Police, politicians, journalists brainstorm ahead of 2019 election

From DAPO SALAMI, Ibadan

WITH Nigeria still yearning for entrenched democratic culture and flourishing economic agenda, the security agents, politicians, media practitioners and other stakeholders in the Nigerian project have called on the media to help reshape the drifting ship of the nation so as to berth in a safe haven for the country to accomplish its full potentials now and in the future.

These were the fallout of talk shows and anniversary lecture marking the one year of an online news medium, Paragon News and the 40th Birthday of an Executive Member of the Oyo state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ademola Babalola, who is also the state Correspondent of THISDAY Newspaper.

In the lecture entitled: “What Roles for the Media Ahead of 2019 Election”, the guest lecturer, Mr. Femi Babalola, admonished the media to live up to their billings as the fourth estate of the realm by engaging in a more serious investigative reporting on the antecedents of the would-be leaders at every level of governance in the country.

Babalola, the Chairman of Pentagon Engineering and Jogor Events Centre, who articulated the roles for journalists at this crucial stage of the nation’s national life, regretted the prostrate state of our economy and the lurking social crisis which he said should be of concern to the media. He was emphatic that the Media have a duty to ensure that the current economic crisis does not degenerate to social crisis.

“At the setting in of social crisis, we will return to the state of nature where both life and property would no longer be safe or guaranteed as a result of widespread anarchy that will result. As I have said earlier, both economic and social stability are functions of diligent governance and adept leadership. So your focus right away, giving your power of command and control as journalists, is to guide this great nation to right political choice in 2019. That patriotic role, dear pen pushers, begins right away,” Babalola added.

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A former Editor-In-Chief of Nigerian Tribune, Mr. Felix Adenaike enjoined the political class not to be complacent that Nigerian voters are robots, stressing that “this is the reason why as media professionals, we should always put them on their toes by making sure that we are duly involved in setting agenda for good governance, accountability and probity as demanded of us in the constitution (section 22). This lecture is timely and should be emulated by all media professionals.”

The Commissioner of Information in the state, Hon. Toye Arulogun chided some journalists for their penchant for blackmail and publication of unfounded rumours to bring down people in government, adding that, the era of investigative and responsible journalism is gone, a development, he added, ‘called to question the sincerity of the media in entrenching good governance, probity and accountability in the country riddled with graft and corrupt practices’.

The state police commissioner, CP Sam Dam Adegbuyi represented by SP Samson Olawoyin in his keynote address assured the media professionals of continuous protection at all times and more importantly during electioneering campaigns, adding that “the media is our critical partner in progress.”

A media aide to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr. Kehinde Akinyemi of Daily Trust Newspaper enjoined the media on the need for them not to be partisan on reportage of political events and give each political party equal time to share their goals and strategies for reaching those objectives. He added that “Media do, indeed, have a certain level of social responsibility to avoid incendiary language or biased reporting that incites antagonism or conflict.

“Reporters must also avoid reporting on rumors and seek out new and diverse voices for their stories whenever possible. They should also embrace the need to sometimes expurgate inaccurate or potentially inflammatory language from political statements or speeches and always be aware of the words they choose to use in stories,” Akinyemi added.

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A former Minister of Sports who was the Father of the day and an Abuja-based Managing Director of Westfield Global Construction Limited, Alhaji Wasiu Adebisi, who chaired the event, tasked the leadership of NUJ on the need to ensure enforceable regulatory standard for the social media practitioners so as to checkmate incidences of partiality and unhealthy fictitious stories occasionally spinned as ‘truths’. Adedoja called for caution, transparency and public engagement with the rise of new media.

Other stakeholders at the event are a serving lawmaker in the state, Fatai Shina Adeniyi, a former National President of NUJ, Mr. Lanre Ogundipe, Mr. Yomi Layinka, the Special Adviser on Media to Governor Abiola Ajimobi represented by a Senior Special Assistant, Mr. Akin Oyedele, a former NUJ Chairman, Mr. Gbenga Ayoade, the incumbent Vice-Chairman of the union and a former Secretary, Prince Segun Adeyemo and Mr. Samson Tunde Abiodun, members of the League of Veteran Journalists, Lagelu Grammar School OldBoys, celebrant’s colleagues from across the Media Houses in Oyo state, SWAN, NAWOJ, Online Media colleagues, officials of Union Bank, FMBN, NUPENG, BayseOne Hotel, Fidelity Bank, among others.