Category: Lekan Otufodunrin

By Lekan Otufodunrin

With the increase in reporting of religion content in the media, there have been concerns about some of the things being reported and how they are reported.

The media in its attempt to get maximum benefits from reporting religion-related issues seems to be caught in the confusion of knowing who is a real religious leader and who is not.

Virtually everyone who claims to be a pastor or church founder, for example, is accepted as one and there is also the negative image of church leaders due to the misdemeanours of others.

There are indeed fake pastors and those who use the media to deceive the public, but not all are bad as the media sometimes seems to project consciously or unconsciously.

There is also the challenge of separating the religion content of the messages of church leaders and members from their general comments.

In reporting religion content in public domain, what is crucial is that they should be understood for what they are.

Religion, according to Wikipedia, is a social-cultural system of designated behaviours and practices, morals, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organisations, that relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements.

It is not science or philosophy which can easily be explained based on some known principles.

Religion is based on faith, which, as the Bible states, is substance of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. It is based on belief in God, which some don’t believe in.

When a Pentecostal pastor says he sees a great future for Nigeria despite all the negative indications in the country, he or she needs to be understood as “calling things that be not as if they are.”

Among Christians, there are different denominations who do not even agree on some doctrines and biblical perspectives.

One common religion content are prophesies released by some church leaders at the beginning of the year which makes good copies for some media organisations.

A prophecy is a message that is claimed by a prophet to have been communicated to them by a deity. Such messages typically involve inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of divine will concerning the prophet’s social world and events to come.

While some of these prophesies have become questionable, it will be wrong to dismiss all of them as made up.

Prophesies are sometimes conditional on other factors which determine if they will come to pass or not. They need to be reported in full and with the right context for the public to know what to believe or not.

When prophesies are fulfilled like those of Father Mbaka regarding President Muhammadu Buhari and Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, media reportage is largely cynical.

The media should, however, refuse to be used by some clerics who use prophesies to draw attention to themselves for other purposes that may not be divine.

While the media should use the normal guideline in reporting other issues in reporting religion content, there is need for deeper understanding of religion.

Journalists should read more literature on the religion and regularly avail themselves of the views of experts on religion in order not to treat religious issues superficially.

In order not to be misrepresented by the media, religious leaders need to watch what they say, especially when they are speaking on issues that are not religious.

They should be ready to be subjected to criticisms on what they say in public domain just as the media is no respecter of persons.

The media may, however, need to avoid “invading the privacy” of strictly religious gathering where some of the pronouncements are meant for only church members and not the general public.

Lekan Otufodunrin

LAST Tuesday’s burial of one of the seminarians recently kidnapped in Kaduna is yet another sad reminder of how unsafe our country has become and the need tell the government to more than ever before live up to its responsibilities.

The homily by Bishop Matthew Kukah may be considered rather harsh but he would have failed in his role as the voice of the voiceless if he didn’t express the agonies of Nigerians who are feeling hopeless about the situation in the country.

Why should kidnapping and killings become so regular across the country with kidnappers and terrorists having a field day as if we do not have capable security agencies to stop them?

As Kukah rightly noted, “our nation is like a ship stranded on the high seas, rudderless and with broken navigational aids.” We are supposed to have a president and commander-in-chief who promised so much change from what obtained in the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration but the situation has deteriorated such that one will not be wrong to say we have never had the insecurity in the country this bad.”

As a country, we are truly at a crossroads and our future hangs precariously in a balance with no guarantee that the government in power has the solution to getting us out of the precarious situation we have found ourselves.

Kukah says Nigeria is at a point where we must call for a verdict. He is right. We cannot pretend that all is well with the country just because many of us are not yet victims of the senseless killings.

Those who have lost their loved ones and are displaced and live in fear of being attacked will be hard to convince that there will be some respite soon. If the government has failed to live up to its electoral promises and don’t seem to be in charge of the situation, we should say so not minding if one will be labelled a wailer or not.

It’s better to wail and lament to force the government to do what is needed instead of resigning to fate. President Buhari promised to protect the lives and propertie of Nigerians and he must do so and instead of allowing the terrorists to continue to have a free reign.

Kukah says Nigeria needs to pause for a moment and think because no one more than President Buhari who was voted for in 2015 on the grounds of his own promises to rout Boko Haram and place the country on an even keel.

