..give hints on support for NDtv to hit the airwaves
Amgbare Ekaunkumo, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has challenged media practitioners in the country to highlight critical issues plaguing Nigeria rather than allow themselves to be compromised in the reportage of events.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo gave the charge on Thursday when the Chairperson of the state chapter of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Mrs Grace Orunimieghe, led a delegation on a courtesy visit to Government House, Yenagoa.
A statement by his media aide, Mr Doubara Atasi quoted the deputy governor as saying that while the media plays the statutory role of informing, educating and entertaining society, it should also be in the vanguard of moulding society through its agenda setting role.
Reacting to a number of issues raised by NAWOJ, he noted that the information space is being inundated with compromised information and the social media is fast pushing the conventional media away from its responsibility.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo, who described NAWOJ as a formidable association, lamented that the media has been awash with a lot of issues that were diversionary as regards the just concluded general elections in the country.
He particularly tasked journalists to do more in the area of investigative journalism to expose societal ills as well as nurture the young ones in the profession.
His words: I don’t think people like Ernest Ikoli, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dele Giwa, Alex Ibru, Ray Ekpu, and Dan Agbese will be happy with the kind of journalism we have today in Nigeria.
“Society must learn to realize that if you don’t improve on what you met on ground, then you have helped to destroy that system.
“Investigative journalism is the key to journalism, and so, you don’t hear only one side of the story. That’s why as journalists you are called the Fourth Estate of the Realm because what the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary cannot mould properly, the journalists are there to moderate.
“But unfortunately, there is a very shallow river on which that is being driven. Look at what has happened concerning the 2023 elections. I’m still very worried that the debate about the elections are not purpose-driven and engaging enough.
“I expected it to be as high as the Berlin Wall. But l think everything is dying down and there’s a lot of diversion from the main issue: meaning journalists are not dictating the pace. But rather, it is the pace that is now dictating journalists in terms of setting the agenda for society.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo, who also spoke on the issue of the girl-child and trafficking of persons, noted that as part of efforts to address the menace, a representative of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) would be part of the state’s Security Council meeting.
Describing the womenfolk as strategic partners in nation-building, the Deputy Governor urged NAWOJ to encourage the girl-child to break barriers including labour laws and excel in all fields of endeavor.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo who congratulated the newly elected executive council of the association, enjoined the body to do more in sensitizing people on the dangers of electoral violence through enlightenment programmes in local languages.
Earlier in her address, the State Chairperson of NAWOJ, Mrs Grace Orunimieghe, had said that the visit was to among other things, introduce members of the new executive council of NAWOJ which was inaugurated in November last year.
Mrs. Orunimieghe who applauded the state government on its developmental strides, particularly appreciated it for the establishment of a befitting Media complex that is second to none in the country.
She said under the association’s advocacy programmes, NAWOJ had pushed for peaceful elections, youth re-orientation, distribution of over 6000 customized exercise books to students in the last 6 years among others.
Mrs. Orunimieghe also used the opportunity to inform the deputy governor of the association’s National Delegates Conference in October this year in Abuja and requested for financial assistance as well as an 18-seater bus.
Also, the immediate past Chairperson of NAWOJ, Mrs. Mariah Olodi-Osumah, canvassed for the state government’s support for media workers on health issues arising from radiation.
In a related development, the Deputy Governor has said government was doing everything to ensure that the state-owned NDTV take off from their new office before the end of this year as one of the best TV stations in the country.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo made this known while granting audience to a delegation from the Institute of Mass Communication and Information Management in his office.
He promised that the state government would support the Institute in hosting their forthcoming National Conference and Annual General Meeting in Yenagoa within limits of available resources.
In their separate remarks, a Representative of the Institute’s Registrar, Prof. Saviour Agoro, and the state Chairman, Mr. Nelson Agedi, commended the state government for completing and commissioning the Ernest Ikoli Media Complex, describing it as the best in the country.
They, however, stressed the need for the equipping and take-off of the Niger Delta Television (NDtv) and solicited support for the forthcoming conference of the Institute in October this year.
