The Nation Newspaper

Category: Lekan Otufodunrin

  • Wanted: Better welfare for journalists

    Wanted: Better welfare for journalists

    Isn’t it ironic that journalists are usually at the forefront of demanding better salaries and service conditions for workers in other sectors, while the welfare in the media is very poor?

    Ahead of the indefinite nationwide strike declared by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress on Monday following the breakdown in negotiation on a new minimum wage with the federal government, there are numerous reports on various media platforms.

    When the strike commences, journalists will play a major role in reporting and analysing the impact until an agreement is reached to call it off. For whatever it is worth, the workers will get more pay and allowances than they are presently earning.

    However, while the lots of the average workers in the country keep improving to some extent, that of the majority of journalists is not as the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero noted during a recent courtesy visit to the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Chris Iziguzo in Abuja.

    During the visit, Ajaero, a former journalist advocated better pay and better welfare for journalists in the country, including insurance cover and pension.

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    He described journalists as a group of professionals fighting for everyone, but who, unfortunately, have nobody fighting for them and recommended the review of the minimum wage for journalists every two years instead of the present unfortunate situation when some of them are begging for their salaries to be paid.

    “Journalists do not have weekends, public holidays or festive seasons. They work and report activities of people who are enjoying weekends, public holidays, and festivities. Even when a journalist is sacked or not paid for one year, other journalists will not write a story on such injustice,” he stated.

    While acknowledging the challenges publishers are facing due to the high cost of production,  he stressed the importance of timely payment of salaries for workers, adding that non-payment should be treated as a criminal offence.

    Having been a journalist himself, Ajaero should know the true state of the welfare in the media and it’s kind of him to speak up on behalf of journalists even when those concerned prefer to accept their fate while making a case for other workers.

    Like any other worker, the welfare of journalists is very important and their employers have to ensure that they are not denied their rights while being expected to perform their duties as efficiently as they should.

    Sadly, many private media organisations are defaulting on the payment of salaries of their staff. There are cases of media houses owing for months. The former Editor of FirstNews, Segun Olatunji who military men recently abducted disclosed in his resignation letter that he was being owed 12 months’ salaries.

     Contrary to the Labour law, many media houses retain their workers on casual status for years to avoid paying them commensurate salaries and entitlements. Some journalists have been sacked without getting their outstanding salaries and entitlements.

    The role of journalists in any society is too important for them to be subjected to the kind of hardship many have to endure from their employers. If media houses cannot meet their obligations to their staff, what moral right do they have to hold the government and others accountable?

    How can the ethics of the profession be enforced when journalists have to cope with non-payment of salaries that can prevent them from being tempted to demand gratification from those they are supposed to cover impartially?

    The NUJ President should regard the visit of the NLC President as a wake-up call to him and other union executives to demand for better welfare for their members. Media owners should not be allowed to continue to exploit journalists who deserve to be well-paid to meet their obligations like other professionals.

  • Access roads to train stations

    Access roads to train stations

    For the first time, I had the opportunity to travel by rail in the country for the Media Leader’s Summit held recently in Abeokuta, Ogun State on May 6 and 7.

    Like me, most participants were having their first experience with the Nigeria Railway Corporation(NRC)  Lagos-Abeokuta-Ibadan service.

    We were pleasantly surprised about the high quality of the service by the NRC that compared well with our experiences outside the country.

    The journey commenced on schedule and arrived at the beautiful Professor Wole Soyinka Station in Abeokuta promptly. The air-conditioned coaches were very neat and the staff were very professional in their duties.

    The road journey from the station to Abeokuta however turned out to be the killjoy of our lovely experience on the train. The bus that took us to town had to pass through an untarred access road. It took a lot of effort for the driver of our bus to meander through some slippery parts of the winding road. At some points, the road was not wide enough for two vehicles.  Some passengers not on our team took commercial motorcycles to town.

