You Are Major Solution To Nigeria’s Problems, Ikuforiji Tells Journalists

Whether Nigeria would rise again or continue to slide due to its current challenges depends on how effectively journalists in the country wield their professional powers.

This was the position of the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, when he declared open a three-day workshop organised by the State Assembly for political correspondents covering the House, Information Officers and Assistants.

Commending the correspondents for their efforts, Ikuforiji reckoned that the media, as recognised by the country’s constitution, remains the most powerful among the four estates of the realm, adding that it was closely followed by the legislature.

“None of the other three arms of government is as powerful as the media.

“As we all know, the only profession that is duly accorded a very significant place by most constitutions across world, after recognising the three tiers of government is the press.

He, however, lamented that despite the powers bestowed on the media, it remained the poorest of them.

“I have not been able to come up with any mathematical formula, but I look at the arms of government and think the least powerful is the richest and when you look at it critically, the media, which is the most powerful, is probably the poorest,” he said.

The Speaker urged journalists not to be discouraged as a result of this challenge but to continue in their approach of making Nigeria a better place.

“In pre-independent Nigeria, it was the local media in the country that effectively mobilized the people against colonial rule.

“It is therefore not possible for anyone to talk about the attainment of Nigerian independence in 1960, without giving ample mention of the heroic roles played by the local media in the battle for sovereignty.

“Right from the very first Republic to the present political dispensation, it can be safely posited that the Nigerian media has played its roles exceedingly well, such that all its heroic activities (particularly during the era of military dictatorship in the land ) can never be forgotten.

“It is for instance an incontrovertible fact that the shaky democratic journey that our nation has been on since 1999 to date could never have been a reality today but for the amazing contributions and sacrifice made by the Nigerian press,” he said, adding that no human society can experience an enduring democracy without a vibrant and free press in place.

He urged the media, “to gird their loins in order to wage a fierce battle against sensationalism, yellow journalism and sleaze. “Media practitioners and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) must put an end to the menace of fake journalists in the society.”

—Eromosele Ebhomele