Two top media scholars have warned the Nigerian media against reliance on government for funding to enable them play their roles to the society well.

They declared that relying on government funding would compromise their objectivity and ability to make government accountable.

The two scholar are the Dean, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Lagos State University, Prof Jide Jimoh, and the National President, Association of Communications Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria, ACSPN, Prof. Rotimi Olatunji.

In their separate remarks on Wednesday at the maiden edition of the Communication and Media Studies Seminar Series, the professors suggested that the media should rather opt for alternative means of funding which would guarantee independence.

Jimoh said his position was premised on the role constitutionally assigned to the press to hold the government accountable.

“How would it be possible for the media to hold government accountable if it is the same organ or body funding it?” Jimoh asked.

He reasoned that the same problem of lack of independence would also arise if funding of the media was also left in the hands of individuals or some organisations with personal interests.

He therefore suggested that funding should be sourced from organisations or foundations with the genuine interest of the public in mind.

Speaking in the same vein, Prof. Olatunji emphasised the imperative of the need for the media to choose between protecting the interest of the larger society or personal interest.

Harping on the significance of “ethical altruism” which he said bordered on protecting the interest of the larger society, Olatunji concluded:

“If you want to change the society, you don’t have to depend on government funding.”

The event is the maiden edition of the Communication and Media Studies Seminar Series and organised by the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, FCMS.

The topic of the lecture is “How Media Narratives Shape Poverty and Policy in Nigeria.”

Held at the Ph.D. Class of the faculty, it was delivered by Dr. Olasunkanmi Arowolo of the Department of Journalism, FCMS, LASU.

While the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello was the Chief Host, Prof. Jide Jimoh, was the Host and Prof. Rotimi Olatunji, the Moderator.

The title of the seminar was hinged on the PhD thesis of Arowolo with the title: “Poverty, Politics and the Press: Media Framing, Policy Narrative and Democratic Accountability in Nigeria.”

The programme forms part of the faculty’s efforts to encourage discussion on communication and public policy and ultimately, add to knowledge.

Students, researchers and media professionals attended the event.

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Soneye made the appeal in Abuja on Tuesday after receiving the NUJ FCT Excellence in Corporate Communications Award, conferred on him by the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, FCT Council.

The NUJ leadership, led by Chairperson Grace Ike, alongside the Deputy Chair, Secretary-General, and other executives, described Soneye as a consummate professional who has distinguished himself with tact and excellence in the communications field.

In his remarks, Soneye noted that while the Nigerian media remained one of the most vibrant in Africa, it continued to grapple with systemic challenges that weakened its effectiveness.

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“The Nigerian media remains one of the most vibrant in Africa, but it also faces systemic challenges, financial, political, legal, and technological that weaken its effectiveness. The government can play a supportive role by granting tax incentives or relief on import duties for newsprint, broadcast equipment, and digital infrastructure,” he said.

He also urged the federal government to establish an independent media development fund to support investigative journalism, community radio, and newsroom innovation, drawing parallels with models in South Africa, the United States, and Canada.

The award underscores Soneye’s long-standing contributions to journalism and corporate communications, as well as his advocacy for a stronger, independent, and sustainable Nigerian media.

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Mr Lanre Arogundade, Executive Director of IPC, made the call during a workshop for selected media executives and senior journalists in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

He said that the media played important role in elections, emphasising media’s position as a cornerstone of democracy in any country.

Arogundade explained that IPC and CEMESO organised the workshop for media practitioners to brainstorm and identify strategies that would foster solution-driven election reporting.

“We must review our past with a view to drawing a roadmap for improvement of the present in media reportage, reflecting factually accurate, socially responsible electoral reporting, free from hate speech and disinformation,” he said.

Arogundade explained that journalists played critical role during elections, particularly in civic and voter education, public enlightenment, providing a platform for campaigns and conflict management.

He said that the media houses could not take the roles for granted, as citizens consumed and interpreted media information to make informed decisions and judgements.

“They are equally important because the conduct or misconduct of media institutions often impact heavily on democratic processes.

