Follow Us on Google
By Bimbola Oyesola , [email protected]
Barely two months to Nigeria’s general election, Nigerian media professionals have been charged to carry out their duty and responsibility towards the nation having a credible leadership to steer the country for another four years.
Experts have charged practitioners never to allow anybody or group to lure nor cow them into any act capable of tarnishing the nobility of their profession.
Labour experts believe that politicians seeking votes have dismissed the relevance of journalists in the electoral process.
The experts, therefore, urged journalists not to be discouraged, but rather to set agenda for transformational leadership ahead of the 2023 general election for a better Nigeria.
Equally, the media professionals were cautioned against accepting Greek gifts from any person(s) in any guise who may come in different portfolios claiming to be angels and apostles of good tidings, meanwhile they are wolves in sheep’s clothing who are sent to destroy Nigeria’s democracy deploying any machination.
Speaking recently at a media workshop organised by the Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN) with support from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) held in Lagos, stakeholders in the media industry warned that this is a period when political moneybags would do everything possible to influence journalistic works in other to achieve a sinister end.
With the theme: “The Role of Media In Setting Agenda for 2023 Election”, the experts reminded journalists in the country of their roles of holding government at all levels accountable to the people at all times, to foster and engender good governance.
Speaking at the event, Director, International Press Centre (IPC), Lanre Arogundade, advises Nigerian workers, as well as their labour unions not to be used as cannon-fodders by selfish and greedy politicians.
He said, “cannon-folders are regarded merely as materials to be expended in war.”
He warned workers to refrain from serving as foot-soldiers of political parties or as party thugs during elections.
According to him, workers must contribute to democratic accountability by documenting labour-workers related campaign promises with a view to holding politicians accountable to their promises.
He said, “Politicians must be held responsible for their campaign promises, especially as they relate to labour sector while generally-highlighting the roles of labour and workers in peaceful elections.”
He expressed that Labour writers must continue to sensitize the public on the importance of PVC collections and voting while drawing the attention of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and also State Independent Electoral Commission, (SIEC), to the needs of disadvantaged Nigerian workers, such as those living with disabilities.
He also charged the Labour writers to work with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to organize political debates for presidential and governorship candidates on labour-related issues.
Arogundade said, “Labour journalists working in the broadcast media should create election programmes focusing on the issues of workers in 2023 general elections.”
He opined that campaign promises must not end after the elections in 2023, but should be followed-up and encourage workers to seek for the fulfillment of those promises, stressing that journalists should publish those promises in a booklet.
In her contribution, former Labour Editor, Vanguard Media Limited, Mrs Funmi Komolafe said, the role of the media pre-dates the Election Day and must begin with party primaries, where candidates are elected or appointed to choose their flag bearers.
In her lecture, “The role of the media in ensuring peaceful, credible, transparent and inclusive general elections in 2023”, she noted that journalists must report campaign activities without being carried away by activities of politicians.
In Nigeria, she said, the media tend to focus on the number of people at the rally, instead of the real political message.
She said, it is common to see headlines like “mammoth crowd and massive turn-out”, saying such headlines do not reflect objective reporting.
Komolafe noted that, as the 2023 general elections approach, the Nigerian journalist needs to ask in whose interest he or she is reporting?.
She said, “We must remember that we have a duty to ensure that the interest of our nation should be our focus. We should desist from unnecessary sensationalism that promotes ethnicity and religious divide.”
Human Rights Activist and a Lawyer, Barrister Wale Ogunade said media has made attempts towards effecting processes that would result in what can be perceived as the most important discourse on issues that would affect the society, influence and establish the spate of news occurrence.
According to him, agenda setting has formed a cardinal component of public opinion and accurate evaluation of such news has become important to public policy consideration.
His words: “The media has a gate-keeping function and exclusive capacity to control what is reported.
“It must be noted that for the country to remain afloat, journalists must deliver on the responsibility of holding government accountable to the people.”
Ogunade stated that the media is expected to listen to what the politicians are saying and draw a conclusion as to the reality on ground, maintaining that a journalist should stay by the sacred principles of the profession to avoid misinformation.
“The media must ensure that it is that person that would take us out of the woods that would emerge as president in 2023,” he said.
Also Speaking at the event, the national Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, Sen. Iyorchia Ayu reiterated plans by its Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to inject a $10 billion Economic Stimulus Fund within his first 100 days in office to prioritize support to Micro, Small, and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.
Senator Ayu who was represented by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba said the party’s covenant with Nigerians is to prioritize efforts in creating a very robust economic development agenda to revamp the ailing productive sectors.
He added that such would stimulate multi-sectoral productivity and best conditions of service that guarantee job security, training and capacity building; competitive remuneration as well as reliable retirement and pension scheme for workers in both the public and private sectors enterprises.
