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By Ethelbert OkereIt is not surprising that functionaries of the Bola Tinubu administration who have one thing or the other to do with public communications are those taking the heat arising from the just-witnessed “nation-wide” (really?) protests. It is the ‘norm’. Whenever issues arise between government and the people, those who handle the former’s media and publicity are blamed. The narrative often is that the issues arose, in the first place, as a result of lack of or poor communication. In the instant case, the refrain has been that President Tinubu has done quite a lot but which has not been properly communicated to Nigerians.
As usual, the most vociferous here are media practitioners outside government, especially in the electronic media and more especially the television. But I am of the opinion that it is pretentious, even mischievous, for practitioners in the Nigerian media, generally, to talk about poorly communicated achievements of government when their outfits daily inundate their readers, viewers and listeners with paid advertorials, documentaries and jingles on “achievements” of government. Why would television houses, for instance, collect huge sums of money from governments, federal or state, for live coverage of commissioning of projects, ground-breaking ceremonies, etc just for their staffers to turn round to claim ignorance of those achievements? In most cases, the documentaries or coverages are packaged in collaboration with staff members of the media outfits who collect commissions before passing them on officially for broadcasting. Yet, the next morning, you will see a panel of anchors and in-house “analysts” on a live programme feigning ignorance of what was aired just the previous night and screaming, “what is the government doing?”
It is said that one of the major functions of the media is to inform and educate the people but it appears that gone, finally, are the days when media houses produce and air independent, non-sponsored, in-house programmes to inform and educate the masses of the people.These days,nothing from government is considered newsworthy unless it is paid for. As far I am concerned, it is either laziness or mischief that might have given rise to some of the anomalies that are now very noticeable in the Nigerian media especially in the print media and,again, more especially the television. Sometime last year, I had to do an article, entitled, “The Tyranny Of Television” and in which, among other things, I drew attention to an ugly trend wherein hosts on live television programmes not infrequently engage their guests in shouting bouts. We might not
be seeing much of that currently but there are still reasons to be worried.
Only a few days ago, I watched a live breakfast show in one of the popular television outfits during which one of the hosts was insisting that the guest, a serving minster, should declare his salary on air. All entreaties by the minister to the effect that he didn’t need to do that there and then since the salaries of public officers can be ascertained from the relevant agencies, and that as journalists, his hosts had access to such information, fell on deaf ears. One particular anchor kept insisting. What was that for if not to ridicule the minister? Assuming, without conceding, that the journalists on that programme did not have such information, then that’s laziness at play. If they had it and still insisted that the minster must say it himself on air, then that’s sheer mischief.
The point, therefore, is that the Nigerian media, as a whole, should take part of the blame for the presumed absence of proper communication of what the government, generally, is doing and in particular on the reasons why the current crisis arose, as government critics claim. It is not enough to claim to be working to hold government accountable. How do you hold government accountable when you deliberately wait for the same government to approach you to publish or broadcast its activities or achievements for exorbitant fees?
As things stand, the conventional mass media in Nigeria, especially the television and radio — the print media is in a big trouble–are failing in their responsibilities, and as far as I am concerned, the numerous public affairs live television shows in the country are becoming cacophonic and boring. Unfortunately, public office holders and their handlers keep falling on each other to appear on these shows to explain themselves not knowing that in most cases they are ambushed!
These days, it is not uncommon to hear live show hosts screaming on television, “what are the governors doing with the allocations they receive from Abuja?” Bunkum! That, as far as I am concerned, is an assault on the collective sensibility of the people. Nigerian journalists should go out there and find out. Media outfits have Correspondents in the states and as such, they should sponsor independent investigations into what the governors do with the funds they receive and report their findings to the people.Those of them asking such questions on air,apart from indulging in self indictment, knowingly and unknowingly create the impression that they have been hired to be part of a campaign, by some overzealous elements, to shift the blame for the current crisis to the state governments; rather than allow the federal government alone take all the heat.
It is
sheer perfidy and the conventional media should not be part of it.In any case, President Tinubu has owned up to full responsibility for the current challenges and there is nothing in his body language that suggests that he believes that state governors simply pocket the money they receive from Abuja and walk away, as some political elements and their agents in the media insinuate.
To go on television and begin to shout, “Where Is Our Money ?” , as some television anchors now do,is extremely pedestrian. If media practitioners in Nigeria must go by the appellation, “watchdog”, they must purge themselves of stereotyping.
I have said nothing to suggest that media handlers of government are doing perfectly well. Of course, there is room for improvement but the point is that most people, including their colleagues outside, are fixated over government and its insiders. Some journalists have even come up with the narrative that public relations practitioners are better suited to handle communications for governme.While the propriety or otherwise of this argument is not the concern here, methinks it is another self indictment on the part of the journalists orchestrating such a narrative.Perhaps they merely want to get even with some of those that are there now but they should not be oblivious of the fact that as they point one proverbial finger at the Bayo Onanugas or the Ajuri Ngelales of today, the rest of the other four are pointing at them. Governance is a cold and hard business and if the media lives up to expectations as “watchdog”, there will be no need to hire public relations practitioners to deodorize whatever might be the shortcomings of those in government.
Poor Bayo, he might be grappling with how to restrain himself from handling opportunistic politicians in the same hard-hitting manner he and his contemporaries dealt with the Karki boys in those days. But I personally reject any suggestion that he is a liability to the Tinubu administration. Interestingly, some of the new generation journalists who now pillory him on television must have been in the secondary school when he, along with the Kunle Ajibades, the Dapo Olorunyomis, the Femi Ojodus,the Dele Alakes, the Lewis Obis,the Chris Anyanwus etc, had to resort to “gorilla journalism” in order to escape being captured by agents of the military juntas during the struggle…I know because I was in the newsroom then – Champion, This Day, Daily Times, Satellite etc – and I can remember vividly that at a point, nobody knew where The News and Tempo, two weekly news magazines, and PM News, a sizzling daily evening newspaper, and all of which were signed by Bayo Onanuga as Editor-in-Chief, were being printed!
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