This has not happened and the situation calls for deep introspection with the government willing to listen to all concerned on how to really decimate the terrorists, contrary to the claims made in the past. It’s commendable that President Buhari flew to Maiduguri from Ethiopia on Thursday to condole with the people of the state over the recent killing of 30 travellers by the insurgents but more than ever before we need a clear road map on how to stop the endless killings.

If it will take a declaration of emergency in the military as demanded by the National Assembly, so be it. The time to act is now.

That the president has displayed the greatest degree of insensitivity in managing our country’s rich diversity and has subordinated the larger interests of the country to the hegemonic interests of his co-religionists and clansmen and women, as Kukah stated, is an incontrovertible fact.

Buhari himself has openly declared that he prefers to work with people he knows, notwithstanding if they don’t have what it takes to make a modern Nigeria work. Some of his appointees clearly got their present positions not due to merit but for reasons best known to the president.

Father Kukah’s homily is a sober message that should prick the mind of anyone concerned about the future of this country. It sounds bitter but it’s a pill President Buhari and all those who can do something about the state of our nation must swallow and make them to take necessary action instead of being in denial of the true state of our country.

By Lekan Otufodunrin

I wasn’t sure I would write the column for this week due to a combination of factors and issues bothering my mind.

So much is happening in our country that can get one so depressed and be forced to ask the unpatriotic question if this is the Nigeria we used to know?

The country has become so unsafe that no one is sure where the criminal elements will strike next.

The kinds of killings you hear just leave you dumb that if possible you just want to remain in door.

Even that does not shield one from stray bullets like one baby I read about who was killed by a bullet from a trigger-happy policeman.

Despite the claim by the federal government to have decimated the terrorists in North East states, we all know that the victory is in their imagination considering the ease with which the insurgents kidnap their victims and kill them.

Not only do they kill their innocent victims, they make a show of their dastardly acts by recording and uploading it online for whatever reasons known to them.

A young man and lady were travelling back to the University of Maiduguri and they were kidnapped with God knows how many other passengers.

To show us how determined they are about achieving whatever cause they claim to be fighting for, they inflicted the pain on us all by broadcasting how the student was beheaded and also went on to release that of the killing of the chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Michika Local Government, Adamawa State, Rev Andimi  Lawan.

The bandits are also on the loose and are having a field’s day. The wife of the chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) in Kaduna and two children were abducted in their house in Kaduna and the next thing we read is that she has been killed and her corpse dumped somewhere.

The children were later released after the husband paid the ransom demanded to save their lives.

Good enough, the police and other security agents have been trying hard to checkmate the bandits and kidnappers like they did during the week by storming a hide out in Kaduna and killed many of them. One must commend the combined security services some of whose men and officers have been killed in the operations. But it’s really worrisome how entrenched the criminals have become.

They almost brought down the police helicopter used for the Kaduna operation and would have killed more policemen.

Our security services urgently need as much fire power as they need to be able to win the battle against the criminals who have turned our country into a ‘war zone’ where no one is sure who is really safe.

Many parts of the country are experiencing one form of heightened criminal activities or the other. Though many cases are not reported, the government must rise up to the occasion before the situation gets worse.

Last Thursday, I was driving home on my normal route and some supposed beggars clutching sticks and possibly other weapons insisted on me giving them money and I was just lucky to have escaped being robbed not far from a junction where some traffic officials were more concerned about getting bribes from drivers beating the traffic light.

The danger posed by the operations of some of the Okada and Keke riders in Lagos is so real that the government must be firm about its restriction policy.

The government will need to speed up providing more alternative means of transportation which it should have done before enforcing the restriction. But for the safety of Lagosians and like in other states, Okada and Keke operations must be heavily regulated.

We need to be sure who is operating where and call to order when they violate simply traffic regulations with impunity.

I forgot to mention the bank robbery attack in Ile Oluji, Ondo State, in which two policemen and customers were killed. Similar attacks have been carried out in other towns and there is no guarantee that more will not happen.

What’s on my mind? I’m worried. I’m concerned about how criminals are turning our country into a killing field.

By Lekan Otufodunrin

Last week, I wrote about my secondary school, Christ Apostolic Grammar School, Iperu-Remo in Ogun State that clocked 60 this year.

Like I wrote in the piece, the school then tucked away in the rural setting attracted students from all over the country and offered us quality education that adequately prepared us for the future.

