A writer and columnist Jimanze Ego-Alowes (through his book) recently drew my attention to something. Only two Nigerian former military heads of state (Babangida and Abacha) are described as military dictator or head of military junta in the Nigerian media, especially in the Lagos/Ibadan axis. Why? Because of their role in the annulment of the June 12 1993 election. Unconsciously, I adopted these terms for these two men, because of my anger at their irritating role in the annulment and frustration of that election which led to the deaths of many like Kudirat Abiola, MKO Abiola etc and other nameless people. These two terms are used for soldiers who came into office by force or without elections. Surprisingly, Gowon is not given those appellations. Murtala Muhammed, Obasanjo, Buhari, Abdulsalam or Ironsi is also not given such appelations. It shows how the media can subtly set an agenda and the people will unconsciously adopt it without questioning it or even being conscious of it. Having realised this, I have taken a decision to either call all our past military heads of state by these two terms or simply call them military heads of state. After all, it is said that what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. IBB and Abacha, please forgive me for singling you out for such terms in the past.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 06:07:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015