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    Why would so much be spent on the rail service and access road would not be available for passengers? If the federal government failed to provide the access road, why can’t the state government where the station is located provide it since it will encourage more residents and visitors to take the train?

    I traveled to Ibadan by train last Wednesday and the access road at the Moniya station to the city by the NRC is far better. I learned that the access road at the Omi Adio station also in Ibadan has been rehabilitated by the state government.

    While the Ogun State government says it is concerned about the worn-out road considering that  it holds the promise of rendering train travel more enjoyable, it said in a statement that “we tread cautiously, refraining from vocalizing our concerns, lest it be misconstrued as making excuses.”

    “Debates ensue, tangled in bureaucratic intricacies, as this particular stretch, albeit short, falls under the purview of the Federal Government, responsible for its upkeep. To embark on reconstruction, the State Government requires permission from the Minister. However, obtaining such authorization proves a sluggish ordeal, hindered by bureaucratic inertia.”

    What the state government’s statement suggests is that it could have rehabilitated the access road but for lack of the permission required. Considering the negative impact of the bad access road on the patronage of the train service, the bureaucratic issue should be resolved promptly.

    It is bad enough that the access road is in bad condition, delaying the rehabilitation further for any reason is bound to affect the patronage the NRC hopes to benefit from. The Ogun state government should make good its promise to commence work on the access road while awaiting final approval for the sake of those getting used to travelling to the state capital by train.

    Efficient rail service would be a welcome relief for those who don’t want to go through the hassles and risks of road transportation. What is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.

    Providing motorable access roads to all train stations in the country should be a priority of the state and federal government as part of efforts to improve on transportation in the country.

  •  Illegal arrest of journalists

     Illegal arrest of journalists

    Those responsible for the image of the present administration should be worried about the abuse of press freedom under its watch.

    For a government headed by a President with pro-democracy antecedents, security agents should not be allowed to keep taking the laws into their own hands in a way that can portray the administration as anti-media.

    If any journalist publishes or broadcasts anything which he or she should be questioned over, abduction should not be an option as we have seen in two recent cases involving Segun Olatunji, formerly of FirstNews, and Daniel Ojukwu of the Foundation for Investigative Journalists (FIJ).

    The two journalists should simply have been invited for questioning in line with the law and charged appropriately if there is a need to.

    Under a democratic government, why should the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the Police remind us of the days of the military regime when journalists, activists, and other persons disappeared and were later found to be in the custody of security agents? Some were never found.

    Not immediately owning up to arresting the two journalists until private investigators located them is worrisome considering the high rate of kidnapping across the country. Ojukwu was initially reported missing until he was traced to police custody.

    The Gestapo approach adopted by those who arrested the two journalists has no place in a civilian government and should not happen again. Whoever should call the security agents to order should do it before they give the government a bad name.

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    Those who ordered the illegal arrests of journalists should still have a case to answer despite their release to serve as a deterrent to others who may want to take similar action in the future.

    Already, there are growing concerns about the worsening state of press freedom in the country by local and international organisations that are calling for a more conducive environment for media practice and respect for fundamental human rights.

    If security agencies knew that they would have no choice but to succumb to public outcry to release the abducted journalists, they should not have resulted in illegal means of holding them.

    The accusations against Olatunji and Ojukwu did not warrant the force that was applied in arresting them. What was the potential threat to national security that the military DIA was trying to forestall by arresting Olatunji as it claimed?

    Despite not being aware of the existence of the National Media Complaints Commission (NMCC) – The National Media Ombudsman which could have reported Olatunji as it claimed, it was wrong to have stormed his house to arrest him and subject him to the inhuman treatment he suffered.

    If what the police has against Ojukwu according to its spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi is a petition accusing him of violating the Cybercrimes Act over a story reportedly revealing how the senior special assistant to former president Muhammad Buhari on sustainable development goals (SSAP-SDGs), why should he spend nine days in detention before the truth of the petition is ascertained?

