{"id":22174,"date":"2014-01-31T11:20:56","date_gmt":"2014-01-31T10:20:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=22174"},"modified":"2014-01-31T11:20:56","modified_gmt":"2014-01-31T10:20:56","slug":"what-is-the-worth-of-sam-nda-isaiah-and-his-writings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/what-is-the-worth-of-sam-nda-isaiah-and-his-writings\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the worth of Sam Nda-Isaiah and his writings?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Matthew Adejoh<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\u201cIs anybody still reading Sam Nda-Isaiah?\u201d was originally conceived as the title of this piece, but I decided to change it to \u201cWhat is the worth of Sam Nda-Isaiah and his writings?\u201d because it occurred to me that some innocent members of the public who read any printed material that comes their way may have been devouring and digesting his gobbledygook, taking it for the gospel truth.<\/div>\n
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Whose gobbledygook?\u00a0\u00a0Of course Nda-Isaiah\u2019s!\u00a0\u00a0It is about him that I am writing.\u00a0\u00a0To be sure, Nda-isaiah is Chairman of LEADERSHIP Newspapers and one of the newspaper\u2019s back page columnists. I am also writing about Sam Nda-Isaiah, the politician and presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC).\u00a0\u00a0But what manner of presidential aspirant is he?\u00a0\u00a0Time will certainly tell.\u00a0\u00a0It is on both scores-as writer and politician-that I have decided in this piece to evaluate the\u00a0Kakaki\u00a0<\/i>Nupe.<\/div>\n
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As a writer, he has made a bad habit of making wild claims in his Monday column in the LEADERSHIP.\u00a0\u00a0Many government functionaries and influential Nigerians have been the butts of his reckless journalism.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yobe Sate Government, in February 2013, took a full page advertorial in some newspapers, in which it accused him of blackmail, to expose the shenanigans of Nda-Isaiah.<\/div>\n
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But, recently, he made an attempt to rationalise his reckless journalism practice, which the Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, pointed out in his recent letter to him.\u00a0\u00a0Nevertheless, instead\u00a0\u00a0of addressing the germane issues that the\u00a0Iyasele<\/i>\u00a0of Esanland raised, Nda-Isaiah, in his back page reply of January 27, 2014, chose to employ what, in philosophy, is called argumentum\u00a0ad hominem<\/i>, meaning \u201cargument against the man\u201d rather than the issue.<\/div>\n
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Deliberately, he decided to focus his response on attacking the high reputation of Anenih rather that addressing the issue that the elderly man raised.\u00a0\u00a0In his letter, Anenih had highlighted the provocative conclusion of Nda-Isaiah\u2019s piece titled: \u201cIs Mr President Aware That $10.8b Is Still Missing?\u201d to wit: \u201c\u2026It is quite befuddling how anyone will want Jonathan to continue as president beyond 2015, as a few jesters are currently doing.\u00a0\u00a0Anyone, no matter who that person is, who wants President Jonathan to govern Nigeria beyond 2015, is an enemy of the Nigerian State<\/b>.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The implication is that if I have sympathy for Jonathan and I want him to seek re-election, I am an enemy of the state.\u00a0\u00a0The same thing applies to Anenih, who is an unrepentant supporter of Jonathan and his second term bid.\u00a0\u00a0While I am not holding brief for Anenih, this must have been one of the farthest points Nda-Isaiah went, for the elder statesman to consider that wise counsel should be availed him, especially within the context of the $10.8 billion crude sale proceeds, which Nda-Isaiah said was missing, NOT misappropriated, in his original piece of January 13, 2014 on the issue.\u00a0\u00a0But Nda-Isaiah went out of control in his response to Anenih\u2019s letter, hurling both direct and indirect invectives and innuendos at him.<\/div>\n
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Poor Nda-Isaiah!\u00a0\u00a0He may have declined to understand that attacking the writer of a statement is a very weak strategy of diversion that prevents the reader from giving attention where it is due-to the issue under discussion.<\/div>\n
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He refused to consider his audience before embarking on that exercise. To be sure, many well-meaning Nigerians who had over and again been his victims of \u201cyellow journalism\u201d know him too well.\u00a0\u00a0Anybody who is in doubt should ask the governor of Yobe state, Ibrahim Geidam, Minister of FCT, Bala Mohammed and his predecessors in office, Senator Danjuma Goje, and those who have worked with him in LEADERSHIP.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They all have one bitter tale or the other to tell about Nda-Isaiah\u2019s quest for questionable wealth – all in the guise of public service or advocacy journalism.<\/div>\n
