Say Media Literacy, Fight against Negative Vices Pivotal…
PHOTO: (L-R) Journalists Julius Kanubah, Torwon Sulonteh-Brown, Hassan Kiawu, Eva Flomo and Frank Sainworla, Jr.
Four top-notch Liberian journalists have made key recommendations aimed at helping to avert potential threats of terrorism and violent extremism in the Mano River Union countries of Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast.
The journalists are News Public Trust Managing Editor, Frank Sainworla, Jr., Internews Senior Journalism Trainer Torwon Solunteh-Brown, Liberia Broadcasting System Deputy Director General for Media Services Hassan Kiawu, Press Union of and Liberia’s presidential hopeful Julius K. Kanubah.
They said the first step to preventing external threats is to first deal with those ones that are internal. They identified internal threats as corruption, inequality, extension of presidential term limits, land ownership, and religious fundamentalism, economic hardship, religious intolerance, and social inequality, etc., while stressing the need for Media Literacy.
Torwon: “All of these countries we are talking about fought war. Wherever they fight war there are fertile grounds for terrorism and extremism. The lingering effects of war make it is so important to take immediate action to prevent terrorism and violent extremism. The issue of poverty is one. When people are poor, they are easily radicalized”.
Julius Kanubah: “The issues that are triggers of violent extremism and terrorism need to be tackled. We must address governance issues in the Mano River Union Basin. It would be important to address the issue of hardship, poverty, unemployment and those issues are caused by governments’ failure.
Julius continues: “Address the condition of the people. Why is it that some people within in West Africa are making US$15,000 to US$20,000 and the common civil servants the nurses, the doctors are making very little?
Frank Sainworla: “Few years ago we had some Liberian people including church people who talked about Christianising Liberia. We think it was a recipe for rising Christian fundamentalism. Christian Fundamentalism is as bad as Muslim Fundamentalism. Making Liberia a Christian state would lead people to radicalization,” saying that “The media has a role to play”.
Hassan Kiawu: “Many people are fleeing their host countries due to poverty and misrule. Poverty and injustices are key. People issues are not being addressed adequately. People’s plights are being ignored. There’s a need for a national conversation”. “Poverty and corruption are some of the vices eating us up. There is a need to address them.”
Despite identifying the triggers of violent extremism and terrorism, the four journalists called for capacity building of journalists in the MRU countries. They stressed that for anti-terrorism and violent extremism messages to be communicated to the public properly, media practitioners’ skill need to be developed.
Considering the poor media industry, the media gurus called for member countries of the MRU to heavily invest in the media.
The renown Liberian journalists, also media development experts, spoke on Monday July 29, 2024, while serving as panellists on a Media Roundtable (panel) hosted on ECOWAS Radio.
Organized by the Center for Economic Crimes and Security Studies (CESS), the Roundtable is part of a series of ‘Anti-Terrorism and Violent Extremism’ activities funded by the Inter-Governmental Agency Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA).
The Center for Economic Crimes and Security Studies (CESS), formerly Citizen Action for Economic Justice, has over eighteen (18) years of experience into economic crimes and security issues in the Mano River Basin, says in a press release.