    Whoever is aggrieved over a media publication should be free to petition, but it is wrong of the Police to treat the accused journalist like a criminal when they have not been found guilty of the accusation.

    Government officials should be ready to answer for their deeds and misdeeds instead of using the Police and the military to harass journalists. Security agents should also be guided by the rule of law and avoid misusing their powers.

  • Press for the planet

    Press for the planet

    What’s the link between Press Freedom and addressing the triple environmental crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution?

    Nigeria’s Minister for Environment, Dr Iziaq Salako has the answer for those who must have been wondering why the theme for this year’s World Press Freedom Day is “A Press for the Planet: Journalism in the Face of the Environmental Crisis”

    Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Friday to mark the Day, Dr Salako noted that press freedom is indispensable to promote transparency, accountability and social justice; critical to communicating the threat posed by the climate crisis and making informed decisions to be more environmentally responsible.

    While noting that there was a need to reaffirm the collective commitment to the principles of a free and independent press as a sine qua non for effective climate journalism, he said through investigative reporting, insightful analysis and compelling storytelling, journalists can shed light on the pressing issues of environmental crisis facing the nation and the world which can inspire mass action towards positive change.

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    Indeed the climate crisis which the world is battling is an existential issue which the media cannot afford to pay less attention to as it does for other areas of coverage like politics, business, sports and entertainment. Journalism practice in the face of environmental crisis is also threatened and more than ever before reporting the environment should be prioritised for the good of all.

    Beyond occasional reporting for the issues of flooding and rainfalls that cause damage, journalists need to understand the larger ramifications of the climate crisis and provide more informed reporting which can ensure that the government and all concerned take necessary actions.

    Over the years, some journalists and media organisations have been committed to reporting the environment and deserve commendation for their incisive reporting which has helped in mitigating circumstances that could have been more devastating.

    As the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk counselled in his address to mark the Day, environment journalists must continue to hold polluters accountable for the damage and devastation to the environment by separating facts from lies and propaganda to push for evidence-based policy decisions on the climate crisis that the world urgently needs. Other journalists need to join them in mainstreaming environmental issues across the various beats they cover.

     For the media to live up to the new expectations regarding ensuring a safer planet, an enabling environment must be provided to access information on the true state of the crisis and what needs to be done. There is a need for stronger commitments from government and media managers to protect environment journalists from attacks, hate campaigns and physical and legal harassment.

    Government departments and agencies must be ready to respond to media enquiries and be accountable for complying with global best practices regarding environmental matters.

    At a recent press briefing on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi’s response to the question by a Correspondent of Arise News, Laila Johnson-Salami regarding the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was somehow dismissive. He did not envisage the critical question of the EIA and would have been happier if the journalists did not question any aspect of the government’s plan despite the likely environmental impact the project would have.

    If the government has indeed taken all necessary environmental precautions, it should release the EIA report for the project to show its sincerity and commitment to standard practice beyond policy announcements.

    Beyond environmental issues, press freedom must be guaranteed for journalists in Nigeria to enable the media to perform its roles without hindrance.

  • Adieu Sankore

    Adieu Sankore

    Death according to Shakesphere is a necessary end which will come when it will come. Just as we do not determine when we should be born, the decision of when to die is not within our powers.

     If only we could decide when people should die, we would want many who have died to continue to be alive because of their contributions in various ways and at various levels.

     Though that common line in condolence messages that someone died when he or she is still needed most to continue to play the important roles they have been playing is not necessarily true in all cases, some truly deserve to be so mourned.

     Such is the passion and diligence they bring to doing what they are known for that it would be hard to fill the vacuum their death would leave in the community where they have made a lot of impact.

    Though he has been sick for a while and receiving treatment, the last WhatsApp message he sent to me gave me hope that he would win the hard battle against cancer. He even mentioned gradually resuming work and I was looking forward to being able to meet with him soon to discuss some of our unfinished discussions about the kind of capacity development support journalists need to write better investigative reports and other content.

