By Jude Atupulazi
In these days of hi-tech, anyone who owns a phone or a computer laptop and can scribble something and post it answers a journalist. It doesn’t matter whether they know their onions or not; as long as they have ”communicated”. These days, no group of people do this better than the ones we have come to call E-Rats. It is a rather derogatory term for political appointees who are charged by their bosses to regurgitate whatever they are told and publish same, not minding their implications.
They also overreach themselves to vilify their masters’ political enemies. These hatchet writers have no scruples, they have no idea of the ethics of journalism. All they care for are their pockets which are lined by their bosses on the basis of how much damage they have done to the opposition.
For real journalists, this is a rather painful development. It is even worse, when it is known that many politicians see these hatchet writers as the quintessential journalists. In fact, some of us cannot forget the day a Guber Aspirant told us that his idea of the perfect journalist was a notorious hatchet writer whose stock in trade was, and still is, to hurl invective at perceived enemies of his boss. Because he does the bidding of his boss, he has made a lot of money and occupies a top place in government.
But the major fault of these E-Rats is their penchant to be mischievous or display crass ignorance. When you read them you usually notice that anything their bosses do becomes ”The first time in the history of the state”, or ”The first of its kind”. Sometimes, they may be right, but most times, they are wrong.
They commit this error sometimes out of laziness to investigate before writing. And this stems from the fact that many of them never resided in the state before taking up appointments. Thus, any snake they see becomes the snake that made Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.
At other times, they are driven by mischief, to dis-inform because they want to ridicule opponents of their bosses. I once witnessed this when a regime painted a road built by its predecessor and the E-Rats proclaimed that it was started and completed by their boss. It was even made worse when the commissioner echoed their proclamations.
My attempts to remind the commissioner that it was a road in my town which history I knew fell on deaf ears. He even suggested to me that I was a ”nattered” man; that is, someone who just returned home after years outside and thus not conversant with developments on the home front. This case was that of a deliberate mischief. And I was stupefied by the audacity of their mischief.
I was compelled to write this piece because of a post I saw on somebody’s Facebook page in which he was giving the impression that the efforts of the previous governors of Anambra State were insignificant and that virtually everything happening now is the first of their kind. Of course, he was attacked by his followers.
Indeed, this isn’t the first time I’ll be coming across such impression being created and I am now constrained to ask: if the previous governors did not do their bit, would the current governor’s priority be building an amusement park and his house? (New Governor’s Lodge/House).
In fact, many would have thought there was something wrong with the current governor if the state had no functional hospitals, schools, and other critical aspects of development and he chose to start building what opponents have chosen to derogatorily call ”Janglover”, (the Solution FunCity). Surely, that was never going to be the priority of any sane person.
But because previous governors had laid solid foundations, the current one can now breathe easier and embark on projects that will only be considered consolidations on past gains. In the same vein, would he have embarked on spending billions on a new Governor’s House/Lodge if there was nothing in other areas? At least, the old Governor’s House/Lodge was serving previous governors, well.
I’m not aware the roofs were leaking or anything of the sort. There is no way the billions pumped into the new facilities would have taken place if there were many other areas in critical conditions.
He would not also have chosen to change the gate of the state’s teaching hospital in Amaku if nothing was functioning at the hospital, especially when the old gate was serving the hospital well. Focusing on the gate when nothing was inside would have had people shouting at him and it would have amounted to what we call a whited sepulcher.
Thus, it is expected of any new governor to consolidate on previous gains; almost like starting where their predecessor stopped. That is why they say government is a continuum.
As Soludo has now finished the New Government House/Lodge, started before him; as he has now built an amusement park; as he has now started building new roads and reconstructing dilapidating ones, it is expected that whoever comes after him will not spend more time doing same things. They person may concentrate on building roads in major streets of Awka, Onitsha, Nnewi and Ekwulobia and that is what democracy dividends are all about.
But E-Rats will not let anyone rest. They will be vilifying past governors as failures, while trumpeting the achievements of the current one as though no one provided the base he is standing on. It is for anyone who is in charge as the governor at any given time to therefore rein in his attack dogs in order for the polity not to be overheated.
There should be good rapport among present and past governors, regardless of party, as long as they believe that the state is supreme. Everything should not be politicised as this may prevent others from contributing their quotas to the development of the state.
E-Rats should take it easy. They should not mislead the public and should always get their facts right. Governance is much like a relay race in which one runner hands over the baton to the next for the ultimate goal to be achieved.
No one rises by belittling or pulling down others. The mark of statesmanship is giving every deserving person their due, while accepting mistakes where and when they are made. Enough of all this bickering and back biting by charlatans posing as media experts and enough of the pretence by governors that they are not aware of what their attack dogs are doing. There are still people who have been around for long and who know the terrain even more than the governors and their trumpeters.
I would really like a situation where a serving governor gathers past ones and gets them to be working as ambassadors of their state, each bringing their wealth of experience for the betterment of the state; but perhaps I’m being over expectant.
As the whistle blows
This Sunday will mark the kick-off of political party campaigns in Anambra as the various candidates jostle to enter the Government House. The embargo on political campaigns was lifted last Wednesday. We will now begin to see fireworks but then we hope that they will not be such that will engulf the state in flames.
I expect the various candidates to run issues-based campaigns; no punches, no tantrums, no blackmailing. Happily, Anambra has not been associated with violent campaigns. Opponents will bark but will not bite; quite unlike what obtains in some states where lives are lost within such a period. This is where I doff my hat for Anambra politicians.
The candidates should know that life continues after the election and that today’s enemies can be tomorrow’s friends. It has happened before and will keep happening. Only one person will win and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
Let the party begin.
Beware, the rains are here.
I recently saw a video of a man nearly drowned by surging floods in Onitsha, only to be saved in the nick of time by people around there in a shop. The man probably misjudged his steps and fell into a gutter which had been covered by the floods. It was indeed a narrow escape for him.
This is normally what is witnessed during the rainy season. Lives are lost yearly through this. You could think that slab is still there and place a foot on where you believe it is, only to realize with shock that the floods have carried it and gone you are. This is why everyone should be very careful in this period. Park your vehicles when it is raining heavily and seek shelter when you are walking, until the rain subsides. No need hurrying to one’s death. Only the living can continue on a journey.
Ogwukwa ka oram n’onu n’izua.
