Ahead of the 2023 general elections, ace gospel juju exponent and founder of Fresh FM radio, Mr. Olayinka Ayefele, has urged media practitioners not to sacrifice their lives for any political party or politician in the discharge of their duties.
Ayefele who gave the charge on Thursday, during the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, B Zone annual public lecture and award presentation in Ibadan, said the urge and push to get headline stories during the coverage of electioneering campaigns should not be achieved to the detriment of their precious lives, thereby subjecting their families and dependants to sorrow and hardship.
He said, “Journalists should avoid sacrificing their precious lives for anybody in the course of performing their roles as media practitioners. Some of your colleagues, who had died in active duty, how are their families faring? You have to ask this question.
“Journalists should also fight for their lives. We make politicians who they and what they attain through our reports. Don’t allow yourselves to be used for the promotion of people and interest and at the same time exposing your lives to fatal danger.”
The Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration, Federal University, Oye Ekiti, FUOYE, Prof. Shola Omotola, in his lecture, titled “Media and the 2023 Elections in Nigeria, Prospects and Retrospects,” said journalists should be able to track campaign promises of political parties in order to inform the opinions of the electorate.
He charged them to explore some reasonable latitude of freedom provided by the Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill to play critical roles required of them in the conduct of credible polls in 2023.
Omotola, who challenged the nation’s leadership to desist from giving excuses for their failures, said “It is not only Nigeria that is post-colonial. There are other African countries that were colonised decades back, but they have shed vestiges of colonialism and they have moved on, with progressive strides.”
Awardees at the event include the Ogun State governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, who was represented by the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Waheed Odusile; the Chief Press Secretary, CPS, to Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun, Mr. Ismail Omipidan; the Olu of Lisa kingdom, Oba Oladele Odugbemi; founder of Fresh FM radio, Olayinka Ayefele, and Commander of Amotekun in Ondo State, Mr. Adetunji Adeleye.
