Date Published: 09/10/09
Babs Ajayi's Barbs as Threats to On-line Journalism Practice
By Mohammed Ali Jnr
The advent of the internet has no doubt advanced the frontiers of knowledge by giving the people instant access to a wide variety of issues covering all range of human experiences. Access to information will surely help the people cultivate the habit of informed analyses of issues, free from prejudice.
However, there is cause for concern when some writers turn their internet into a platform for ventilating their life frustrations and blaming others for their own failures of life. Worse still, the use of the internet to pour personal vitriol and making unsubstantiated allegations against others does not positively advance the course of knowledge.
In particular, one couldn’t resist the temptation to respond to a feature article by one Babs Ajayi on your website published on Friday 23 rd February 2007. The article, entitled “Atiku: A Charlatan’s lecture at Chatham House,” was the most preposterous example of how any writer can abuse the privilege of the internet to vent his or her personal frustrations on others.
Mistaking a privilege for merit, Mr. Babs Ajayi so childishly convinced himself that it was the best article ever written against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and was urging his readers to announce his “potential Pulitzer award – winning” article to their friends!
The organizers of Chatham House Lecture are not stupid for nominating Atiku to deliver a lecture on “The challenges for Nigeria after the Elections.” The outcome of the 2007 elections continues to dominate international interest and even the American Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said as much during her recent official visit to Nigeria .
No one can deny the fact that Atiku Abubakar has been an active player in Nigerian politics and his experiences over the years make his opinions a subject of interest to the organizers of the Chatham House Lecture in London . Even if you don’t agree with the former Vice President, you cannot deny him the right to share his thoughts about political, social and economic issues affecting his country.
The organizers of the lecture are democrats that allow an inter-play of all shades of opinions contrary to the parochial and prejudice-infected mind of Babs Ajayi who was determined to pull down Atiku Abubakar out of sheer personal hatred. Before Atiku Abubakar, former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has occasionally been a guest of public forums in the U.K. to address political, economic and social issues affecting the African continent and Nigeria .
Did the organizers ever tell Obasanjo that he must be a professor before he could qualify to speak on public issues as a former President? Did they ever deny him the chance to talk because he was once a military dictator?
According to Babs Ajayi, however, Atiku Abubakar is not intellectually equipped to deliver a lecture at the Chatham House in London . It is like saying that any political leaders in Nigeria, including the President, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House and others who do not possess doctorates or professorship titles don’t deserve to deliver lectures to share their thoughts with others. Even a kindergarten child would die with laughter when he brings Ajayi’s logic under critical inquiry.
Ajayi’s double standard and hypocrisy have exposed his exaggerated affectations of his intellectualism. Is making careless allegations without facts a hallmark of intellectualism? While he never challenged the United Nations and other International Forums for inviting former President, Obasanjo to deliver lectures, he was busy abusing Atiku for daring to honour the invitation of the Chatham House to share his opinions.
Curiously, Ajayi painted Obasanjo in brilliant colours and justified all his trumped up allegations against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Wait a minute, before I forget! Does the Nigerian Constitution or any Constitution elsewhere around the world say that a political office holder must possess a doctorate or professorship title before he or she would qualify for election or for the privilege of sharing his thoughts with others after leaving office?
The ancient Greek Philosopher, Aristotle said anger and personal abuse are the weakest link to arguments. And intellectual dwarfs like Ajayi usually fall into this trap in their frenzy to play to the gallery. For example, he accused Atiku Abubakar of being “corrupt, selfish and greedy” and his only evidence was based on the allegations Obasanjo made against his former Deputy. Critical, clinical and dispassionate reasoning is one of the signs of intellectual qualities.
But Ajayi portrayed himself as a gullible consumer of propaganda rubbish. Throughout the PTDF controversy, Obasanjo never presented evidence of how Atiku stole money from the agency. However, it was revealed how Obasanjo used PTDF funds to benefit his friends. Every discerning Nigerian knew that the PTDF controversy was Obasanjo’s creation to get back at Atiku for daring to oppose the third term agenda. Ajayi foolishly assumes that Obasanjo and his loyalists are angels. Didn’t the recent revelations by the Senate into the activities of former FCT Minister, Nasir El- Rufa’i, open his eyes to the fact that Obasanjo’s pursuit of “corrupt” opponents was a moral charade? Did he forget the share purchase scandal by Obasanjo in Transcorp? Did he forget the Presidential library project for which state governors had to cough out people’s money to donate to the vanity project?
