In recent times, Journalists in Nigeria have been on the receiving end of criticisms and refutation from public office holders for allegedly quoting them out of context.
It has almost become a routine that whenever a government official slips, the journalists are singled out for blame.
The recurrence of refutation of news reports by public officials is widespread in the country since 2015 as a number of reporters have received the knocks for alleged distortion of facts and misquoting top government officials in their reportage.
Allegations of misrepresentation of facts by journalists are rife now when some government functionaries insist that they have been mischievously misquoted. This has led to the widening mistrust among government officials and the journalists.
The popular quotes among some operatives of government nowadays are, “I was misquoted.” “I was quoted out of context” and I was misrepresented by the journalists.”
Consequently, the press has become the scapegoat among top government functionaries.
Recently, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, said he was quoted out of context when he reportedly accused some soldiers of lack of commitment to the current counter insurgency operations in the North-East of the country.
He was quoted to have said that some of the setbacks in the operations were as a result of insufficient commitment by those at the frontiers. The Army Chief reportedly stated this during a leadership transformational workshop for middle cadre and soldiers in Abuja.
“It is unfortunate, but the truth is that almost every setback the Nigeria army has had in our operations in recent times can be traced to insufficient willingness to perform assigned tasks; or simply, insufficient commitment to a common national/military course by those at the frontlines, “he was quoted as saying.
However, a few days later, he described the report as misrepresentation of fact, saying that the journalists misquoted him on the issue of soldiers’ commitment.
He said, “Let me categorically say that I never said in my remarks that the troops lack commitment. It was completely wrong and I want to believe that somehow, I was quoted out of context and probably with element of mischief.
“If you read that remark which was published on our website, you will see that there is nothing like lack of commitment. Some have even gone beyond that and quoted me as saying that the troops are cowards. This is far, far from the truth. Let me categorically say that I never said in my remarks that the troops lack commitment,” he said.
Promptly, a royal father in Osun State, Oba Adekunle Oyelude, and an activist, Ugochukwu Osuagwu, rose in defense of Buratai and charged the press to stop quoting the Army Chief and other citizens out of context.
Oyelude argued that misquoting or disparaging Buratai may be counter-productive in the current war against insurgency.
On his part, Ugochukwu expressed the likelihood that Buratai was quoted out of context, saying, “I verily believe Gen. T Y Buratai must have been quoted out of context in order to portray the Chief of Army Staff and Army as a whole as incompetent.”
Moreover, penultimate Tuesday, the Office of Accountant-General of the Federation said that Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II was quoted out of context on what he said about the impending bankruptcy in Nigeria during a workshop it organized in Kano.
Sanusi spoke at the 3rd National Treasury Workshop which was planned by Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, OAGF.
But a few days later, Henshaw Ogubike, the spokesman for the OAGF, in a statement explained that Sanusi had been misquoted by journalists.
He said, “The attention of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation has been drawn to a statement credited to the Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi ll, saying” Nigeria on the verge of bankruptcy.”
“This is not TRUE, as the respected Emir was only advising government to consider gradual withdrawal of subsidy on Petroleum products and Electricity tariffs to enable the government to have resources for infrastructure, education and healthcare.
“The royal father was quoted out of context. We therefore call on the general public to disregard those online misrepresentations of facts.”
In the same way, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s comments in New York concerning the spate of kidnapping in Nigeria elicited bitter reactions from many Nigerians. He stirred up the hornets’ nest when he told the Nigerian audience that kidnapping in Nigeria was exaggerated.
However, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo’s spokesman, in a statement denied the report, saying that his principal was quoted out of context as he never said that kidnapping in the Nigeria was exaggerated.
“Our attention has been drawn to misleading reports in a section of the media purportedly made by and attributed to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on the security situation in Nigeria.
“For the purpose of clarity, and the records, it is pertinent to state that Osinbajo was entirely misquoted and his words taken out of context in the said media reports especially those that quoted him as saying that kidnapping in Nigeria is exaggerated and not entirely new,” the statement said.
But despite the refutation, bitter criticisms trailed the Vice President’s comment in New York. For instance, various socio-political groups, such as Afenifere, Ohanaeze, PANDEF and the Middle Belt Forum, berated Osinbajo over his view on the spate of kidnapping and security challenges in the country.
When former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, realized that his comment that doctors were free to leave Nigeria because the country had enough doctors elicited more condemnations than applauses, he promptly denied his earlier statement and claimed that he was misquoted by the journalists.
Also when the President Muhammadu Buhari referred to the youths as being lazy, the then Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Muhammed accused the press of misquoting the president on the matter.
In both cases, journalists were held culpable for twisting the facts and quoting the speakers out of context.
Critics of the present administration argue that regular refutation of statements is equivalent to the blame game that the administration has embarked on since 2015.
Daring cleric, Cardinal Anthony Okogie, is one of those who hold such an opinion about the country’s leadership.
Okogie, a former Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, in a statement during the week said, “This is a government that writes off any other report concerning what happens here in Nigeria as false.
“A government bedeviled by a self-inflicted credibility crisis that it needs to address before it can accomplish anything meaningful and useful. But its spokespersons prefer to indulge in insolence. That is why this government cannot be engaged in any productive dialogue.”
Evidently, the press in Nigeria has been playing its expected role as the watchdog of the society but in a few instances, some journalists have published stories which the political leaders perceived as injurious to their persons and career.
However, analysts contend that the seeming distrust between the pressmen and officials of government is unnecessary since they both have a collaborative working relationship for the good of the nation.
As journalists need government officials and political leaders as their sources of news gathering, leaders on the other hand, need the journalists to put across to the general public their visions, programmes and messages.
However, commentators are of the view that public servants should be mindful of their utterances since the general public scarcely show any interest on refutation of published stories.
Besides, such denial is hardly followed-up by the journalists even when it has led to needless controversies.
From the assertion of some political scientists, blunders are inevitable in leadership but the skill by which leaders handle such blunders is what makes the difference. It, therefore, implies that blame game is not a leadership skill.