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Ishowo Oluwatosin
Fake news, propaganda, and media persuasion remain some of the issues that call for the critical experiment, analysis, and drawing solutions that will assist in media literacy and education in a dynamic human society.
While the title of this article may appear strange, it is the true reflection of what is happening in our dear state, the media have worn the Esu cap and the citizens are the ones paying dearly for it – forgetting that the responsibility of Esu is to cause deception, controversy, confusion, uncertainty, testing of friends’ loyalty, manipulation among others. We are becoming helpless and defenceless against the increasing numbers of novices in the profession who are neither equipped with knowledge or manual for operation. They are not only licentious but also abusive.
Despite the Esu knowing that the people of West Africa see him as an intermediary between humans and God, he never fails to test his importance and relevance, he continuously put the public to test. Marshall Soules narrated the story of Esu in the preface of his book titled “Media, Persuasion, and Propaganda”, he referred to Esu as a trickster; wherever he rules, anything can happen. With media, anything is possible in Kwara State, communities can fight, a religious crisis can be triggered; the political space can be topsy-turvy.
The popular Africa folktale about Esu was re-narrated in Soule’s book, the story of two friends who sworn not to doubt each other and assured one another of eternal friendship without paying tribute to the god of uncertainty and chance. He decided to put them to test by wearing a fashioned cap where one side is white and the other is black and passed between the two friends who went on to argue about the colour of the cap. Esu returned like he doesn’t know anything and asked the two friends what they were arguing about, they narrated their ordeal, and Esu said both of them are right. It is still a trickster at play for cultural critics never agreed either of the two friends are right.
Journalists and news platforms in the state need to realise that people trust them and wearing the Esu cap will continuously paint them as being mischievous and rabble-rousing. The revelation of the story in extended interpretation indicates that deception often leads to the revelation of truth. Soule asked, “do we know for certain that we perceive the same events as those around us?”. He said further: “Esu reminds the two friends to make allowances for difference, ambiguity, uncertainty and possibility. Esu’s trick reminds us to question our certainty when interpreting symbolic communication.” Each time a media platform picks sentiment above truth, Kwarans should be aware that it has chosen to wear the Esu cap, hence, we should ask questions rather than taking such reports as truth and form judgment on events – not all news are facts.
Media literacy is very low in Kwara and Nigeria at large, hence, these media platforms have chosen to be malicious, mischievous and mendacious. In our differences lies the truth, and the consensus that Esu is wearing a “black and white cap”. The media are enemies of the people, not our friends, for they are more interested in persuading, manipulating, and convincing us than reporting the truth. They are in government, they are in opposition, they are analysts, opinion molders and writers in defence for and against the government.
Ordinary people must protect and arm themselves, none of these people is interested in our education, they are tools to colonise our minds and further lead us astray. They don’t represent us, they don’t represent the society we desire, they are not part of our aspirations, they are not our friend, they are in love with politicians.
ISHOWO, Isiaq Oluwatosin
Gmail: tosinishowo2015@gmail.com
Twitter: @Tosinishowo
