Don’t be deterred by risks, journalists urged

General Secretary of NASU, Peter Adeyemi, said journalists cannot continue to amplify the risks associated with the profession at the detriment of their historical and traditional role of serving as the society’s compass directing and guiding it towards a noble cause that guarantees maximum public good. “The risks are huge, but in them lies the […]

General Secretary of NASU, Peter Adeyemi, said journalists cannot continue to amplify the risks associated with the profession at the detriment of their historical and traditional role of serving as the society’s compass directing and guiding it towards a noble cause that guarantees maximum public good. “The risks are huge, but in them lies the pride to serve our fatherland. The conditions of engagement are tortuous, but they give us a glimpse of our collective possibilities to be a great nation attracting genuine recognition and respect in the comity of nations,” he said.
Adeyemi, in his address at a two-day capacity building programme for the Labour Writers’ Association of Nigeria (LAWAN) in Ibadan, Oyo State tagged: “Investigative Journalism: Risks and Opportunities for Media Practitioners in Nigeria’’ said  Working for the media has ever been dangerous in Nigeria.  “The enterprise may not be rewarding, it nonetheless, ensure some measure of personal fulfillment of service legacy good enough for posterity,’’ he said. He enjoined journalists to have strong determination and convictions, heightened awareness, credibility and sustainable networking to represent voice for the voiceless.
Condemning the frequent  attacks and killing of journalists in Nigeria, Adeyemi posited  that politics, insurgency, militancy, tribal conflicts and other factors hinder press freedom and journalists’ safety in the country.
Former General-Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC), Mr John Odah, implored  journalists to investigate happenings which individuals, governments, companies and organisations  planned to conceal.  He urged both the print and electronic media to create a functional investigative desk to expose wrong doings, corruption, lies, incompetence and broken promises by governments and organisations.
Odah said, “A fundamental objective of the press is to bring wrongdoings into the light of public attention and hope that society will fulfill its role of punishing wrongdoers or reform a system which is faulty. It is the role of the press to try to do everything permitted by law to expose abuse of power, corruption, law breaking and all sorts of things which harm other people”.
According to him, investigative reporting was globally recognised as a risky venture for journalists and in Africa, it is a nightmare due to lack of the necessary safety nets for journalists.
He also said investigative reporters face varieties of repression, expensive laws suits, intimidation, brutality, kidnapping, torturing, and imprisonment and in the extreme cases, murder even with the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act. He revealed that  no fewer than seven journalists had been murdered since the killing of Dele Giwa, the Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch magazine on Oct. 19, 1986.
Mr Lanre Arogundade, Director, International Press Centre(IPS),in his paper, called on media proprietors, managers, editors and government to create an enabling environment for investigative reporters with a view to overcoming the  challenges associated with  investigative journalism in Nigeria.  According to him, “media managers must provide the necessary resources, working equipment, insurance, editorial independence and adequate remunerations, as well as allocate enough time to reporters conducting investigations as a longer gestation period was required than in doing routine stories.”