“The actions and inactions of media professionals could also affect the credibility and fairness of the electoral situation under which the people exercise the right to choose,” he added.

Arogundade highlighted that the European Union’s Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria phase II programme (EU-SDGN II), recognises the importance of supporting the media to enable them to perform their duties effectively.

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He stated that component four of the programme advocated the strengthening of media professionals in tackling misinformation and disinformation and enhancing their ability to diversify and deepening coverage of the electoral process.

Other areas include enhancing the professionalism of media practitioners, especially women, improving media awareness, use of the FOI Act and encouraging media engagement in promoting the participation of women, youths and marginalised groups in politics.

He said that IPC and CEMESO had organised several capacity building programmes, but after two years of substantial engagements with journalists, limited impact was recorded.

“Evaluators identified that the challenging media environment as a key constraint to applying newly acquired knowledge and skills.

“To maximise impact, training must be complemented by a supportive newsroom environment.

“Therefore, this brainstorming session aims to identify strategies for fostering solution-driven election reporting,” he noted.

Also speaking, the Executive Director of CEMESO, Dr Akin Akingbulu, said that professional, ethical and vibrant media remained essential to building democracy in Nigeria.

He said that history had placed media practitioners with a sacred duty to transform information into institution, voice into nation building and headlines into legacy.

According to Akingbulu, media practitioners are faced with challenges, including widespread financial instability in media houses, mounting political pressures and the unchecked proliferation of disinformation.

“We recognise the weight media professionals carry daily battling to uphold truth, while navigating financial constraints and an ever-evolving digital landscape.

“We understand the delicate balance practitioners must strike in serving the public interests, while keeping the lights on and maintaining credibility in an era of deep skepticism.

“The threats to press freedom and the exclusion of marginalised voices are systemic issues requiring systemic solution challenges that are not journalists’ alone but are ours to confront together,” he added.

Akingbulu concluded with a strong call for sustained partnerships among the media, civil society and government institutions to forge long term reforms.

Source: NAN

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Is this a story about high-heeled shoes? Nah. It’s a story about DSS, DSS guns, DSS and the Nigerian media and their tough marriage.

So at this year’s conference of the International Press Institute, Nigeria chapter, I was looking forward to seeing dozens of the DSS ‘designer guns on display. Maybe I’d even get to touch one, I thought. And why not? The DSS chief, yeah, the Director-General of the DSS, Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi, was going to deliver a paper and I was on the panel that would discuss that paper. So I got to the venue early. Didn’t want those hard poker-faced-dudes getting there before me. But there was no gun in sight. What the heck? Was he standing us up, sending a rep? He came himself and when he did, the guns were still missing. Nobody was wearing a black shirt or an overall with bold DSS inscribed on it. What’s going on here?

The only way for this marriage to stay on the happily-ever-after lane is mutual respect and understanding of what each party brings to the table. I can still see the D-G, DSS in his impeccable suit as he told us to stop shaking the table. We’ll try, sir, but shaking the table is what we do. We’ll just try to do it within the ambits of the law, respect the space of the sacred grove and the New Sheriff’s masquerade.

When Mr. Ajayi finally got on the podium (he, himself, looking like a bank CEO), he explained why the guns were out of sight. It was a long counselling session, the kind a wife gets even when she’s the one who woke the husband up with: “Honey, we need to talk.” His topic was: “Dissecting the frosty relationship between the Nigerian Media and Security Agencies.” He read from no notes, speaking directly from his heart. His message was clear, delivered in stern terms and tone.

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There’s no frosty relationship (I added “Honey” in my head). The DSS is the DSS. It’s a security agency. It’s a secret police.

DSS protects its information

The media looks for information

Breaking news can break security

The choice of words the media uses can damage things

The media throw ‘it’ out there.

The DSS keeps it away from getting out.

So, how do these two people who are brought up differently, trained differently to live lovingly in their federally and nationally arranged marriage? Even the Bible says two cannot work together except they agree. Wait, maybe that’s the key to the resolution. Agreement. For this marriage to work, the Media and DSS will have to agree on their differences and how to live with them.