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His Monday column, the one in question, is hollow. It lacks verifiable evidence. All his claims in the write-up were not supported by any fact. In order to tag his innocent victim, President Goodluck Jonathan, as heading a corrupt government, he chose to manufacture unimaginable, mind-boggling amounts, which he claimed had been stolen from the nation\u2019s coffers-to give vent to his hidden intention-to incite the public against the President.<\/div>\n
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Let us even concede to him that he provided problematic evidence in the write-up and made wobbly logical connections between and among the parts of his argument, he ought to know that these are not enough to win the support of a free-thinking audience. In fact, many mass communication authorities had argued that achievement in convincing an audience is, almost, always inseparable from the writer\u2019s credibility or the audience\u2019s belief in the writer\u2019s trustworthiness.<\/div>\n
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Aristotle, the Greek philosopher who wrote a treatise on argument that had influenced his study and practice for more than 2,000 years, considered credibility-what he called ethos- the most important element in the writer\u2019s ability to persuade his audience to accept his claim.\u00a0\u00a0Aristotle named intelligence, character and goodwill as the attributes that produce credibility. In his usual feeble manner, Nda-Isaiah might describe these qualities somewhat differently today, but the criteria for judging a writer\u2019s credibility according to those who should know, remain fundamentally the same.<\/div>\n
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First, the writer must convince the audience that he is well-informed; that he is up-to-date, as much as it is possible, about the subject.\u00a0\u00a0Second, he must persuade the audience that he is not only truthful in the presentation of his evidence but also morally upright and reliable.\u00a0\u00a0Third, he must show that, as a writer with good intentions, he has considered the interest and needs of others as well as his own.\u00a0\u00a0Does Nda-Isaiah have these qualities?\u00a0\u00a0The answer, my friend, is blowing in the air.<\/div>\n
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For those who have not read Anenih\u2019s letter, the summary of the issues he raised was that in a context of adversarial hostility, for which Nda-Isaiah has now been noted, it is extremely difficult to practise journalism with a certain degree of impartiality.\u00a0\u00a0Check it out:\u00a0\u00a0Nda-Isaiah and his like have continued to act deliberately- driven by inspirations that could not, sometime, be openly acknowledged.\u00a0\u00a0But one thing is clear: the lack of objectivity in their compromised narratives is deliberate.<\/div>\n
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Yes, media and journalists select and present the news in a graded arrangement, according to their viewpoints, values or socio-political and economic interests; they define what processes and situations are worth covering or disregarding, and how to present the news in either case. But Nda-Isaiah, in the last few years, had elevated this notion in journalism to media rascality.\u00a0\u00a0Day after day, information in his LEADERSHIP newspapers is largely skewed against those at the receiving end of his attacks.<\/div>\n
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And, because of his selfish economic and political interests he is progressively becoming incapable of recognizing legitimate merits in his perceived opponents taking a productive approach. Anenih\u2019s advice, in his letter to him, which he has refused to accept, is that in the perilous situation in which he (Nda-Isaiah) has found himself, he should always put national interest first in whatever he does, rather than pander to misinformation, deception and blackmail of the president and the Federal Government.<\/div>\n
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Certainly, it was a sincere advice from a father to a son; and, Nda-Isaiah claimed in his reply that he is an adopted son of the\u00a0Iyasele<\/i>\u00a0of Esanland.\u00a0Should he therefore not take his advice?\u00a0\u00a0But whether or not Nda-Isaiah takes the advice, the truth he would soon know, now that he has indicated interest in partisan politics, is that the game of political power is different from running a newspaper and writing a weekly column, two fortes, which he has now abused, bastardized and made worthless.\u00a0\u00a0I wish him good luck as he joins the presidential fray from a largely disadvantaged position!<\/div>\n
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