Yusuf Ozi-UsmanThere used to be a world class prolific writer, novelist and social reformer through the pen, called James Hadley Chase. Mr. Hadley Chase was so elusive that he bore many names, making it impossible for distance people from him to know which of his names were real and which ones were not.
Indeed, while his birth name was René Lodge Brabazon Raymond, he was well known by his various pseudonyms, including James Hadley Chase, James L. Docherty, Raymond Marshall, R. Raymond, and Ambrose Grant. And so, even his name was a clear reflection of fiction.
So too, was his trade as the world class fiction novelist of his time. As a matter of fact, back in the 60s up to middle 80s, Hadley Chase assailed the reading people of the world, especially students, with loads and loads of fiction novels, as in the same category with James Bond, a world class fiction actor. He started his writing career in 1939 with his first novel: No Orchids for Miss Blandish and another one, The Villain and the Virgin.
Hadley Chase, who died on February 6, 1985, had a way of painting and describing places, people and scenarios with professional fictional gusto, so much that you would not, but loved him. I, in particular, was an avid reader of his novels just when I was at my formative stage (adolescent) and therefore, I naturally developed my mastery of English language through reading his novels which he churned out fortnightly.
And long after Hadley Chase did his part and departed to the great beyond, another of the ilk of Hadley Chase, mainly for ill motive, has emerged. It is, this time, a group or is it a company, going by the name: “Sahara Reporters.”
Sahara Reporters, though leaning on the wall of journalism to practice its trade, has lately came out clearly as fiction writing organization, wrongly parading itself as INVESTIGATIVE news platform!
Apart from melancholically touching and attacking top guys in Nigeria and elsewhere, in the name of courageous journalism, Sahara Reporters has lately turned into a great source of embarrassment to the noble profession and as a noise maker, churning out fictional news about the health status of the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, to the ridiculous extent of displaying what an average Igbo man calls “too know.”
As a matter of fact, Sahara Reporters has severally came up with analysis and reports on Buhari’s health status so much as if it is the one whose operatives have been the doctors treating the President, to the point that even his wife, Aisha knows not what they know. They even have the temerity of questioning Aisha’s Tweet that her husband’s health is not as bad as people perceived.
When Buhari was in London for the famous medical vacation, Sahara Reporters was at its best, dishing out all sorts of medical jargon, imaginative analysis and pure fiction novels (I mean, news), most, if not all of which could be classified as not even fiction but junks told by idiots that had developed mental disorder and professional whitlow!
The Sahara Reporters came up with wild story that Buhari was infested with all type of dangerous diseases on this earth that would render him incapacitated for the rest of his life. Many people, including professional medical doctors could not even recognize some of the diseases Sahara Reporters listed, and which it said would make the President to remain in London for six months earliest. However, less than two weeks after the Sahara Reporters irresponsible report, Buhari returned to the country, Nigeria and the idiots did not or was not forced to apologize to their die-hard but gullible visitors (readers) in Nigeria.
The latest one of the numerous falsehood Sahara Reporters dished out to gullible Nigerians, hiding under the democratic ethos: Talk is free but Facts are sacred, was about the arrival in Aso Rock, Abuja, Nigeria, of three medical doctors from Britain to treat the President of the disease the hack writer (s) had even identified.
According to Sahara Reporters, the three doctors (all British: two males ad one female) that arrived in Aso Villa on Thursday, May 4, 2017 would treat President Buhari of the ailment of, according to it, chronic disease: “an intestinal disorder, prostate cancer, age-related disorders, including dementia.”
Unfortunately for Sahara Reporters, President Buhari attended Friday (Jum’at) prayer the following day, Friday, looking a little bit improved, after some rest which his doctors insisted he must observe. The President, on arrival looking better, removed his shoes by himself, entered the Mosque and observed two Rakkah: standing to recite verses from Holy Qur’an, bending down to his knees, standing up, prostrating, sitting down, prostrating again and repeating the same thing twice. He also joined in the main congregational prayer after which he shook hands with some dignitaries, cracked some lively jokes with them, smiled, bended down to put on his shoes, got up, walked to the newsmen, greeted them, waved hands to fellow worshippers that offered open prayer for him and walked as normal as he has always been to his residence, about 800 metres from the Mosque. The thought that immediately came to the minds of those whose sensibility were unfortunate assailed by the cooked up news of Sahara Reporters the previous day was, may be the British were waiting for him in his residence to continue with their treatment. Bullshit!
In fact, one would not be surprised if Sahara Reporters comes up with another jaundiced report that President Buhari was given certain drugs to take, just to enable him to go to Jum’at Mosque on Friday, after which he would return to the imported British doctors to continue with his treatment. After all, the same Sahara Reporters questioned the authenticity of the President’s meeting with the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Attorney General of the Federation on Thursday, saying that such meeting was not recorded in video or covered by newspapers. It also questioned Aisha Buhari’s Tweet that her husband was not as sick as people were being fed by the like of Sahara Reporters.
In mockery of Sahara Reporters, a television cameraman in Aso Villa, today, Saturday, May 5, sent the following words to his WhatsApp group:
“BREAKING NEWS –
“At Last Muhammadu Buhari Hands Over Power to Osinbajo.
“It has been confirmed some minutes ago that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Rtd. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari has handed over power to his Vice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo about 20 minutes ago at home where the President is currently working from. This decision came after a closed door meeting held by the cabals and chieftains of the APC. According to the media adviser to Buhari, Mr. Femi Adesina, President Buhari handed over his 50,000Mah Power Bank to Osinbajo to enable him charge his phone whose battery is down as a result of lack of electricity in his location….”
When the TV cameraman was attacked for taking this type of joke too far, he simply said that he was reporting for Sahara Reporters and dared anybody who felt aggrieved to go to court or to beat him if they could get him, a rude reference to the elusiveness of Sahara Reporters!!!
Of course, if the TV cameraman had sent the same ‘joke’ to Sahara Reporters, it would have posted it as gospel truth, even quoting the usually reliable source, for to it, anything…anything at all, goes.
What a shame that Sahara Reporters has gradually turned itself into a pathological and terrible liar, barefaced nincompoop and a none repentant derelict that makes itself a shameless laughing stock amongst human and humanity, all in the name of making a name or money or fame or whatever.
Not to worry, this is both the beauty and ugliness of democracy where the good, the bad and the ugly mix up in the market of human being. So, Sahara Reporters has mates, of the same feather, mixing up in the market with those of us that are practicing decent journalism.
The society can kindly tolerate them, but with a lot of care.
That is with realization that Sahara Reporters could be a media section of the Association of the Corruption Fighting Back (ACFB). [myad]
