'How BBC journalists rejected bribe from a Nigerian governor'

Excerpts...

With the elections starting in a few days, what is the BBC’s plan to combat fake news during this period?

What we are doing and what we have done is to look at what the candidates are saying – in terms of their manifesto -- and fact-check that. Basically, we select the main candidates and look at their policies on different themes and fact-check what they say. If President [Muhammadu] Buhari, Atiku Abubakar or Donald Duke says they’ll construct a thousand schools annually for four years if elected, we’ll fact-check to see if that is possible given the country’s earnings and so on. We do this to know if these are achievable or mere campaign promises.

Have you been able to fault any claim by these politicians in the race?

Yes. Not all the claims by these politicians have been accurate. We’ve fact-checked some comments on education, health and the economy. Recently, one of the candidates while talking about the accessibility to toilets in Nigeria, mentioned a figure that we felt was not correct. We checked and found out that it was wrong.

Also, President Buhari claims Boko Haram has been technically defeated. So, we did a fact-check which showed that the claim is far from the reality on the ground because the insurgents have been conducting attacks in villages and military formations, killing and displacing a lot of people. In Rann, 30,000 people crossed over to Cameroon because of the insecurity. This happened late 2018 to early this year. We were able to fault Buhari’s claim based on these facts.

Is the BBC working with other newsrooms to combat fake news? How?

Yes. We organised a conference on countering fake news in January where we drew speakers from within and outside the country including the Director, BBC World Service Group, Jamie Angus; Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka; INEC [Independent National Electoral Commission]; and other stakeholders.

Over the last three to four months, we have also organised workshops for journalists and students on how to identify fake news and counter same. Soon, we will roll out workshop plans for students in Abuja and Lagos to equip them to identify and counter fake news. We’ve done so in Nairobi and India. Nigeria is the next market.

How has the BBC's pidgin, Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa been received across Nigeria?

BBC Hausa was launched in 1957. Recently, we launched BBC Pidgin, Yoruba, and Igbo which are based in Lagos. These three language services are thriving fast and capturing the market. The Pidgin is looking at the young and vibrant audiences and because it’s a language that is more spoken than written, we have a lot of videos across our social media platforms. Yoruba and Igbo is focused on the culture of the people and also entertainment. We also look at how to get original stories of these ethnic groups as well. These services are performing remarkably well.

During these elections, we organised governorship debates in these languages across the states. Yoruba started with the Osun election in 2018; that was a huge success. They did same in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Kwara for this election. For Igbo, there were debates in Umuahia, Owerri and Abakaliki. Pidgin had debates in Uyo, Port-Harcourt and Asaba. This is an addition to what the BBC Hausa has done in northern Nigeria as they were governorship debates in Sokoto, Kano, Nasarawa and Gombe. This is the first time the BBC is doing something like this in Nigeria. Opening up our political system by bringing candidates and electorates together and giving them access to ask those who intend to represent them questions on burning national issues. It turned into a townhall meeting between the electorates and the politicians. The disabled, market women and everyone were encouraged to be there and they turned up. It opened up a new way of promoting accountability and strengthening democracy in Nigeria. This is remarkable.

Given the operating terrain in Nigeria, how has the BBC been able to cope?

Because Nigeria consumes a lot of news… With 41.3 million people consuming BBC content every week in Nigeria, this is the largest market for the BBC outside the United Kingdom. Hausa has the largest with about 20 million every week. We’ve been able to crack the market and we have achieved a lot in terms of promoting a free flow of information.

Is there always a case of inducement from politicians to your journalists when they go out? Also, are your journalists well remunerated to turn down these offers from politicians?

In terms of remuneration, I’ll say BBC journalists are paid well and they are comfortable. Here at the BBC, we have a no-nonsense policy in terms of impartiality and bribery. All our journalists go through different trainings when they are employed like anti-bribery courses and also promoting the BBC core value.

In terms of inducement from politicians, yes, we’ve had some cases. Some journalists from the Igbo service were offered money by a serving governor and they rejected it. They told the governor that they had been taken care of the BBC and that it was against the policy of the BBC for them to take what he was offering them. On social media, someone attacked them saying they were with ‘Governor A’ and you collected money. Then, the aide of the governor was the first person to reply that guy telling him that the BBC journalists did not collect a dime from the governor. If they had accepted the money, the image of the organization would have been tarnished and our independence and impartiality would be questioned.

The issue is, you need to employ professional journalists, make them comfortable to work effectively and also have red lines that no one would cross. Our journalists, over 100 in Lagos and 40 in Abuja, are purely professional. They know the reputation of the BBC and they, try as much as possible, to put their best to work. They are aware of our guidelines and values and they are all out to protect it.

Are you in Nigeria for the long haul or a fixed period? 

We are here to stay. Hausa Service is over 60 years. Other languages like the Igbo, Yoruba and Pidgin will soon celebrate their first anniversary and we will be celebrating them many more years to come with a lot of achievements and original content from these regions.

Finally, what’s your advice for journalists covering the election?

Generally, don’t promote fake news by publishing results that have not been authenticated by INEC. This is the only way to ensure that the election ends peacefully. If journalists are accused of publishing fake results, it would be bad for the profession. Also, I’ll advise journalists to report accurately; not only results but the conduct as well. From the accreditation process to voting and then the announcement results.

Whatever we do as journalists should be in line with the ethics of the job which is accuracy, balance, fairness, objectivity, truth and so on. By doing so, we will be promoting the peaceful conduct of the general election.