The Centre for Crisis Communication, CCC, had condemned the recent protest by RevolutionNow movement and the ethnic profiling of the Fulani herdsmen in the country, saying that the trend, if now ell managed, “could spark off a national crisis with far-reaching consequences.”
In a statement signed on Tuesday by its Executive Secretary, Yusuf Anas, a retired air-commodore, the centre condemned any call for revolution in the current democratic setting in the country, calling on all well-meaning individuals, groups, state and non-state actors to see the movement as a serious threat to the county’s nascent democracy.
“While the Centre is not questioning the right to peaceful protest by individuals or groups, we wish to state that it has to be done in tandem with constitutional provisions,” the statement noted.
On the Fulani ethnic profiling, the centre described the narrative as unfortunate, saying that “ethnic profiling is a danger to the society as the endpoint is ethnic cleansing.
“Government cannot afford to sit aside and watch while toxic media flourish in our airwaves.”
The centre, however, identified the country’s social and mass media actors as the catalyst of disseminating unidirectional or a single story capable of endangering lives.
The centre, therefore, advised the country’s social and mass media to embrace the principle of conflict-sensitive communication which seeks to avoid negative impacts of their reports and maximize positive ones.
The statement said: “Insensitive communication contains triggers that can contribute to an outbreak or further escalation of the conflict situation.
“Objective journalism and fair-minded operation of social media platforms encourage the reflection of all significant strands of opinion and not accepting the version of a story as presented by one side,” Mr Anas added.