The facilities available to us were modest and the learning environment was conducive enough. We had teachers for virtually all the subjects students could take.

Unfortunately, the situation is no longer the same again in not only my old school, but most government schools nationwide. Over the years, the facilities have become dilapidated and not good enough for learning.

Roofs of classrooms have been blown off, buildings have cracked, there are not enough chairs and desks for students, science laboratory is empty, there are no teachers for some key subjects and many other things lacking in the same school where we had the best of times in our days.

My child got admitted into one of the foremost federal government secondary schools on the insistence of my wife based on past reputation only for us to find out that the school is not in any way close to what it used to be.

Despite claims by successive governments to be committed to funding education and some even claiming to be providing free education, the level of education in our secondary schools and other levels have continued to decline for obvious reasons which the governments have failed to acknowledge.

How do we expect the present generation of students to improve on our records when they do not have some of the basic things we had?

Why are we surprised that the results of most governments schools in the West African School Certificate Examination are not as good as they used to be in the good old days?

The state of the schools is really bad and something urgent has to be done if we desire anything good to come from the students.

But for the support of the Old Students Associations and the Parents Teachers Association, the situation in many schools would have been worse. Like in my school, the associations have had to provide some facilities and structures which normally should be provided by the government.

If governments don’t have the fund to provide free education they should stop giving the false impression that they are doing so. What kind of education are they funding when students don’t have desks to use, books to read and teachers to teach them? It’s either they are ready to fund education adequately or they are not.

They should come clear about what they are able to provide and let parents know what they need to pay for to ensure that their children get quality education.

What’s the point having students being promoted yearly without being able to comprehend what they are taught? There are now many secondary school leavers who can barely write or speak good English because of the kind of situations prevailing in our schools.

Many top government officials attended public schools but how many of them have their children in such schools now?

Sometimes I wonder how much can be achieved by the support of PTA and old students if the government does not give education the attention it deserves in the interest of the development of the country.

Education is so crucial to our future that we cannot continue to pay lip service to it instead of committing enough resources to it.

ONE of the most memorable times of my life so far, were the years I spent at Christ Apostolic Grammar School, Iperu-Remo, Ogun State, from 1974-1980. The school was established in 1960 and we are marking the 60th anniversary this week.

My original graduating set was 1979, but had to return for an extra year as my father who was one of the pioneering students of the institution insisted I do, to get a better result to earn me admission into the university.

I still remember the embarrassment of my classmates with whom we celebrated our exit together coming to check their results and finding me back in the school uniform. When the extra year was over, I did better than my first attempt at writing the West Africa Examination School Certificate and got admission for higher studies that set me on the path of what God has enabled me to achieve in life and my career.

Today, I look back with nostalgia to those years spent in the school and I am very grateful to the founders, the teachers who taught us and fellow students who we shared unforgettable moments together.

Students of Government College, Ibadan, where I proceeded for my Higher School Certificate studies used to mock me about attending a ‘bush’ secondary school. But they knew better about the stuff CAGS was made of when I got the best result in the external General School Certificate examination.

Like one of my classmates, Chief Tunji Orishalade, a top legal practitioner, noted about the accomplishment of one of our seniors, Mr. Sola Idowu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the successes recorded by many of our old students have shown and proved that Apollo, as the school is popularly known, is great too in spite of its location in what used to be a rustic environment that has now developed.

That the school offered balanced and sound education of old, and hopefully still does is a tribute to the foresight of the founding fathers who took the initiative before the government took it over like other missionary schools.

With the modest facilities, CAGS offered so much learning opportunities in and out of the class. We lived in boarding house and mastered communal living as juniors and later seniors. We learnt to cut grass and performed basic chores some of us were not used to.

I recall the dining hall rituals, inter-house competitions, hilarious social gatherings, church service and other activities which complemented the class teachings.

Every day at the assembly we sang the school anthem:

God bless Apollograms

And make her prosper on

From year to year

God bless the School of Ours

With purity and love

Though tender

Yet so dear, from year to year.

Though some of us were very young then and didn’t fully understand the essence of the anthem beyond singing it, it captured the dreams and aspirations of the founders of the school which have since come to pass through the years.

I enjoyed the various songs we used to sing in the early morning prayer sessions like the one before examination to assure ourselves that we should not be afraid but put our trust in God.