Even if the DSS Chief insisted that there is no such thing as a frosty relationship between the newsroom and security, this couple still needed to sit down and agree on the knotty issues. If a wife says it is not well and the husband says it is well, then we need to find out what’s in the well. If a husband says it is full and the wife says it is empty, we need to check the cup and look at why the two are seeing different things.

First, can the DSS be more open, and ….em… em perhaps un-scrap the scrapped office of the DSS spokesperson. Wha-a-t? Tosin Ajayi almost blew something. A secret police with a spokesperson? How does that add up? The DSS is like a sacred masquerade or ‘Oro’. It does not talk anyhow everywhere. The DSS is like a circumspect Yoruba Oba, he must not eat in public. Ok, those are my words, my understanding of the seriousness of the situation. The media want answers, voices in their stories, operating within deadlines that must be met. How do we deliver our stories when DSS doesn’t want to be seen? Tosin Ajayi said all of that can be arranged without the office of the spokesman of DSS. Seriously? What changed? Well, I learnt that this new Sheriff is a thoroughbred secret cop who rose through the ranks, not a politician or political appointee who got lucky. No, Ajayi started as a rookie, and after three decades-plus of service, he’s here determined to restore the dignity of the service. The mask must stay on and the masquerade must stay in the grove unless there is reason for it to visit the people.

Do you see why this relationship is rocky, if not frosty? Journalists are excited by masks. They want to know who is behind the mask. What’s the mask made of and indeed what goes on in the grove? Why does the masquerade speak in a guttural voice? Does it have a cold or it just wants to confuse the populace? Secrets and secret hunters can hardly ever be on the same page. That is why the innocent-looking DSS guns are out of sight and the bold DSS labels are now covered by long cloaks. Tosin Ajayi doesn’t want his men in our faces even when they are all over us. A masquerade who goes to the village market every day will soon lose his mask to little boys who would think he’s one of them and not a spirit.

That was why they were all dressed like bankers at the IPI Conference. But we, yes editors, knew they were not one of us. I know they also knew we were not one of them. They did their thing and we did ours. Come to think of it: Wasn’t that what the new DSS Chief’s presentation was about?

Seriously, the media and the DSS both want the same thing, a safe environment, safe nation. The two just use different routes to the market.

Different training, different ways of life for two different professionals expected to work together. Tough but doable.

The boss at the Yellow House comes across as a man who came into this job prepared. He knew the service he joined more than 30 years ago and he didn’t like the turn it took somewhere along the way. He’s a man on a mission, determined to keep the Secret in the State Service while maintaining a smart and smooth relationship with the newsroom.

The only way for this marriage to stay on the happily-ever-after lane is mutual respect and understanding of what each party brings to the table. I can still see the D-G, DSS in his impeccable suit as he told us to stop shaking the table. We’ll try, sir, but shaking the table is what we do. We’ll just try to do it within the ambits of the law, respect the space of the sacred grove and the New Sheriff’s masquerade.

*Egbemode is a former President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors.

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The categories are in five groupings of Reporting, Commentary, Documentary-Drama, Design & Photography, and Overall Awards.

There are fifteen Reporting categories: Business, Child Friendly, Education, Energy, Health, Insurance, Investigation, Judiciary, Lagos State, Niger Delta Development, Nutrition, Radio, Solid Minerals, Sports, and Television.

Commentary has three, Editorial Cartooning, Editorial Writing, Informed Commentary; so, does Documentary-Drama: Radio Drama, Television Drama, Television Documentary.

Design & Photography has four: Best Designed Newspaper, Best Media Website, Child Friendly Photography, News Photography.

Overall Awards has three: Child-friendly Medium, Newspaper of the Year, Editor of the Year.

Entries must have been published in 2023 and are limited to two per individual in a category; they should be submitted by September 23, 2024, via the DAME website www.dameawards.com.

