It’s odd for journalists to be friends with politician – Professor Akinfeleye

What is your assessment of journalism practice so far in Nigeria? My assessment for journalism practice in Nigeria at the moment is to say I will give them a pass mark. Of course, there are some problems and predicaments that they always encounter during the course of their practice, including ownership, political and other evil […]

What is your assessment of journalism practice so far in Nigeria?

My assessment for journalism practice in Nigeria at the moment is to say I will give them a pass mark. Of course, there are some problems and predicaments that they always encounter during the course of their practice, including ownership, political and other evil forces operating simultaneously in our society.

On comparative basis, one will say they have done well but not enough. There are many of us who are doing the right thing but there is very few insignificant number of the watchdog that is refusing to bark when they are supposed to bark. Therefore, they have been contaminated with anti-rabies. Those dogs need to be given anti-rabies. This is the challenge to the Nigeria Union of Journalists, to make sure that we promote journalistic integrity and professional purity in our profession because we, as members of the fourth estate of the realm, are older than any other members of the other estates, like the executive, the judiciary and the legislature.

How can we really play our role as watchdog?

You can recall the history of Nigeria, including 1914 amalgamation and 1960 independence. The press came into being as far back as 1859. Therefore, we are the oldest of the realms. We should try to do the right thing by being the voice for the voiceless, being the watchdog and being able to bark when we are supposed to bark and make sure that at the end of the day, people respect us by calling us press executive instead of press boys. So, it is in the interest of our own professional integrity to adhere strictly to the code of ethics; don’t receive, take or demand gratification in the course of your work. The problem we are talking about is that they tell us we are criticizing them. Why shouldn’t we criticize them? It is generally known, including Nigeria, governments all over world try to conceal information. By our training, we are trying to uncover when they are trying to cover up. So we cannot be friends. But we can still remain as loyal opponents to help the country grow, and to put political leaders in check. Like our President just said that he is the most criticized President. He has not seen anything….Let him go and ask Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. Babangida who was called all kinds of names. They called him Evil Genius; they called him Maradona; they called him Dribbler; they called him everything. So once you have assumed that status and you are in that position, you have lost your rights to be left alone.