Through the good and hard times of typical students’ lifestyles, we persevered and got well prepared for the years ahead.

CAGS is very dear to my family as apart from my late dad and me, I also had two uncles and a cousin who attended the school. We are all proudly Apollo.

One would have thought that facilities in the school like many other old ones would get better over the years. But unfortunately, that is not the case. Our Old Students Association has been doing a lot to support and still plans to do more. But then, government can do better to ensure a better learning environment for the students.

• God bless Apollo Grams and make her prosper on.

By Lekan Otufodunrin

Our country has come a long way from the pre-colonial days and post- colonial independence era when we briefly had democratic government truncated by years of military regime and the eventual return to democratic era.

For those of us who practiced journalism under the military, we know the difference between being a journalist when we had military regimes and now that we have a civilian administration.

When I tell some young journalists that three national newspapers, one of which I used to work for, were shut down for a year, they find it difficult to imagine such situation. When I talk of journalists being jailed and held in detention for years, they wonder how we survived the era. I had the unpleasant experience of being in police cell for a week.

Having collaborated with other pro-democracy groups to ensure the exit of the military, the media undoubtedly have a major task in ensuring the survival and building of a virile democracy in our country.

We know what we experienced as a profession under the military and what the country went through that we are yet to recover from even now and will do anything to ensure that era remains in the past forever.

So crucial are the roles of the media in building democracy that without a free and unshackled media, democracy cannot thrive; just as without democracy, the media will not be able to perform not only the roles of informing, educating and entertaining the public, but holding the government accountable to the people as provided for in our constitution.

If democracy is indeed the government of the people, for the people and by the people, it is incumbent on the media to ensure that the democratic principles are upheld in various aspects of the overall governance of the country.

After twenty years of the return of civilian administration, we cannot afford to remain at the nascent level where Nigerians are not able to fully enjoy the dividends of democracy. The situation where once in a while some Nigerians, due to the situation in the country, feel nostalgic about the military era is not good enough.

If our democracy is to endure and become firmly rooted to ensure good governance, free and fair elections and much more, the media must not fail in its role of being the watchdog. We cannot afford to allow politicians to mess up the country and tempt the military to ever think of making a comeback like we have had in some countries. Notwithstanding the strides accomplished by the government in Ghana, there was a reported coup attempt that was crushed immediately.

It would have been sad if the soldiers succeeded and who knows who may be getting ideas from such attempt.

For our media to effectively play their roles in building a virile democracy, we must all have a clear understanding of our roles and live up to the expectations of the framers of the constitution who provided that we should be the guardian angel of democracy.

Journalists must be well versed in the provisions of the Constitution and other legal provisions to know what to demand from political office holders and appointees. When democracy is being violated in anyway, including the disregard for the independence of all arms of government and other infractions, the media must insist on due process being followed.

What is apparent in some instances is that some journalists don’t know enough of the limits of the powers of government officials and appointees so they are not held as accountable as they should.

We allow them to get away with poor performance when we don’t hold them accountable to the high demands of their offices. Some of our reporting are so patronising that elected officials don’t think they are accountable to the electorate who should decide the right persons for any political post.

• Excerpts from speech at the maiden NUJ South West Zonal Lecture/award programme held in Ibadan, Oyo State on January 10, 2020.

By Lekan Otufodunrin

This time last year, I announced my plan to move on from The Nation as a fulltime staff and become a fulltime media career development specialist. One year after, I have learnt a number of lessons associated with being an entrepreneur and have some advice to offer whoever is planning to take on new tasks in their profession.

Don’t leave unless you have to

Don’t leave except you are convinced you have to leave. Don’t leave because some people are leaving, but what you need to know is that sooner or later you have to leave.

You will either get tired of doing the same routine or the company will not find you useful or relevant to remain in the company.

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor E.A Adeboye, says there is a difference between someone who jumps down and someone who is pushed. Make your choice. I jumped when I realised I had to.

Plan your exit

The first time I left the newsroom in 1999 while working with The Punch, I didn’t plan my exit as well as I should have. I soon found myself broke and unable to remain steadfast with the vision I had and eventually returned.

The December 2018 exit was well planned. The time was ripe.  Two of my four children had graduated from the university; one was in the final year and the one we call extra was already in senior secondary. So, no more financial pressure as before.

