She might
love biking, singing and carrot cake, but Nigerian journalist Adeola Fayehun is
also apparently fearless when it comes to sneaking up on African leaders and
asking tricky questions. Her ambush, with colleague Omoyele Soware, of ageing
Zimbabwean president and current AU head, Robert Mugabe, as he arrived to
attend the inauguration of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on 29
May has catapulted the queen of Nigerian satire, already a star in many
countries in Africa, into the international spotlight. By MARIANNE THAMM.
The clip (which had clocked around a quarter of a
million views on YouTube
this week) begins with one of Fayehun’s colleagues, Omoyele Sowore – a New York
based Nigerian political activist – leaning in through the open window of a
vehicle parked in the VVIP section of the Eagle Square International Conference
Centre in Abuja and in which the Zimbabwean president sits slumped in the back
while waiting to be seated inside the venue.
Sowore initially disarms Mugabe by asking the
universally neutral “Mr Mugabe, how are you?”
Mugabe smiling, albeit uncomfortably, replies, “I
am well, thanks”.
“Are you happy to come to Nigeria?” Sowore
continues.
“Very happy,” Mugabe offers.
“Well, you know they also want elections in your
country, when is it happening next in your country?” Sowore prods.
“In my country? Well, we had our elections…” He
tapers off as an aide comes to his rescue and opens the door for Mugabe, who
alights at that point.
You would think that Mugabe’s usual squad of
heavies would have been on high alert after the first incident, but after
Buhari’s speech, as Mugabe made his way back to the car, Sowore and Fayehun –
who work for the New York based Sahara TV,
the Internet branch of SaharaReporters – struck again. This time it is Fayehun
who drives the barrage of relentless questions.
Members of Mugabe’s feared Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) and other trussed up military personnel seem completely
nonplussed and unable to deal with Fayehun’s audacity. Perhaps it is because
she is a woman, perhaps it is because she asks each question rather loudly, but
always with a charming gap-toothed smile.
“Mr President, don’t you think it is time to step
down?” “Is there a time limit?” “How’s your health?’ “When will there be change
in Zimbabwe?” “Will there be change in Zimbabwe?” “Is there democracy in
Zimbabwe?”
Fayehun, as Mugabe’s guards try to hurry him
through the crowd, then switches from asking questions making direct statements
instead. “There is no democracy in Zimbabwe”, she shouts over the clamour.
“It’s about time that you step down.”
All the while Mugabe’s minders seem paralysed by
the two young and apparently fearless questioners, who continue to hang around
shouting and commenting.
Fayehun ends the clip looking for her next victim,
asking: “Is Jacob Zuma here?”…to which Sowore adds, “Where is that Zuma?”
While many Africans across the continent have been
aware of the refreshing and unique talents of Fayehun, who has presented around
150 episodes of her weekly satirical news show Keeping It Real since it
first launched on Sahara TV in November 2011, it took the daring ambush of
Mugabe for her to be noticed in “the West”.
After the incident, The Telegraph’s Chief Political
correspondent Colin Freeman wrote “compared the BBC's John Simpson or CNN's
Christiane Amanpour, Adeola Fayehun from Nigeria is not exactly a global name
in the world of television reporting. This week, though, she made broadcasting
history as she did something that all few African reporters have ever dared do:
ask one their ageing dictators when the hell he is going to quit.”
The Nigerian born Fayehun is currently based in New
York where she has teamed up with Sowore, who launched a website, Sahara Reporters in 2006 to encourage
citizen journalists to report on corruption and mismanagement in Nigeria.
Sowore, a political activist who moved to the US in
1999 after graduating from the University of Lagos, initially set up Elendu
Reports with fellow Nigerian Jonathan Elendu before they parted ways. Sahara
Reporters soon expanded to include breaking news
Fayehun, a news junkie from her days in high
school, moved to the US in 2003 where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Mass
Communications and Journalism from Michigan’s Olivet College. There she set up
the Olivet College TV Studio. Later she enrolled at the City University of New
York’s (CUNY) Graduate School of Journalism, pursuing a master’s degree in
Broadcast Journalism. It was while working as a freelancer for CUNY TV that she
first met Sowore in 2009.
Sowore was naturally impressed with Fayehun’s
talents across media platforms and it was she who helped launch Sahara TV’s
hugely popular comedy show the Dr Njakiri Damages Show. When Sowore
later asked Fayehun if she was interested in hosting a news programme she
jumped at the offer but with only one proviso; that she be allowed to do it her
way.
And Fayehun’s way is generally what young news
consumers across the globe prefer. Pithy, well-researched social commentary and
news combined with sharp satire and a dollop of silly comedy. All the
ingredients that have seen shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert
Report in the US, at least, become the most favoured medium for the
delivery of political information/entertainment and news.
Apart from e-TV’s LNN Live with Loyiso Gola
South Africa lags far behind countries like Kenya, with its satirical XYZ show
and Nigeria. Online satire, apart from ZANEWS’s Puppet Nation, broadcast
on StarSat and also online
is rare. Slow bandwidth and connectivity and expensive Internet costs are
perhaps some of the key reasons a potential audience of around 25 million
Internet users are not getting the political satire they deserve.
The first espisode of Keeping It Real went
live in November 2011, scripted, edited and posted to YouTube by Fayehun. The
episode - just over four minutes long - took a look at the state of Nigeria’s
airports compared with South Africa, Zimbabwe and Ethopia, how leaders of
Western countries seemed to age after taking office while Africa’s leader
appeared to look younger, the price of petrol in Nigeria compared to the rest
of Africa as well as a quick zip through Kenny Kunene’s mansion.
Keep It Real runs to around 26 minutes in its current form and is a charming and
hilarious mix of commentary and satire. Fayehun casts her eye across the
continent weekly satirising anyone, everyone and anything that warrants
scrutiny and or ridicule.
With around 77 million Internet users, Nigeria
offers the largest potential audience for young journalists who are challenging
the way news is delivered to the continent. Not only do these journalists and
satirists challenge traditional methods of news delivery and in so doing manage
to circumvent any potential government censorship or pressure, but they
represent a new generation of writers and citizen reporters who are unafraid to
hold leaders to account. And we have technology (and the talents of these
journalists of course) to thank for this.
Professor Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe’s Minister of
Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, fumed on Twitter after Sowore and
Fayehun’s confrontation with Mugabe claiming it was “disrespectful” and that
they were “political activists masquerading as journalists”.
“If Nigerian journalism has come to be this, then
God help Nigeria since nobody has monopoly on such uncouth conduct!” Moyo
tweeted.
He later berated Nigerian authorities for allowing
the ambush to occur saying, “That would not happen in Zimbabwe against any
visiting head of state or gov not even Barrack Obama or David Cameron!”
Meanwhile a growing cohort of new fans is looking
forward to Adeola Fayehun’s next high profile ambush. DM
Main photo: Adeola
Fayehun ambushing President Mugabe.
Follow @AdeolaFayehun
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