How does Ajayi explain the involvement of Senator Iyabo Obasanjo – Bello and her brother Gbenga in corruption? Is their father a Saint? How did Obasanjo transform from a near bankruptcy status in 1999 to an overnight billionaire eight years after leaving office? Why was he afraid to follow President Yar’Adua’s example to declare his assets in public, even if the constitution does not require him to do so? Doesn’t Ajayi think Obasanjo should live by the same standards he set for others? Can he today explain the sources of his sudden wealth? Where was Ajayi when EFCC under Nuhu Ribadu raided Bank PHB in search of Atiku’s “stolen” billions but didn’t tell Nigerians their findings? Why didn’t EFCC also raid banks where Obasanjo’s Ota farm billions are kept?
Is Atiku selfish as alleged by Ajayi? Does he know about Atiku’s philanthropic activities at all? Whether Ajayi likes it or not, he can not deny Atiku’s business acumen, hard work and compassion. He is one of the few politicians that don’t have a moment’s hesitation before they assist those in distress in hospitals and elsewhere. A Journalist, the late Richard Amayo, almost went blind because of diabetic condition but Atiku had to settle his bills at the National Hospital Abuja. Why did the journalists by-pass former President Obasanjo and instead went to Atiku to save their colleague? Doesn’t that incident tell Ajayi so much about Atiku’s compassion? The late Amayo, was successfully treated and discharged and lived a normal life for several months before he had a relapse, eventually causing his death. He was telling anyone who cared to listen, that Atiku saved his life and prevented him from going blind.
Again, does Ajayi know the American University of Nigeria (AUN) located in Yola, Adamawa State ? It is an educational foundation set up by Atiku Abubakar to give children of the under-privileged the opportunity for qualitative education. Sponsorship is won by sheer academic excellence. Outstanding students, regardless of their religion, tribe, race, nationality or ethnic group, are qualified for admission. Let Ajayi visit the University and then he will be disarmed and tossed out of his arm chair. Would a selfish man use his resources to establish a foundation to empower the children of the poor?
What we don’t understand, we tend to hate. Ajayi is a victim of prejudice and it is a great disservice for a writer on the internet to let his personal hatred for someone to affect the quality of his discourse. Atiku didn’t commit any crime for lamenting the political situation in Nigeria in his lecture. In fact, as far as most Nigerians are concerned, he was preaching to the converted. Likewise, you may not like Hillary Clinton’s opinions on the Nigerian situation. But must you shoot down the messenger because you don’t like the message?
Ajayi’s treatise on Atiku which he foolishly celebrates lacks intellectual integrity and honesty. Making wild allegations without concrete proofs is the hallmark of people with little minds. The celebrated British Playwright, Nicholas Rowe, said “fault-finding is the easiest task of knowledge.” And the American educationist, Dr. Erwin Kirk, added his weight by saying that “half-truths, because of their plausibility, are frequently more-dangerous than downright falsehoods.” However, hard he tries, Ajayi cannot dismiss Atiku out of reckoning in Nigerian Politics and the Chatham House knew why they extended the privilege of inviting Atiku. Ajayi, who did not even attend the lecture, by his own admission, has arrogantly put words into the mouths of those who did. He could have done a better analysis than the porous and shallow one he turned out. The worst charlatans are writers like Babs Ajayi who lack good taste. They feed on their prejudice, which itself is an enemy of objectivity and critical intellectual analysis. In fact, it appears Ajayi is one of those never-do-wells that run to Europe and America in quest of overnight prosperity without hard work or acumen. Unable to fit into realities of daily life, they vent their anger on successful people. Creative people look for solutions to the problems rather than looking for excuses by venting their frustrations on others.
By: Mohammed Ali Jnr
Plot 225 Golf Course Close
Ungwar Rimi Road
Kaduna.
