…As Amosun, Buhari’s aide task journalists on national unity

By Daud Olatunji

ABEOKUTA—Former World Court judge, Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN), has lamented the level of corrupt practices endemic in the country, saying it has brought shame on Nigerians.

Prince Bola-Ajibola

Ajibola made the call just as Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State and the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina stressed the need for media professionals to always promote national unity.

Ajibola and others spoke in Abeokuta at a public lecture organised by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ogun State Council as part of activities marking the 2017 Press Week.

The event, with theme: ‘Cultivating new media for robust journalism and nation-building’, was attended by media stakeholders, security operatives, civil society organizations and youth associations.

Ajibola said: “We have serious problem of this corruption. It is very endemic. We have it disturbing our situation left, right and centre. It is a shame on our government, it’s a shame on our people, and it is a terrible situation in our country. This is a food for thought. Journalists must come to our aid. They must learn to present us in a better light than we are now involved in.”

While he urged  journalists to brace up to tackling the menace, he challenged the media to pay more attention to the fight against corruption and indiscipline saying the situation is embarrassing to the country.

In his remarks, Adesina, who was represented by the president’s Special Assistant on Digital and New Media, Tolu Ogunlesi, appealed to journalists to desist from sensational and misleading stories for mere monetary gains.

While noting that there cannot be democracy without the press, the presidential aide appealed to journalists to do all in their power to deprive secessionists and terrorists of ‘the oxygen of publicity.’

He also advised journalists to focus on the opportunities new media can offer to reach new and bigger audiences instead of looking at it as a threat.

Adesina said: “If Nigerian journalism is keen to not go the way of obsolescence, then it must step to embrace new Media.

For the ongoing and unending task of nation-building, Nigerian journalists must, more than ever before strive to return to the basic principles and ethics of journalistic practice.

“In the age of fake news and hate speech, we must, as Margaret Thatcher memorably put it more than thirty years ago, do all in our power to deprive secessionists and terrorists of ‘the oxygen of publicity.’

“We must ask, at all times, tough questions, about whether or not our social media narratives are not glorifying Boko Haram, for example, or perpetuating ethnic stereotypes. We must strive for nuance at a time when the brevity of new and social media is encouraging the opposite.”

In his address, Governor Amosun noted that the fabric of unity and continued progress of any society largely depend on the vibrancy of journalists.

The governor, whose address was read by Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Otunba Dayo Adeneye, said journalism as a profession “divest itself of anachronism and expand its scope for it to properly function as the watchdog of the government. The practitioners must also begin to upgrade themselves not only in information management but also on useful tools for effective and efficient performance.”