     Unfortunately, Rotimi Sankore, Executive Director of the African Centre for Development Journalism died on the day I wanted to reach him about a story he took special interest in that has turned out to be very relevant for the discussion on the appropriateness of seaside burial based on the culture in some riverine areas following the death of actors in Asaba recently.

     If he was still alive and well enough to respond, Rotimi would have been so glad that he waived the requirement for the Inequalities Fellowship that all fellows should not pitch stories outside their state of residence due to limited funds with the support from the Executive Director of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, Mr Dayo Aiyetan.

     Godfrey George of The Punch Newspapers published the detailed report titled ‘How seaside burials poison water sources, endanger riverside residents’s lives’

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      Sankore was so passionate about data and evidence-based development reports that can hold the government accountable and wake the officials to their responsibilities that he devoted time to facilitating various trainings and providing informed analysis whenever he had the opportunity to do so. The Inequalities Reporting Fellowship by his centre was aimed at building the capacity of journalists to report different inequality themes at sub-national levels covering economic, education, food, gender, health, politics and other basic needs.

    Those who listened to his analysis on the radio while he was the Editorial Board Chairman of Nigeria Info knew he was not just another analyst, but one who had a full understanding of the issues he spoke on and backed his argument with necessary data and facts. His analysis is so convincing that one wishes the government would take his warnings of the danger ahead of us seriously.

     Sankore is indeed an accomplished Journalist, media trainer, development expert and human rights advocate who will be missed for his innumerable contributions to the media and development sector not only in Nigeria but globally where he served in various capacities.

  • Reminder of the bad days

    Reminder of the bad days

    When I joined others in asking for the whereabouts of the Editor of First News, Segun Olatunji last week in this column, I was worried that those who abducted him were trying to buy time to see if the call for his release would subside and they can pretend not to know anything about it.

    With the deafening silence of the military authorities on the matter, despite claims that Olatunji was arrested by some men in military uniform, there was the danger of the matter ending as a case of unknown soldiers who could well have been kidnappers acting on behalf of those unhappy with some reports by First News.

    Thankfully, he has since regained his freedom, at least for now, from men of the Defence Intelligence Agency who eventually admitted having him with them despite initially denying it when the International Press Institute (IPI) insisted Olatunji was in their custody.

    Unfortunately, the DIA did not even own up to top government officials including the Minister of Information, Mohammed Malagi and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu until they succumbed to pressures to do so and reminded us of the days of military regimes when people could be arrested without warrant and would never be found having been disposed in whatever ways.

    The harrowing experience Olatunji was subjected to, including being handcuffed with hands and legs in detention is condemnable under a democratic dispensation and those responsible for his arrest and detention must be identified and not be allowed to get away with the impression that they are above the law and can do whatever pleases them under military cover.

    How serious was the offence Olatunji allegedly committed that soldiers had to storm his house to arrest him and be flown to Abuja for interrogations? Why go to the wife’s shop and force her to take them to their house to arrest the husband in the presence of the children?

    While the aggrieved military men may be displeased with publications by First News or any other media organization, they should not have resorted to arresting him in the way they did and locking him up incommunicado. There are enough legal options for seeking redress that they should have explored instead of taking the laws into their own hands.

    How would they have justified their illegal action if Olatunji had died under the conditions they subjected him to? While release him under the bridge instead of their office where he had been detained for days.

    DIA’s action is an embarrassment to the federal government which has many persons in office, including the President, who have a history of being committed to ensuring press freedom.

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    For those who have been indirectly calling for the return of the military, the manner of Olatunji’s arrest and detention is an example of what happens in a military regime when press freedoms are not guaranteed and decrees can be promulgated to justify any military action.

    Indiscriminate arrest and detention of journalists was common under the military. Media Houses like The Punch, The Guardian and the defunct National Concord were shut down for over a year and their offices were occupied by military men.

