STILL ON THE CONTROVERSIAL RADIO STATION FOR FULFULDE BROADCAST.

By Martins Dickson

As a journalist and broadcaster, I was a little bit restrained from talking on the unpopular idea to establish a radio station solely for some kind of outreach to the Fulani across Nigeria by the Federal Government, as a way of ending the Farmers/Herders clashes.

But alas I could no longer keep mute.

Please indulge me because I want to share my thoughts and I will be objective.

1. First, I recall severally how even the federal Government itself said those attacking farming communities are not Nigerians that they are foreigners. Ok agreed, if they are foreigners then what the FG needed to do is to create and influence effective programming on international media outlets like the BBC HAUSA, RADIO FRANCE, DUETCHEWELLE, RADIO DANDALKURA, VOICE OF AMERICA, VOICE OF NIGERIA ETC. After all the BBC has established a whole channel dedicated to IGBO language and PIDGIN English. Professionally I advice that it will be more effective than the so-called station dedicated to transmission in Fulfulde which will cause further agitation for inclusion.

2. I thought peace processes usually involves all parties involved in the dispute? In this case Herders who are mostly Fulanis and Farmers who belong to a wide range of different languages.
If you establish a radio station solely to reach out to the Fulanis how do you reach out to other tribes who are involved in the conflict? I should expect a radio station established to transmit only in Mbula language, one of the major languages spoken in some communities of Demsa LGA of Adamawa state affected by the Farmers/Herders conflict.
Is the Federal Government going to establish (and simultaneously too) radio stations to reach out to more than 50 languages affected in the conflict across not less than 10 States of the federation?

3. If you speak to the Fulanis on radio about Peace (as the Federal Government claims) how do you now speak to the farming communities? through Television? Or will it be newspapers? Or is it that the farming communities do not matter in the peace process?

4. This idea will only further divide us rather than unite us as a people, at a time when we need to be preaching unity, the Federal Government shouldn’t be seen to Favour a certain tribe in the name of preaching peace messages, if tribes located in farming communities ask for their own radio stations and you say no, won’t they feel shortchanged in their own country? We must be careful enough to know that THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO GO.

4. May I suggest to whoever is breeding this obnoxious policy that it will fail even before it starts. I believe the Federal Government do not lack experienced Journalists and broadcasters to advice it on how to effectively use the already available media outlets to curtail the rampaging crisis. If there is none, I am ready to offer this service at no cost at all and I mean, no cost at all.

5. If it is the Fulanis you want to reach out to, You can develop effective and efficient content in Fulfulde ( not ignoring Hausa language too) on both local and international radio stations to reach out to these Herders since the FG acknowledges that they always carry their radio sets about.
Programming is an aspect of broadcasting that professionals use to achieve certain set targets sometimes even negative, so please, get the hands of experienced broadcasters soiled, let them get busy and come out with effective Fulfulde content aimed at achieving peace, tolerance and respect for one another.

Let the airwaves in the whole of Nigeria blast with these messages in all languages afterall if the Fulani is informed about what to do to sustain peace, the farming communities will also need to be reached with the same or similar message.

6. Please forgive my curiosity, I believe that certain interests at the federal level only wanted to get contracts and gain some cash with this Not-Well-Thought-Out idea. Please do come up with other interesting ideas to get the cash you need this one is warped.

Martins Yanatham Dickson
A Yola based Journalist