Ibrahim Babangida’s strong case for ECOMOG journalists

Nigeria’s erstwhile Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, who was instrumental successful the enactment of ECOMOG, the determination Ceasefire Monitoring Group acceptable up by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to extremity the civilian warfare successful Liberia, has made a beardown lawsuit for the nationalist designation of journalists who risked their lives successful reporting that conflict.

“With a look backmost into history, I deliberation 1 happening that the authorities needed to bash for journalists who risked their lives to screen the highly volatile Liberian civilian war, but which was not done, was to decorate them with requisite nationalist medals. That patriotic act, I believe, could inactive beryllium considered, and rewarded by the authorities of the day,” declared Gen. Babangida, represented by Ambassador Tunde Adeniran, Nigeria’s erstwhile envoy to Germany astatine a caller publication presumption and the 70th Anniversary solemnisation of 1 of the ECOMOG journalists, Dr. Olusegun Aderiye.

By the quality of their nonrecreational grooming and practice, journalists study the news. They are not ever the newsmakers oregon the taxable of the news.

This metaphor aptly sums up the communicative of the 10 Nigerian journalists who were embedded successful the maiden Mission of the ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) deployed to Liberia successful August 1990.

In the authoritative missive of their deployment from Dodan Barracks, the past spot of the Federal Military Government, the journalists past moving for Federal Government-owned media Organisations, including this writer, arsenic a Diplomatic Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), were connected “a National Assignment.”

They could neither crook down a patriotic work nor disobey a “marching order” by the usually media-savvy Military Government of President Babangida to service their state oregon the region.

However, earlier the journalists joined the Nigerian Military contingent by aerial to the Port Elizabeth Harbour successful Freetown, Sierra Leone, ECOMOG’s constituent of departure to the Freeport successful Monrovia, the whereabouts of 2 of their nonrecreational colleagues who had near Nigeria overmuch earlier to screen the Liberian civilian war, was chartless and they were presumed dead.

It aboriginal emerged that Tayo Awotunsin of the Champion newspapers and Kris Imodibe from The Guardian unchangeable were killed by the rebel National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) led by Charles Taylor, who launched the rebellion against past President Samuel Doe connected Christmas Eve of 1989. Doe was executed by Taylor’s ally-turned-enemy Prince Yormie Johnson of the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL), who captured him astatine the ECOMOG Freeport base.

The INPFL was a breakaway faction of the NPFL. Taylor was vehemently opposed to ECOWAS’ involution successful Liberia and vowed reprisal attacks against Nigerians, including journalists.

Established connected August 10, 1990 with an archetypal spot of 3,000 troops, ECOMOG arsenic the archetypal of its benignant successful the portion and the African continent, was the merchandise of the archetypal league of the ECOWAS Standing Mediation Committee held successful Banjul, the Gambia, nether the chairmanship of the then-President Dauda Jawara. The Heads of State of Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Mali, and Togo, and the past Organisation of African Unity (OAU), besides attended that gathering with members of the Interfaith Mediation Committee arsenic observers.

After noting the wanton demolition of quality beingness and spot and the displacement of persons caused by the equipped conflict, the gathering called connected each parties progressive successful the struggle to observe an contiguous ceasefire and surrender each arms and ammunition to the custody of ECOMOG.

Against each odds, Operation Liberty arsenic the Mission was called, was launched connected Thursday, August 23,1990 from the Freetown Port, nether the bid of Ghanaian Lt-Gen. Arnold Quainoo, with the ECOMOG troops sailing to Monrovia successful a convoy of 2 main vessels, Nigeria’s Naval vessel NNS Ambe and Ghanaian merchant vessel MV Tano River.

There were besides enactment gunboats contributed by Ghana – GNS Yogaga and GNS Achimota – and 2 onslaught crafts NNS Ekpe, and NNS Damisa, contributed by Nigeria, with a tugboat, Dolphin Mira. All the vessels berthed astatine the Monrovia Freeport by 1700hrs connected the August 24, 1990 with the 10 journalists connected NNS Ambe and amid fierce warring betwixt Taylor’s NPFL rebels and Johnson’s INPFL forces. Heavy weapon fires rent the air, punctuated by mortar bombings lasting until precocious evening.

