Western media war on Africa

Western media war on Africa
February 08, 2007 04:27 AM
http://www.africanpath.com

by Dro Ameh

Our world today is bedeviled with may wars and rumours of war. There is war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Israel and Lebanon, North Korea in their intransigence in building a nuclear weapon, Iran is at the verge of completing its nuclear ambition, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has taken to a verbal war with American President George W. Bush.

These are all wars with causes and the people propagating these wars are looking forward to achieving one form of physical benefit or the other which can be deducible from each country’s foreign
policy objectives.
But as an African of Nigerian descent living in the United States of America, I have come to understand that the western media have dragged themselves into a war with Africa. This war is not like any other explicated above. It is a new frontier in perpetually keeping the psyche of an average African person low in the eyes of the world. The media’s poor sense or lack of it on how Africans live is posing a lot of problems with the way we are perceived by even our own children.

If you have ever seen the portrayal of Africa in the media; CNN, FOX, ABC, etc, it is always when there is war or starvation. I’m not saying it’s wrong to bring to the world’s attention a certain patricidal war that has refused to go away that oftentimes some countries of Africa bring to bear on themselves. Africa is a continent made up of 53 countries. There is nothing wrong in being specific about which country has a certain event going on.

This lack of awareness on the part of the media is largely responsible for the seeming ignominious behavior of an average American towards events outside the United States. In all of these, I’m really compelled to ask; is there any particular crime committed by Africans to deserve this level of disrespect by the western media? Or is it a question about race superiority?
On the contrary, if you live in Nigeria, for instance and have the opportunity of watching most western media channel, you will begin to have the erroneous and misleading thinking that all Americans are well to do. This reasoning has, however, proved to be inductive and untrue.

In spite of what they try to portray, we now know the difference. It is not possible for instance to show any part of Newark, Camden or Detroit that is not only drug infested, but are also ghettoized in African edition of CNN or FOX. It’s my conviction therefore to conclude that the media are engaged in a war where they are not only the initiators of the case, but are also the judge of their own cause.

The last of this one-sided war on Africa reached its peak when ABC network, the self-proclaimed second largest network in America, showed a documentary on the activities of fraudsters in Nigeria preying on what the presenter, Mr. Brian Ross, described as the gullibility of American citizens. In the series of events that led to this conclusion, I’m convinced that it must have been difficult for the ABC anchorman to accept the fact that other groups of people could outsmart his American wise men and women.

The truth of the matter is that any American citizen who is so obliged to make such easy money, which he did not clock the time for, tax free, away from the prying eyes of the IRS, is a thief. Maybe, I would have been so assuaged if the ABC anchorman had put it bluntly rather than euphemized the criminal intention of his country men.

In a swift reaction to the supposed documentary, the Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Frank Nweke indeed added what I consider a very brave and incontrovertible insight into the American corporate scandals which led to the liquidation of Enron and World. Com, and advised Mr. Ross to concentrate on those as they are much more than a handful and presents a more threatening and worrisome implication in the world today than what is going on in Nigeria. To this end, I will relish the confidence exhibited by the minister knowing full well that if a verbal war was to ensue, Nigeria will hold its own end of the propaganda. But come to think of it, the WorldCom and the Enron corporate scandals were real and real people were disproportionally denied their life savings known as 401k using the popular parlance.

The part of the show that really made me sick in the stomach was the fact that the only place Mr. Ross took his cameramen to showcase as the economic hub of Lagos state was the daily market [Oshodi market] which in the American representation is a flea market. And he had the effrontery to describe Lagos as a “poor and crime ridden shame of a city.”

But in all these conclusion of the ABC anchorman I’m compelled to ask if he was also lodged in ‘Oshodi market Hotel too’? I would not be surprised to know that he and his crew members were lodged at the Los Angeles part of Lagos that has all the world class amenities and hotels and even more expensive buildings than those inhabited by the presenter. What about the Lagos Island with all the high rises and skyscrapers buildings? The beautiful natural land of Victoria Island that harbours about six beaches where people go and unwind. I suppose the camera could not work for those magnificent and well construed nature land which intentionally were subdued but could not be denied in his subconscious
It must, however, be understood here that I’m not trying to make any briefs for any attempt by some disgruntled and eccentric individuals in Nigerian society to engage in activities that will undermine the character of hard working Nigerians in the US or any other part of the world. I personally feel so sad that the activities of a few idiots has become the definition of the strength of character of the Nigerian who work so hard to put food on the table, provide for their family abroad and help solve real existential problems.

Corollarily, it must be noted that such criminal activities are also common in America with American citizens as the architect of such craft of obtaining from unsuspecting victims. Just a cursory look at the six o’clock news in the local stations will readily prove that in such states as New York, it is easy to pull out a deed in the internet and sell someone’s else house while they went out shopping for grocery.

The real issue here is to accept the juxtaposition of industrialization with all kinds of fraud since extreme capitalism will naturally lead to expropriation and exploitation of the underprivileged in the society The people so disenfranchised will naturally find a way to redress the injustice done to them by people who have so much and don’t know what to do with the surplus.

African societies are going through what is termed in the political literature as legitimization crises. The countries of Europe and Americas went through such experiences and even worse as the lot of most African countries today. But the mere fact that we all have to accept the concept of 21st century on the terms and definitions of the western countries cannot eliminate the natural process of political democratization which its end thereof is political stability and highly developed political culture.

Therefore to avoid any form of political fixation, the African societies should be helped to and encouraged to exorcise any shred of characterization emanating from the philosophical hobbesian state of nature.

It’s about time the other races of the world begin to acknowledge the uniqueness and the exclusivity of other races. Nobody is superior to nobody in any kind of way, and experience over the century has proved that beyond any reasonable doubt.

There are avaricious black people, so also are there avaricious white people or Asian people. There are stupid people from all races so also are there intelligent and very rational set of people from all races. Race superiority or inferiority is nothing but a myth and should be dismissed without any scientific and rational basis.

I’m from Nigeria and I’m very proud of it. In our organic style of living, especially in the small villages, nobody goes to sleep hungry because everybody can produce just enough for himself and his family. And a lot of extended family members add enchantment to the already colorful style of living.

The so-called western civilization is the reason for all these societal maladies. As it was aptly described in the American movie, I Robot, the police chief told Will Smith that ‘Guy creates monster, monster kills guy,’ so why bother about it? The kind of social issues we face today is a result of the supposed western civilization which encourages an unprecedented level of disparity between the rich and the poor. Put differently, interactive social forces created miscreants and cheats and which turn around to haunt their creators.

It’s so embarrassing that the ABC anchorman was aided by an EFCC agent or whoever it was that was awash with some stupefied presence on TV possibly savouring his newfound friendship with guys who only meant to undermine the country with his most biased and perverse portrayal of whatever issues that was being investigated. It’s my view that the guy, whoever he is in the rank and file of the EFCC, be reprimanded for feathering his nest against the image of our country.

I’m a member of the Junior Chambers International and I have taken an extensive and comprehensive look at the creed and had wished for a day when “the brotherhood of all men will transcend the sovereignty of all nations.” It looks to me like this may be a mere travesty of good intentions but the media war on Africa will be a good place to start from