Isa Muhammad Inuwa
26 December 2008
opinion
In a fresh twist of events, Pfizer, the multinational company reported to have used hapless Nigerians as guinea pigs in drug trial, is still mounting propaganda, employing the cheap skills of local journalists to confuse facts and frustrate on-going effort towards compensating the victims of the Pfizer drug test (the Trovan), in Kano.
A tidal wind of publications are making round in recent days, in which the reporters of such news stories hide under their dubious canopy to launch sponsored campaigns against the struggle of the Pfizer victims, blocking ways of securing their rightful dues.
Capitalizing on the present situation, Pfizer lawyers who visit Kano severally during court proceedings, pull along some journalists who are ever ready to stand facts upside down if the price is right. Now, weird headlines relating to the Pfizer palaver, tell us versions totally different from what we all know to be the real issues. Pack of pressmen who avail themselves of Pfizer's gesture, are always elated by arrival of the largesse-giving Pfizer lawyers, who usually address the penmen over delicious lunch dishes at a royal hotel. As the meal-briefing ends with drops of gratifications, the lawyers rest assured of having netted in the pen colleagues for a job well-done.
As part of the propaganda gimmicks directed at sabotaging efforts of the vanguards of Kano Pfizer victims, a certain Pyramid newspaper screamed: "Pfizer Scandal! Fake victims uncovered" and "The real fraud in the 1996 Kano Pfizer CSM scandal" yet again "Anguish for Pfizer, the Good Samaritan, prominence for Mujtaba Maisikeli, the other Good Samaritan". Under these headings, the paper attempted to portray the real Pfizer victims as trying to undermine their cause for compensation, through what the paper described as smuggling "fake names" into the list of those to be compensated. How the paper came across this mystery remain unknown; it is not disclosed by even the write up itself.
Meanwhile, the Fresh Facts newspaper screamed in a headline: "The Big Kano Pfizer Fraud", followed by a rider: "People Born With Deformity and Government Officials, Smile To Banks ... Still Contrive Plans To Benefit From Largesse". The writer was later exposed as a copy-boy and expert in lifting stories verbatim from other papers. He wrote word for word, the words in the story carried by the Pyramid newspaper. Somewhere in his story, he wrote "... a Kano based former television broadcast journalist, who claims he was acting for the victims of Pfizer's test of the anti-CSM drug during the epidemic of 1996, it has been discovered that a number of victims on his list were actually born with various forms of deformities, years before the Pfizer test took place."
The above quoted statement is bunkum, since the writer appeared to have been pointless and lacks all necessary facts to defend his claim; rather, he only copied the statement directly from a preceding writer or so-called correspondent of a different paper, without knowing the real source of that claim or assertion. It is indeed enough shame for a journalist to reduce himself to a plagiarist so as to be gratified with some peanuts, at the cost of the truth and the Pfizer victims and their indigent parents in Kano. In another article carried in The Source magazine and written by Kano Correspondent, Mr. Sulaiman Anyalewechi, the write-up opened with a mild heading: "The Pfizer Controversy", but went further spreading pure propaganda against the vulnerable victims of the Trovan drug test in Kano. Imagine a picture of a boy featured in the article, captioned: "A fake victim of the Pfizer's Trovan test: Anas Ahmed". How this writer came to know the boy and how he made his investigation to prove him as "fake victim" still remain cloudy and undisclosed to his gullible readers across Nigeria and elsewhere. However, I have no iota of doubt the writer could go to that length and even beyond, for him to justify the share of gratification paid by lawyers working for Pfizer. Many journalists appeared ever ready to write all forms of blackmail and falsities, with a view to turn the table up-side-down in favour of Pfizer and at the expense of the suffering victims, with totally no qualms and respect to the court action that is still going on.
Instead of the proverbial "tempering justice with mercy", here are gentlemen who are ready to temper justice with callous wickedness and heartlessness. Yes the said writer in this respect is also the anchorman who co-ordinates the routine meal reception and money dangling between the team of Pfizer solicitors on one hand and the team of the compromised journalists spreading this propaganda against the hapless Pfizer victims in Kano. This is a brazen assassination to the good and viable code of ethics of journalism!
To cite few instances where one of these paid journalists goofed in his write, either through his personal trance, whimsical delusion, misinformation or blind zeal to muzzle the truth, he wrote that "...reports have put the number of people that participated in the test at about 200... However, in the criminal complaint filed by the Kano State Government, the authorities cited 57 names - development which logically means that about 143 supposed victims are not actually victims of the controversial test".
This shows ignorance on the part of the reporter. The very fact is that at the initial stage of investigation of Pfizer victims were discovered, which raised the list with the Kano Association of Pfizer victims to 190, as against the 200 figure of the victims on the original roll-call sheets of Pfizer. While all names on Pfizer's list were written in initials with their gender identifications, the list compiled by the victims' association, stood its ground on compensation of their door-to-door compiled and authenticated list of 190 victims and not the 200 victims earlier listed by Pfizer. This indicates the absence of any fraudulent tendencies in the struggle embarked by the victims. Likewise local correspondents of both The News magazine and This Day Newspaper were seen to have followed suit copying words earlier published by some of the papers already listed, to further boost the propaganda train against the Pfizer victims who are battling to secure their rightful dues from the excruciating difficulties they were thrown into by the Pfizer episode over the years.
The question is where were those journalists 12 years ago when the very struggle by the Pfizer victims started? I am sure some of them were still students in post primary or tertiary institutions. Some of them were not yet journalists, let alone posted to Kano as correspondents of their various papers. Also for them to point accusing fingers at Mustapha Garba Maisikeli, leader of Kano Pfizer victims and himself a veteran Journalist with both NTA and BBC London, who served long before others dreamt of crashing into journalism, portrays their ignorance of the personality in question.
Hence, for all detractors and saboteurs in the affair, I would like to say their time is off and they are too late. For both the Pfizer Company and its cohorts, I would say enough is enough and let us see Kano Trovan test victims freed and duly compensated.
Inuwa reports for Radio Deutsche Welle from Kano, Nigeria.
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