As a nation in transition, Nigeria has witnessed a surge in humanitarian works and security discomfiture. The nuances of social wellness dwindle while the once buoyant security trust is dubbed Sisyphus. Now is not the time for the assessment of various chronicles.
Nigeria is Africa’s most informed society. The press has a crucial role to play in such exigencies, as we nurse the nation through the tortuous road back to stability and sustainable development.
Time immemorial, European missionaries in Africa started journalism in the euphoria of humanitarian era, alongside a tradition of vigour and virility; ferocity of candour.
A profession inexorably immersed in the vertex of the society, and whose influence lies in the humongous complexities of roles.
What has changed?
The foregoing Nigeria’s security and humanitarian challenges behest more anthropocentric stories from us, contrary to the misconception that the press has limited self to mere advocacy and entertainment.
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We just may produce a light so bright to cast away the darkness.
Our authoritative locus as the fourth estate, next after the three arms of government, an institution whose role is enshrined in Nigeria’s constitution. Sine qua non collaborations with security personnel and humanitarian workers in their mobilizational quest, weaving conservative evaluation and phenomenal alternatives, portends betterment despite current disillusionment.
Challenging tasks require critical reflections. The import is not to invent strange roles for ourselves, but rather to intensify conscientization, advocacy, humanization, mobilization, security and developmental functions.
The press is a utilitarian-pragmatic and people-oriented media philosophy which should avoid utter neglect via under-reporting or mis-reporting of the rural areas and urban slums.
In the poise and polish of our language, nobody can defeat a well told story.
The world of security can be a lonely place of dissidents, coal tarred with litanies of abuse, the press is faced with a more daunting task as the true recorders of events.
Benevolent feeling ennobles the most trifling action.
Saddled with the responsibility of upholding public good, our allegiance to the autonomy of truth ingratiate public reverence.
A balanced coverage and undistorted news projection harped on the canon of security trust and the primacy of humanitarian camaraderie, elevates the tone of public discourse.
He who hast lost credit to the world is dead. Let us tear away the mask of lies and distrust in our national life. In a society that is fast losing its soul, the press must not be a part of the moral decadence. Crisis-escalating news report through conspiratorial or adversarial strategies, and yellow journalism steeped in misinformation, is subversive. We own the soft impeachment.
In the finality, I share in the words of Thomas Jefferson; “were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter“.
That is our propriety of empiricism and objectivity. Let us monitor performance while we humanize government. Thank you.
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