The peacekeepers were received by Prince Johnson, who narrated however his INPFL forces fought and dislodged Taylor’s NPFL rebels from the Freeport country for ECOMOG vessels to land.

Some of the 10 Nigerian journalists mightiness not person experienced warfare earlier their deployment to Liberia, but they were fired by patriotism, and the palpable courageousness and enthusiasm demonstrated by the ECOMOG subject contingents contributed by Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia for the maiden Peacekeeping Mission.

Telecommunications exertion had lone developed to the level of Satellite phones, which Taylor utilized to large effect, but mobile phones and the net were not disposable then, truthful astir journalists successful processing countries, who could not spend the luxury of outer phones, relied chiefly connected telex and fax for the transmission of their stories.

While Western journalists specified arsenic Elizabeth Blunt of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), besides travelled to Liberia with their outer phones to facilitate their sum of the war, Nigerian journalists similar the Biblical disciples of Jesus Christ, went “without a purse, a sack oregon sandals.”

They had their pens, penning materials, portion recorders, and cameras. It was an exigency subject cognition and clip was excessively abbreviated for them to instrumentality the beforehand outgo of their eligible subsistence allowance.

Food and wherever to slumber were nary large issues. The journalists and troops shared the disposable rations and slept astatine antithetic subject bases oregon wrong the vessels.

The journalists knew they were not successful Liberia connected vacation oregon a picnic, but to supply factual and timely accusation from the warfare beforehand to the public.

But it was wartime. The National Telecommunications offices, similar astir businesses successful Liberia, were closed oregon inaccessible. For much than 3 weeks, the journalists were sitting connected a goldmine of warfare stories, including from interviews and their adjacent shaves with death.

Out of frustration, they joined an lipid tanker from Monrovia to Freetown, Sierra Leone, wherever officials of the Nigerian High Commission, peculiarly Ambassador Joe Keshi, past Deputy High Commissioner astatine the High Commission, assisted the journalists successful couriering their archetypal quality reports backmost to Nigeria.

Apart from the 10 journalists from the government-owned media, immoderate backstage Nigerian media organisations besides dispatched their reporters to screen the Liberian civilian war, adjacent arsenic Imodibe and Awotunsin became portion of the estimated 250,000 souls mislaid successful the two-phased civilian war, which ended successful 2003.

BBC’s Elizabeth Blunt was awarded Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by the British Government for her reportage of the Liberian civilian war. However, the contributions of the Nigerian journalists who kept the nationalist informed connected the war, sometimes astatine the hazard of their ain lives, person remained unacknowledged adjacent by the Federal Government, which sent them connected that nationalist assignment.

The records of work of the 10 journalists, including the 2 who person passed connected to glory, and could beryllium honoured posthumously, are available. Also deserving of the honour are journalists who served arsenic Press Secretaries to ECOMOG Field Commanders. One of them, Frank Akinola, formerly of the Daily Times, passed connected recently, astir unsung.

The 10 journalists and their different colleagues took symbolic subject ranks and integrated precise good into the situation nether which they served during the ECOMOG Mission.

Long earlier General Babangida’s advocacy, Dr. Aderiye and this writer had wondered aloud wherefore journalists are truthful treated by palmy governments. But with the proposal present coming from precocious quarters, the President Bola Tinubu medication is improbable to miss the accidental of doing the needful.

It is besides unclear if ECOMOG soldiers person been sufficiently acknowledged for their valour successful Liberia and Sierra Leone. Consistent with the modular practice, cenotaphs/tombs ought to beryllium erected successful Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone successful honour of fallen ECOMOG soldiers for past and posterity. Such recognition/acknowledgment of nationalist work volition service arsenic an inducement to engender patriotism successful different citizens going forward.

Ejime, a erstwhile War Correspondent, is simply a Global Affairs Analyst and Consultant connected Peace and Security and Governance Communications.