    I commend the IPI, Nigeria Guild of Editors, Nigeria Union of Journalists and other groups and individuals for rising to ensure Olatunji’s release and they must pursue this case to a point when the facts of the matter can be ascertained to service as a deterrent to future occurrence.

    As the fourth estate of the realm, the media has the role of holding the government and any other arm of authorities accountable and nothing should be done to muzzle journalists.  

  • Where is Olatunji?

    Where is Olatunji?

    As at the time of writing this column, there was still no confirmation of the whereabouts of the Editor of First News, Segun Olatunji who was abducted from his home in Lagos on March 15.

    Following public outcry, the Federal Police spokesman, Assistant Commissioner of Police Muyiwa Adejobi promised to check with the military authorities if Olatunji is in their custody since 15 armed men, two of whom reportedly wore military-style uniforms in two unmarked vans, took him away forcefully despite pleadings by the family without any explanation.

    The deafening silence of the military authorities on Olatunji’s whereabouts has been worrisome as a clarification would have assured his family, employers, and other concerned Nigerians of his safety and health conditions if indeed he is being held by them or not.

    Speculations that Olatunji’s arrest might not be unconnected with a report accusing a top official of the Nigeria Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), under Nigeria’s Ministry of Defence, of indiscriminate allocation of contracts makes it necessary for whoever might have directed his detention to own up.

    If indeed his arrest has anything to do with the reports his paper published, the military should confirm his arrest and disclose charges they have against him as his employers, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, the Committee for Protection of Journalists and other organizations have asked for.

    What is urgently required in this case is the investigation of the allegations First News reported to trace those who may be responsible for his abduction under official cover. Those mentioned in the reports would not be happy with the accusations against them and they need to clear themselves of the suspicion that they engineered the editor’s arrest.

    The longer his whereabouts are unknown, the risk of his safety not being guaranteed is high and it would be sad if anything happens to him. This should not be a case of unknown gunmen since there are issues related to his arrest.

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    In a democratic dispensation, it’s unfortunate that the safety of journalists cannot be guaranteed due to publications against anyone who is in a position to take the laws into their own hands. What makes it easy for this kind of faceless arrest to happen are past instances where people have been arrested by security men who refuse to present any warrant and are locked up for more than the required period as the law permits.

    Those who have refused unlawful arrests in the past in some cases have been accused of resisting arrest and taken away forcefully as in Olatunji’s case.

    While any government official or anyone has the right to be aggrieved by what is published against them, the lawful option is to seek legal redress and prove their innocence in the case against them for which the offending media organization and staff can be penalised.

    Resorting to illegal arrest is not the appropriate option and whoever is responsible for Olatunji’s arrest should not be allowed to get away with the condemnable action and abuse of power.

    The manner of Olatunji’s arrest is a dangerous development and threat to freedom of expression in the country which must not be encouraged in any way by security authorities.

    As a government that has promised to respect the rule of law, the federal government should urgently weigh in on the matter and ensure that Olatunji’s whereabouts are ascertained and he is released.

    Olatunji’s arrest should remind the federal government of the need to abide by the recent judgement on February 16, 2024, by a Federal High Court in Abuja that it should investigate attacks against journalists, and prosecute and punish perpetrators of such attacks.

    The court also directed the government to take measures to prevent further attacks on journalists while ensuring that all journalists who are victims of attacks have access to effective remedies.

    Given the special role that journalists play in society, they ought to be protected and not put at risk of avoidable hazards of the profession as Justice Inyang Ekwo stated. Olatunji should be freed immediately by his abductors. Journalism is not a crime.

  • Questionable media awards

    Questionable media awards

    There is nothing wrong in individuals, organisations, institutions and government officials being commended and given awards for excellent performance.

    Even if what they did is in the line of their duties or roles expected of them, they can still be acknowledged for being outstanding compared with others, especially in a society like ours where not many are not committed to the tasks expected of them.

    However, while the media should not hesitate to commend good performance of any sort through reports, opinions, editorials and commentaries, organising awards, apart for the industry related ones , for elected officials, other sectors and individuals is not something they should over-indulge in for whatever reason.