I had also become well known and getting paid for what I wanted to do fulltime when I leave. I rented the office I moved to one year ahead and bought all the furniture and gadgets I would need months before my three months resignation notice expired. I registered the organisation with the Corporate Affairs Commission before my exit.

I had an unfinished house I was building which I started giving more attention. Almost completed now, but paying my yearly rent is still not a problem.

You don’t resign and start thinking of how you will pay children fees, house rent, how much you can earn or how to buy some official expensive gadgets you are used to. Plans can fail due to some unforeseen circumstances, but you are better off when you plan and things work out for you.

Be sure what you really want to do

You don’t leave a well-paid job or even the one you are enduring on impulse except there are some circumstances you can’t cope with.

For years, I had experimented with being a media career trainer and mentor along with my job as a journalist. My dream, especially after 30 years of newsroom work, was to run a media career development centre, so I was not persuaded about running a general news website of my own like many other ‘retired’ journalists despite my experience as Online Editor.

When convenient, I offer consultancy support on running of media platforms and even write paid and unpaid content, but my major focus is media career development which I give most of my time to and have become well known for.

It’s good to be known for one major thing so that when there is a need for an expert in that area you will be the go-to person. Search for media career Nigeria on Goggle and you will find my name and website www.mediacareerng.org top or among the first three results.

How well you work for others will determine how you work for yourself

What I have learnt and mastered in the newsroom has been helpful for me in running my own organisation. I have been able to update our media career website as promptly, generate story ideas and work on copies as late as required.

There are days I work late in the office along with some other colleagues who share our office and we have to remind ourselves there is no editor waiting to collect our copies.

I remember listening to a sermon by a well-known Bishop online late in the night and he made a newsworthy statement about hate speech. I took notes, quickly wrote the story and uploaded on a website I get paid generously for my report. A reader wondered about the speed with which the story was written because the sermon was still on. Once a reporter, always a reporter.

The recent controversial editorial by The Punch newspaper titled Buhari’s Recklessness: Our Stand, in which it decided to henceforth refer to President Muhammadu Buhari as Major General, his military title, is long overdue and the paper should be commended for calling the head of state and government and administration to order.

So many actions and inactions, which are violations of the rule of the law enumerated by the paper, have left many wondering if we are actually in a democratic dispensation or not.

Despite the government’s claim to being law abiding, the country has witnessed a gradual slide into disregard for the fundamental human rights of the citizens guaranteed by the Constitution which the president and others officials swore to uphold.

The refusal of the Department of State Services (DSS) to release the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, and his co-accused after meeting the stringent bail conditions granted them by the court until it was forced, based on another pronouncement and fine was indeed the height of lawlessness by a government agency behaving as if it is above the law of the land.

Apparently emboldened that it had not been called to order, men of the DSS stormed the court less than 24 hours after reluctantly releasing Sowore to arrest him.

Despite available video of the shameless court drama where Sowore was almost openly abducted, the organisation and other government officials have been denying what is obvious to all.

READ ALSO: The Punch has abandoned journalism for partisan politicking, says Presidency

It took the disclosure of the lead counsel to Sowore, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, that the DSS has apologised for invading the court to stop the agency from holding on to its initial denial.

Thankfully, the national assembly has decided to investigate the matter and the truth of what really should not have happened will be known to us.

I hope the agency will be honourable enough to apologise to the public for not being truthful over the matter.

There is nothing wrong with the DSS charging Sowore or any other citizen for any alleged offence, especially bordering on the security of the country, but to seek to do so in violation of the law is not acceptable under a civilian administration.

What The Punch sought to achieve with its editorial is in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution which empowers the media to hold the government accountable to the citizens.

The media is supposed to be the voice of the people, especially when they are been ignored by the government as it is in this case, when human rights abuse at various levels have become rampant and no one is sure who will be the next victim.

Beyond the debate over the appropriateness of the symbolism of the use of the prefix of Major General for Buhari, the editorial and the discussion that have followed it is an opportunity for the government to engage in an honest soul searching about what it is not doing right.

For a government that used to enjoy the goodwill of the people and promised a change from the past years of mis-governance, it cannot afford to take the people for granted.

Respect for the rule of law is one of the cardinal considerations in assessing how democratic a government is and the Buhari administration has a lot to do on this to redeem its image.