Prizes for the awards are a DAME plaque, cash, certificate of merit, professional tools (Laptop/Tablet) and Books for individuals, while institutional winners will receive a DAME plaque and a Certificate of Merit.

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I woke up Tuesday to read some hair-raising headlines about kidnapping and killings in our country. “Over 17,000 Nigerians abducted under Buhari and Tinubu”, screamed one newspaper that described the incidents an epidemic.

Another newspaper wrote “2,423 people killed, 1,872 kidnapped in eight months of Tinubu”. There was yet another scary headline, that will truly scare any outsider away from my state of Ogun. It says “From Rising industrial hub to den of cultists, criminals.” The impressionistic outsider will, at first blush, think every inch of Ogun is under the siege of cultists and criminals.

Of course, this sweeping generalisation conveyed by the newspaper does not match the reality lived by the people in the state.

Our security agencies deserve society’s appreciation for their efforts so far, in trying to nip in the bud the evils of kidnapping, banditry, communal killings and terrorism in our country.

As a newspaper man myself for over 40 years, I understand the game the media play. To sell our newspapers or clickbait, we tend to exaggerate and embellish, sometimes forgetting the social responsibility of the media, not to give the impression that our country is under siege by criminals or that every nook and cranny of our country is under their stranglehold.

One of our newspapers took this responsibility to heart in its report on the same Tuesday, making its major headline, the efforts by security agents to rein in the minority vagabonds in our midst. “Securitymen raise bar in battle against kidnappers”, the paper reported, as it listed the bombing of terrorists den, the rescue of captives by the army and police, simultaneously as it also reported the unfortunate killing of two monarchs in Ekiti, a policeman in Imo and mother and daughter in the FCT.

The frightening headlines on Tuesday were  based on the report by the Civil Society Joint Action Group that calls for an emergency on the security situation, surprisingly oblivious that our security agencies have been working in that spirit for a long time, since 2009.

Our security agencies deserve society’s appreciation for their efforts so far, in trying to nip in the bud the evils of kidnapping, banditry, communal killings and terrorism in our country. Their efforts, most often understated, have made our country safer at least than South Africa or the United States, where 44,310 people were killed last year in gun violence.

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South Africa faces a worsening insecurity than Nigeria. In 2023, 15,343 people were kidnapped, with Gauteng Province, where  the City of Johannesburg, the commercial capital, is located recording 7,818 cases of kidnapping for ransom. Ten years ago in 2013, there were only 3,822 cases of kidnapping. They jumped to 11,000 in 2021 and have been on the upward curve since then.

Gun related killings or murders are also high in South Africa. They increased by 35 percent between 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. In the fourth quarter of 2023, 6,289 people were killed in South Africa. An average of 70 killings occurred per day between January and March 2023. Within a more extended period, April 2022 and March 2023, the killings were 75 per day. According to official statistics, 27,272 people were killed during this period, with 11,347 shot dead.

South Africa also leads the world in car jacking, with 18,000 cases reported in 2020 and 22,742 cases reported last year, an increase of eight percent over 2022 figure.

Nigerians will appreciate our security agencies better with the comparative figures about our country. Between July 2022 and and June 2023, Nigeria recorded 3,620 people kidnapped for ransom, in 582 kidnapping incidents. In 2022, 4,616 people were kidnapped. The same year, 4,545 people were killed by criminals in our midst.

In a report by the World Population Review, Nigeria is not among the top 10 countries in the world, with kidnapping “epidemic“. Turkey leads with 42 people kidnapped out of 100,000 people. Lebanon is second with 15 people out of 100,000 and Kuwait third with 12 out of 100,000 held in captivity. Canada, Belgium, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan, Eswatini and United Kingdom make up the remaining top 10. Kidnapping in Nigeria is 0.334 per 100,000.

Surely, every life matters. Surely, any of our compatriots kidnapped by the criminals must be a matter of concern to the government as it has always been a matter of concern to our security agencies and the leadership, whose job is to keep all of us safe.

