Eyo’s baptism of fire

Deciding the caption of today’s article is apparently as problematic as Charles Eyo’s question during the press conference in Calabar with the former Minister of Aviation and lawyer, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. In my brainstorming session before writing this article, I have listed the following captions for consideration: 1.Eyo’s probing question, 2.Eyo’s irritating question, 3.When is a question problematic? 4. Eyo’s baptism of fire. 

As usual, I subjected the captions to a jury of three persons who I regard as my in-house editors. At the end of the exercise, the number 4 caption cut across their choices and won the day. Believing their high sense of critical evaluation and judgement, I settled for Eyo’s baptism of fire as the caption of today’s article. For the purpose of this article, baptism of fire is taken to be a first, usually difficult or unpleasant, experience of something.

It is also an allusion to Christian baptism, especially a spiritual baptism by a gift of the Holy Spirit as contained in Acts 2:3-4; Mt 3:11 (RSV). It can also be regarded as a soldier’s first exposure to enemy fire. According to Google search, “Baptism of fire is a phrase commonly used to describe a person or employee who is learning something the hard way through a challenge or difficulty. In many cases, someone who starts a new job must undergo a baptism of fire, meaning they must immediately deal with one or more difficult situations.”

The aphorism can equally be used to describe a bad day for a journalist in the course of his duty. I have had my bad day in this writing job. I believe that others might have had theirs too. A journalist can have it more than once. There is no journalist worth the name that has never had his day of baptism of fire. It can come in any form. It can lead to loss of one’s job, a reprimand or stern warning or leave without pay or surcharge depending on the media organization. It can lead to a change of job or even profession.

But in whichever way it comes, a journalist’s baptism of fire can be unnerving. It can lead to emotional disturbance and loss of self-esteem. After that, it can also help to steady one on the job and make him more daring and assertive if one is the victim of what led to the incident. It has the capacity of projecting one and making him popular beyond his imagination.

For Charles Eyo, a reporter with Daily Trust newspaper, his baptism of fire came with a big bang. Before the August 20, 2020 media roundtable with Fani-Kayode in Calabar, to share his experience with journalists on his guided tour of Cross River State to inspect projects executed by Prof. Ben Ayade, the name Charles Eyo is not known much across the country.

What elevated Charles Eyo to the front burner of national discourse was his innocent question to Fani-Kayode: Who is bankrolling your trips? “Sir, please you did not disclose to us who is bankrolling you…” was how Charles Eyo put in his account of the ordeal with the ex-minister. Instead of the minister answering the question, he thundered: “How dare you ask me such a very stupid question. I know that you, a hungry-looking brown envelop journalist, you are sponsored to ask me such (an) insulting question. You can look into my eyes and ask me such a demeaning question? I cannot take that.”

There are other bad things he said about Eyo which cannot be accommodated here. This question which some people interpret as irritating, annoying or ‘stupid’ as the minister pointed out provided an ample opportunity for the minister to explain his recent tours to states in the country, particularly, the South East and the South South. Unfortunately, anger made him bungle a golden opportunity to state his own side of the matter. Eyo’s question, no matter how he framed it, borders on accountability, which is the job of a journalist.

A journalist must ask public figures to account for whatever they are doing. Such an inquiry must not be derided or the questioner derided or abused as Fani-Kayode did in Calabar. What later literally broke the internet was Fani-Kayode’s outburst which elicited general condemnations by media bodies, journalists and many Nigerians. The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Nigerian Press Council (NPC), the International Press Centre (IPC), Amnesty International unanimously condemned Fani-Kayode.

Worthy of note is the stand taken by Eyo’s employer, Media Trust Limited, which publishes Daily Trust and other titles. Daily Trust condemned the unwarranted verbal assault on the reporter and stood solidly behind him. This is, indeed, a new development in Nigerian journalism practice which must be emulated by other publishers. In time past, this type of incident would have attracted a sack without hearing the reporter’s side of the story.

But in this instant case, the internet helped in presenting the matter the way it happened to the entire world. It is also good that Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has apologized for his unacceptable conduct during the media chat. I think that the media should accept it and stop dwelling further on the issue. However, there are useful lessons to learn from the ugly episode. Our leaders, be they politicians or big men, must be prepared to answer questions asked by journalists no matter how irritating such questions may seem.

The job of a journalist is guaranteed by the constitution. And that can explain why the media is called the Fourth Estate of the Realm. Also, the extant Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is unambiguous about the role of the mass media. Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) clearly states that “The press, radio, television, and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this Chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people.”

Therefore, no journalist should be threatened or abused in the course of discharging his constitutional duty to the Nigerian people. For muttering ‘sorry sir’ to the minister, both Eyo and other reporters present at the press conference failed to uphold their constitutional rights to practise their profession. They must always stand by their rights and not allow any politician to intimidate or bully them.

When a journalist is asking a question, he is doing so on behalf of other Nigerians who are not privileged to be in the position of a journalist. Politicians must treat journalists and journalism profession with utmost respect. The dignity of the journalist and integrity of the profession cannot be assaulted simply because a politician is not happy with the question asked.

A politician cannot detect the kind of question he should be asked just like he cannot detect to a writer what he should write. Journalists by training are prepared to ask probing questions that can put the interviewee in a difficult position and even make him sweat or irritable, questions that can make him uncomfortable. There shall be no room for bread and butter questions. That was exactly what Eyo did in Calabar that attracted unnecessary fury from Fani-Kayode. For that singular act, Eyo should be praised.