The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
The launch comes at a time of renewed tensions between Nigeria’s three main regions, particularly the Igbo-speaking southeast and the Hausa-speaking north.
In the southeast, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group has revived separatist sentiment, half a century after a previous declaration of independence sparked a brutal civil war.
The populist rhetoric of IPOB’s leader, former London estate agent Nnamdi Kanu, has led to clashes between his supporters and the military, and propaganda on both sides.
Its push for a separate republic of Biafra, using its own media, including Kanu’s Radio Biafra, has also sparked similar calls from hardline Yoruba nationalists in the southwest.
Kanu is currently on trial for treason in the capital, Abuja, but has not been seen since September last year. BBC Igbo will on Monday run an interview with his wife.
– ‘About time’ –
A heady mix of wildfire rumours and misinformation on social media, plus Nigerians’ strong sense of ethnic identity, makes Africa’s most populous nation a difficult place to report.
Foreign media often have historical baggage to deal with, not least those from Britain, the former colonial power until 1960.
In the southeast, it is still not forgotten that London backed Nigeria’s federal forces against the fledgling Biafra in the civil war.
Okwoche acknowledged the potential pitfalls of such a strong sense of regional identity.
But he said his young team had undergone months of “rigorous BBC training, trying to almost change their mindset”, to tell the story without personal emotions.
“We’re trying to balance our stories… We just have to keep on telling them (that) once your story is embellished, people know and you begin to lose credibility,” he added.
The BBC has had a Hausa-language service broadcasting to northern Nigeria for 60 years, which has become one of the most successful in the corporation.
Okwoche said it was “about time” the country’s other regions were catered for, using local, rather than foreign staff.
“There’s much to applaud in that.”
