edo Killing: Police Arrest 24 as President Orders Manhunt,” and “How 16 Hunters Had been Mobbed, Killed in Uromi.”

But, even these reviews by the 4 newspapers omitted a essential element: the victims have been Northern Muslims. If the roles had been reversed — with Southern Christians lynched within the North — there may be little doubt that ethnic and spiritual profiling would have been amplified, producing widespread public outrage.

A number of elements gasoline this persistent media bias, together with possession affect, whereby proprietors and sponsors form narratives to align with their pursuits; lack of range, as many newsrooms are dominated by personnel from a single area, resulting in skewed views; and business priorities, the place promoting income and political patronage typically outweigh the general public curiosity — as evident within the prioritisation of birthday tributes over nationwide tragedies.

Such editorial selections erode public belief within the media and deepen societal divisions. The press ought to function a bridge between Nigeria’s numerous communities, not a wedge.

As I posted on Fb, the homicide of Northerners in Edo shouldn’t be solely horrifying — it’s a nationwide tragedy. As we not too long ago noticed each the holy month of Ramadan and Lent, allow us to pray for peace and justice. However past prayers, we should act — collectively and carefully — to stop future ethnoreligious violence and forestall retaliatory cycles. Let knowledge prevail.

Additionally it is a public actuality that Northern voices have gotten more and more marginalised within the mainstream media. Southern pursuits dominate most print, digital, and on-line platforms. Northern elites, for his or her half, have failed to speculate meaningfully in media ventures, typically underestimating the strategic significance of the media in shaping public opinion and selling regional illustration.

This current episode underscores how media framing can form nationwide consciousness. When tragedies are filtered by biased lenses, they reinforce harmful stereotypes and widen Nigeria’s fragile fault strains.

The Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), and the Guild of Company On-line Publishers (GOCOP) should urgently handle these imbalances. Proactive measures — together with extra inclusive hiring, stricter editorial pointers, and better accountability — are important. A extra balanced media is not only fascinating; it’s vital for nationwide cohesion.

By acknowledging the present shortcomings and advocating for moral, delicate journalism, we will start to foster mutual understanding and mirror the true range of our nation.

As I posted on Fb, the homicide of Northerners in Edo shouldn’t be solely horrifying — it’s a nationwide tragedy. As we not too long ago noticed each the holy month of Ramadan and Lent, allow us to pray for peace and justice. However past prayers, we should act — collectively and carefully — to stop future ethnoreligious violence and forestall retaliatory cycles. Let knowledge prevail.

Yushau A. Shuaib is the writer of Award-Successful Disaster Communication Methods. www.YAShuaib.com, yashuaib@yashuaib.com