    As watchdog of society which is supposed to hold the governments and others accountable, the media should avoid compromising situations where they are honouring those they should be subjecting to critical assessments and told how to not only to do their expected duties, but do better to meet the expectations of the people.

    It's against this background that one finds it difficult to understand why media unions or groups and media houses should regularly organise all manner of awards to honor government officials, institutions and individuals which questions their integrity.

    The recent Internal Security Meritorious Award by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) conferred on the Chairman of Tantita Security Services, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo is uncalled for and amounts to cheapening the status of the union that should be more concerned about enhancing the professional status of it's members.

    The explanation by the NUJ President, Chris Isiguzo that the award was in recognition of the sterling contribution of Tompolo and his firm, TSSL, to the critical campaign against crude oil theft in the country is not tenanable.

    If Tompolo has “risen to the occasion and gathered an array of young men who have taken it upon themselves to help this country continue to survive as a peaceful nation, united and continue to fend for itself and helped to address the issue of crude oil theft,” as NUJ President claims, the union and members can acknowledge the contributions, but should not give him an award in an area of work that is not their expertise.

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    It's indeed shameful that the NUJ President had to lead a delegation to confer the award on him in his home town. Its should not be something to be proud of as achievement as Isiguzo is making it seem.

    Why should the NUJ give the impression that Tompolo through his company is doing a charity work in the Niger Delta when it is currently the sole contractor awarded the pipeline surveillance multi- billion naira contract by the Federal Government.

    The union through its award is giving the wrong impression that the work being done by TSSL cannot be better done than any other company even when there have been calls by other stakeholders in the region to decentralise the surveillance contracts to avoid what a group called “ineptitude and enthrone collective protection of the nation’s assets and resources in the areas.”

    No matter how well Tompolo’s company is implementing the contracts awarded to him, the task of assessing its performance to give him an award should not be that of NUJ, but that of other security experts who have better indicators to determine what is required to be done in the region.

    It’s time NUJ, other media groups and organisations stop awarding questionable awards which are based on other ulterior motives than outstanding performance of those awarded.

     If the media wants to be taken seriously as it should, the practitioners should remain the watchdogs they are supposed to be instead of being seen as lopdogs.

  • Media language: Soyinka’s timely caution

    Media language: Soyinka’s timely caution

    One of the interesting aspects of last Thursday’s lecture by Noble Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka to mark the 50th anniversary of Punch Newspaper titled Recovering the Narrative was about his obsession with media language.

    His obsession according to him has to do with being someone that he is routinely traumatised by encountering his own words reworked into imagined equivalents, duly enhanced and augmented even with the best and honest intentions, but which convey the exact opposite of intent, such an obsession is quite understandable.

    As he promised, he was able to cite “purely fortuitous exemplars from our national media, to a straightforward proposition of just how a national psyche can be programmed, rewired, so to speak, into absorbing the freakish, the grotesque into its digestive system, so that it becomes assimilated as the norm.”

    Essentially, his concern has to do with the insensitive use of language that debases and lowers the sensibilities of the humanity the media claims to serve like the report  that stated that “The promising, beautiful girl was hale and hearty when she walked into the hospital theatre for a minor medical procedure but, an hour later, she had become lifeless like a dead cow on the slaughter slab.”

    His worry about the lowering of standards in the use of language by legacy print media organisations like many of the new platforms run by non-professionals is indeed not personal as he noted. There is a general concern that unlike before when media organisations abide by house styles and subject their reports to enough quality control, not enough care is being taken as before.

    Reports that would never have been approved for publication now get published as media organisations compete to beat each other to be the first to break news and get maximum readership. In the past, as Soyinka rightly noted, the print media consciously aspired to credibility and peer respect among its competitors. When it slips up, it makes efforts to ‘clean up its act’ or else, confront sanctions.