In my view, they have all been playing a salutary role. Contrary to the uncharitable comment that President Tinubu has been fiddling while incidents of kidnapping or killings occur, as commander-in-chief, he has been  providing material support to security agencies to discharge their duties. In recent weeks, we have seen the police setting up a Special Intervention Squad, equipped with drones. The DSS has stepped up its anti-kidnapping act, rescuing 154 abducted people in the last few days.

Last week President Tinubu approved N50billion as Special Fund to address some of the lingering security challenges in North East. He also approved special funds to the FCT, for the acquisition of equipment to track criminals.

Media reporting about cases of kidnapping, communal killings and isolated terrorism acts must show some moderation by not giving the impression that all Nigerians no longer sleep with two eyes closed or are not safe in going about their day-to-day business.

The relative peace we used to enjoy in our country was broken in the 90s by cases of kidnapping in Niger-Delta. Then followed insurgency in the North-East in 2009, which morphed into banditry and kidnapping in North-West and some parts of North Central. Kidnapping, which appears to be developing into an industry, has also spread to South-West and South-East. It will definitely take some time to put the broken pieces back into the whole.

Media reporting about cases of kidnapping, communal killings and isolated terrorism acts must show some moderation by not giving the impression that all Nigerians no longer sleep with two eyes closed or are not safe in going about their day-to-day business.

While we do not have a crime-free country yet, there is no denying that some efforts are being made countrywide to fight the emerging scourge. Last December Lagos State celebrated four years of near zero robbery in the state, with only one incident recorded in Epe in 2023. The South-West states have set up Amotekun, a local police of sort, that is working alongside the police. Such efforts must be encouraged all over the country, to give our people security cover at all times. Amotekun and other local police set up by the states must be strengthened to work with our existing security structure for intelligence gathering and covert operation. Citizens and the media must also, as a matter of duty, compliment the efforts of government to completely stamp out violent crimes.

*Onanuga is Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy

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He also charged the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, to eliminate the menace of fake news in the profession.

Abiodun spoke on Friday in Abeokuta at the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, South West Zonal Meeting and Award Ceremony.

The governor was conferred with the grand patron of the Ogun State chapter of the union at the occasion.

Represented by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Dr. Taiwo Oluwatoyin, the governor said that many Nigerians were still critical and alarmed about the subsidy removal due to the astronomical increase in the pump price of petrol, which had also had ripple effects on transportation fares, rising cost of food items among others.

But he said the media, as information dissemination institution, must rise and live up to its responsibility as the fourth estate of the realm by informing and educating the public on the subsidy challenge.

He noted that the current high cost of petrol would come down with the nation’s refineries working alongside the recently commissioned Dangote refinery.

He also called on the media to defend the nation’s democracy and nurture it to maturity.

Abiodun, while calling on journalists to be constructive in their approach to national discourse, challenged the NUJ to weed out fake journalists and fight the scourge of fake news, which is detrimental to peace and harmony in the society.

“Journalism as a profession is seen all over the world as the fourth estate of the realm after the executive, legislature and the judiciary which occupies the first, second and third place respectively. And it is on this position that we see this profession as information dissemination institution and one which unravels the hidden truth without fear or favour.

“The profession is seen as the best of all because it has a ready-made audience in the citizens who expect journalists to tell, inform and clarify the grey areas, especially as it relates to governance and happenings in their environment.

“On the other hand, the media plays a common-carrier role by providing a line of communication between the government and the people. This communication goes both ways. The people learn about what the government is doing, and the government learns from the media what the public is thinking.

“We must also realize the fact that the system of communication is the ‘nerve of the polity’ and any breakdown of the nerve may cause dysfunctional impact in the performance of the polity, thereby causing governance decay.

“A responsible media helps in the socialisation of people into citizenship, democratisation of the state and political society, institutionalization of civic culture through unfettered flow of information, and rationalized use of power in social relations,” the governor said.

Speaking on the theme; “Sustainable Development Goal 3: Challenges before the new government”, Abiodun said healthcare facilities in Ogun State had undergone massive rehabilitation and intervention, including Primary Health Care Centres (PHCs) located across the 236 wards to take health care closer to the people.

