Dear blog, here I am again filled with excuses why I wasn’t able to keep my last promise. I hope you understand. Its not easy being a Nigerian with all the woes - garnished prefixes of “lack” everywhere; electricity, peace, security, money and all. So I hope you will really understand.
I was forced out of my shell amidst all these woes, to write a passionate piece to Sahara Reporters, a web based news syndicator who have kept Nigerians informed about happenings around us. But sadly the umbrage that the “comments” to most of the news items elicit is so discomforting and provocative that I had to spare time to write this. Read on.
Dear Editor
I am one of your regular readers and also someone who believe that your efforts have taken information dissemination to higher and beneficial level, which eventually will lead to sustainable development especially in Nigeria. However, I am a bit worried by the amount of freedom you gave your readers, especially in their comments. Nigeria today is sincerely at a cross road and her unity, you will agree with me, is threatened as a result, such that any well meaning Nigerian is deeply worried about.
As a patriotic Nigerian, I take pride sincerely in our oneness, while been conscious of our diversity, which to me defines the beauty and elegance of the country. This diversity, which ordinarily should have been the cornerstone of our development, is still been peddled negatively since independence. The Igbo man in addition to his business, should have been guiding the Hausa man on how to manage his farm produce using his business skills such that waste resulting from storage and transportation is reduced. While the Yoruba man on the other hand, should have been acting as the financier for the two. And proudly, we would have been one big family call Nigeria. But sadly this isn't so.
Every opportunity, especially those bordering on negativities are exploited and interpreted by all using the prisms of ethnicity and religion, completely devoid of any kind of support to the region or group facing such "trying times". The outcome of this, is that all parties are beginning to feel totally disparate and by extension hated by the other. I think its time for us to start emphasizing on positives and less the negatives, to see if it will make a difference.
Reading the comments from fellow Nigerians on every news or article published by you, makes me feel so bad, that a times, I am forced to simply close your site, never to come back until the following the day. This is notwithstanding the urge to follow you on happens around the world.
The idea behind reading comments, is to triangulate stories, so as to arrive at a sound conclusion about a particular issue, but unfortunately the comments one reads on your site are filled with hate and intolerance that one finds very difficult to digest as a Nigerian who wish the country well.
I am not asking that you gag your readers, but there must surely be a way that you can filter comments such that only those that add value to the news or article in question are published. Allowing the currently trend where members of one region or religion cast aspersion on the other because of a news item about their member or son will not only in the long run affect your readership, but will also continue to negatively impact on the country.
Consequently, I am pleading that you kindly introduce content filtering of comments to bar publication of "hates" and the likes. I am asking this of you as a Nigerian who is passionate about the peaceful coexistence of the country and the application of its diversity for positive development as against the current mudslinging, backstabbing and bare face lies peddled by the elites across region and religion.
The country is indeed going through trying times, but fortunately Nigerians are resilient sets that have overcome bigger challenges in the past through collective efforts. Let this request be Sahara Reports role in ensuring that we overcome this trying time.
Let me use this opportunity to thank you for your effort in keeping Nigerians informed, thereby arming us with the necessary tool to fight these emerging ills.