    Unfortunately what we now have is a free-for-all all “as the communication field is now wide open, instantly and promiscuously accessible.” Anyone who can publish now claims to be a journalist and no one is calling them to order, though some are pointing out the declining standard as Soyinka did in his lecture.

    With the present state of reporting of some media organisations, the question Soyinka asked is apt. “Are we dumbing down in deference to the language of trolls?” There is an obvious dumbling down which should not be the case if the media wants to continue to be taken seriously.

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    The print media has an extraordinary responsibility to maintain the high standard of practice of journalism as it has always been as Soyinka noted.

    In terms of the use of language, the ethics of practice for Nigerian journalists state that they should refrain from using offensive, abusive or vulgar language. It adds that a journalist should not present lurid details, either in words or pictures, of violence, sexual acts, or abhorrent or horrid scenes.

    Additionally, it states that in cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries should be carried out and approaches made with sympathy and discretion.

    The above ethical guidelines and others should remain the guiding principles for media professionals on whatever platform considering the interest of the audience they serve.

    I join in congratulating Punch Newspaper on its 50th anniversary and pray that the company where I worked for about 13 years will remain an industry leader in the media sector.

  • Regulating social media

    Regulating social media

    It’s understandable why many are usually wary of the government’s attempt to regulate anything related to the media.

    Governments at all levels and globally are known to usually misuse the opportunity to regulate what can hold them accountable to protect their interests instead of the overall interest of the people.

    The enforcers of the regulations are known to take the law into their own hands and need to be challenged in courts to be called to order. Even when they are overruled, they usually don’t easily comply with judicial pronouncements.

    What they call national interest are sometimes personal interests and we have many instances of the use of various media-related laws to hinder freedom of expression.  In Nigeria, many journalists have been arrested and held in detention for longer than the law permits.

    This explains why the recent call by the Chief of staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila for the regulation of social media at the public presentation of a book titled, Nigerian Public Discourse: The Interplay of Empirical Evidence and Hyperbole, written by a former Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has been faulted by many individuals and organisations.

    According to Gbajabiamila  “Social media has become a societal menace and must be regulated. Many people do not understand that once the send button is hit, there is a potential to reach millions of people around the world, which is capable of causing great danger not just in society but even unintended consequences to the individuals who are receiving information that may include security of life.”

    Coming after being a victim of many fake reports recently, Gbajabiamila’s call can be said to be informed by the need to protect himself and other top government officials and personalities from merchants of disinformation who are all over various social media platforms.

    However, beyond being for self-preservation, there is indeed the need to regulate social media against wanton misuse that has become the order of the day.

    While freedom of expression remains guaranteed in our constitution and no one should support any move to curtail it, no one should have the right to publish falsehoods about anyone without being cautioned or penalised.

    I agree with Gbajabiamila that social media has become a societal menace despite the well-intentioned original social and information-sharing purpose for which it is meant.

    It is not acceptable in the name of freedom of expression for known and faceless people to deliberately share unverified information or attack people online for reasons best known to them.

    Some unwarranted attacks can be so vicious that one has to be emotionally strong enough to ignore them.

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    The abusers of social media have made it impossible to be sure of what to believe online. It is criminal for people to impersonate others to create a false impression about them and mislead others.

    Though the platforms’ owners have come up with measures to penalise those who misuse their platforms, including restricting the use of some handles and taking some down, there is no indication that the abusers are ready to rethink their ways.

    While social media should continue to be veritable tools for holding governments and their officials accountable, the freedom of expression it guarantees should be exercised with a sense of responsibility.

    The evil being perpetrated on social media is not only about attacking people unjustly, it also involves those who defraud people through offers that are not genuine. In recent weeks, there have been sponsored posts of supposed free online courses by top universities in Nigeria which have been denied by the institutions but are still been promoted.

    There are enough reasons to agree on the need to regulate social media, what we need to agree on is the type of regulation and extent. Instead of coming up with another law, existing laws can be amended and enforced appropriately.