He said that the massive injection of funds into the health sector by his administration in the face of dwindling resources was the realisation that the health and wellbeing of the people serve as catalysts to social economic development.

According to him, the healthcare sector in the state ranked among the best in the country, adding that the present administration was committed to building on the successes recorded so far.

The governor said: “We see Healthcare as an important kernel of our social contract in Ogun State. Provision of efficient health care is an integral part of our Social Welfare and Wellbeing, which is a component of our ISEYA programme. We believe that only a healthy populace can enjoy the provision of infrastructure and to tap into the available economic potentials of our dear State.

“To further underpin our commitment to the provision of qualitative health care service delivery in Ogun State, amongst the first official assignments undertaken by our administration was to see to the general overhauling of our health sector. And for the past four years, our administration has continued to address the identified infrastructural and personnel gaps in our health sector, just like every other sector of the economy of our state.

“Today, majority of our state-owned health facilities have experienced massive rehabilitation and intervention. We also continue to invest in the rehabilitation of Primary Health Care Centres (PHCs) across the 236 wards in our dear state to take health care closer to our people.

“The rationale behind all these interventions is to ensure a wholesome rejuvenation of our health care system at all levels in line with Sustainable Development Goal (good health and wellbeing).

“We have continued to fulfil our electoral promises every way possible. More importantly, we remain committed to our ‘I.S.E.Y.A’ mantra as encapsulated in our ‘Building our Future Together’ agenda. Despite the dwindling allocation from the federal government, our administration continues to embark on laudable projects.”

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This year’s celebration marks 30 years since the UN General Assembly’s decision proclaiming an international day for press freedom, and the president said the landmark was a tribute to media professionals, who risked their lives to keep society informed and educated.

On this year’s theme, “Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of expression as a driver for all other human rights”, President Buhari said he was delighted that the rights of Nigerian journalists had been protected and upheld in the past 8 years.

“We have kept the faith. We have ensured that Nigerian journalists have had unfettered freedom to practice their art, and on this occasion of World Press Freedom Day, we recommit to that resolution, even as we wind down in office,” the president says.

He charged media professionals to continue to be patriotic, work for the cohesion of the country, and exercise their freedom with a high deal of responsibility.

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Power distribution companies’ officials and greedy landlords are unlikely to rank high on the table of Nigerians deserving of public sympathy. But they can thank their stars that the animus towards them is nowhere near- in intensity and consistency-of what goes in the direction of the police establishment and its personnel. When the police post photographs or videos of policemen leaning to offer comfort or reassurance to a lost kid found on the street, appreciation of the gesture, when offered, quickly disappears in the slipstream of social media vitriol.

While the #ENDSARS protests flamed, murder of policemen, assault on them and police facilities provoked delirious jubilation and industrial-scale ill-will not just towards them, but their loved ones as well. These, I believe, remain latent and seep forcefully to the surface any time there is a report of police misconduct, which is often. It must be so tough to be a police officer in this era and I suspect that many of them would wish they were not, given the current climate of hate.

The police have let us down so badly, especially over recent years, but it is nevertheless wrong to indiscriminately tarnish everyone in the force as the same.

The police have justifiably been criticized for patterns of appalling conduct in their ranks: extra-judicial murder, extraction of confessions via torture, getting into bed with felons, casual brutality and various strains of corruption among others. The media, traditional and social, have been clinical in bringing these to light, just as in other areas of public service.

But I think we should look a bit more deeply into the nature of policing as well as the way officers’ actions are reported. The quiet work of a sergeant, which provides reassurance to a lost but found kid or assistance to a driver with a flat tyre on a lonely road is hardly going to attract roaring applause or be the subject of lavish media celebration. There are, I believe, hundreds of officers and men, whose actions will never be celebrated but are crucial to keeping us safe.

This is by no means an attempt to diminish the nature of cultural problems in the police; it is merely to offer the reminder that it is not right to taint the many decent and principled officers by association, for they are just as appalled by instances of wrongdoing as we are, and are victims of the system as everyone else.

Years ago, I met a police inspector seconded to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). It was the first day of the grilling of Mr. Tafa Balogun, the now deceased Inspector-General of Police, for corrupt practices. The inspector was happy at how things had turned out for Balogun, whom he described as a lucre-obsessed ogre (not his words). He said there were officers worse than Balogun, even within the force’s lower ranks. He told me of officers at his level with as many as 10 homes, cars and other good things because they had bank balances as hefty as Balogun’s physique.

He told me how much he earned as an inspector and how much his family was entitled to if he got killed on duty. Both sums, which I no longer recall, were measly. His first son, who was in the terminal class in secondary school, he told me, was going to train as tyre mender (erroneously called a vulcanizer) once he was done because he was sure not to have money to fund his education beyond that level.

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I asked how he found himself excluded from the gravy train, to which he responded that his colleagues made money via hideous schemes, which were against his Christian values (I tend to sniff at such claims to piety). He added that he was persuaded that evil would befall the children of police officers involved in obnoxious activities. A fellow inspector with so much money, he said, saw his first two sons run mad, something he attributed to punishment outrunning the father’s deeds.

The police have let us down so badly, especially over recent years, but it is nevertheless wrong to indiscriminately tarnish everyone in the force as the same. Who would want to join the police at a time like this?  The ship of state relies on public service, part of which is the police. Society does not and cannot work without them. I am not suggesting we pull our punches, by the way. Neither am I asking the public to stop the important work of exposing malfeasance because it is crucial for building greater accountability into the systems that underpin the police institution.

Police officers, it is safe to say, are a high-risk group for the development of mental health issues. The public does not seem to think this is important.

At the same time, I think we are at a stage where brilliant and decent people will not want to serve the country by joining the police because they are seeing those in service badly exhausted by the drip, drip of bad-faith attacks. These are marked by the rush to judgment and lack of compassion in assessing their work, promoting the attitude that the institution is universally awful.

A percentage of the awfulness (don’t know how much), I believe, is attributable to the conditions of service. Pigs are likely to balk at the offer of spending just one night in most of our police barracks, where flies do not need  their wings when seeking filth to perch on.  Or police stations. The dire sanitation in such facilities will produce compassion-deficient people, the result of which we see daily.

Police officers, it is safe to say, are a high-risk group for the development of mental health issues. The public does not seem to think this is important. If the authorities think of it all, they do not appear to take it as significant. These are just two examples. There are many, notably related to operations. To have the police become our friends-from the foes they currently seem to be-everybody, the media inclusive, needs to draw attention in a sustained manner to the deficits plaguing the force.

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The Director, International Press Centre, IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, made the declaration on Monday in Abuja at a two-day workshop to train media practitioners on effective and impactful reporting of indigenous issues towards a national agenda for peace building and conflict prevention in Nigeria.

According to him, candidates should be made to answer questions as to how the problems of the indigenous people would be solved if elected.

He said town hall meeting and other fora should be organised where the indigenous people would meet candidates and express themselves on issues affecting them.

Arogundade emphasized that there was, generally, an urgent need for the media in Nigeria to come to the aid of Indigenous people otherwise their suffering would be in perpetuity.

He pointed out that despite the pains the indigenous people go through, not much attention is given to them by the media and little is known about their plight.

He said in order to draw the attention of the government, organisations and individuals to the plight of the indigenous people, the media should give their issues some prominence and not tucked away.

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His words: “The media should factor their issues into the performance of its main functions particularly in this critical electioneering period. What are they and how? Relay the information citizens require to enable them to make informed judgments.”

The IPC boss added that the media should monitor government and others and reveal abuses of power as they might relate to indigenous people.

Other suggestions, according to Arogundade, included the provision of public education, enlightenment and entertainment.

He added that the media could also provide avenues for public debate on the issues affecting the indigenous people.

The two-day workshop is organised by the Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education, CHRICED, in conjuction with Journalist for Democratic Rights, JODER; International Press Centre, IPC, and MacArthur Foundation.

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