By Celestine Afokobah
The need for the media and security agencies in the country to cultivate a cordial relationship has once again been emphasized.
The call was made by the Executive Assistant to the Governor of Delta State on Education Monitoring and the immediate past Provost of Federal College of Education -Technical (FCE-T), Asaba, Dr Ignatius Ezoem, during a paper presentation at the 10th Anniversary of Association of Community Newspaper Publisher of Nigeria (ACNPN) on the Theme: “2023 General Election; the Role of Media and Security Agencies; Challenges and Prospects.”
While maintaining that if not for the mass media the society would have been in absolute darkness, the two-term former Provost of FCE-T, Asaba, who emphasized on the importance of the mass media said that the Nigeria media played a pivotal role in the fight for Independence in Nigeria. “Moreover, the present democracy we are enjoying today is attributed to their doggedness”. He added
Advocating for a stronger synergy between one another, and noting that the media gives the information while the security agencies enforce the information, Ezoem stated that there was no way Nigeria would achieve free, fair and credible elections without the media and security agencies.
The Executive Assistant to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa on Education Monitoring also noted in his paper that the contemporary media in Nigeria suffers some challenges today in our society which promotes corruption, tribalism, nepotism and bad journalistic approach, giving birth to quackery and the inability of the Nigeria media to access the Freedom of Information Act signed since 2011.
Positing that lack of strong ethical values and standards affects the performance of journalists in our contemporary society, with regards to the security agencies whose primary responsibility is to protect lives and properties, and to maintain law and order in the society.
Ezoem noted that security agencies are also faced with some challenges in keeping and maintaining sustainable peace in our society, especially during elections. He enumerated some of their challenges to includes; inadequate personnel, inadequate facilities and equipment, logistics problem, corruption, tribalism and politics.
The Executive Assistant on Education Monitoring noted that “if the media shun the above-mentioned challenges by adhering strictly to ethical standard and shun corruption through good welfare package, and if the security agencies are well equipped with sophisticated weapons, the 2023 general elections could be adjudged to be a free, fair and most credible election in the history of Nigeria”.
He also posited that the community newspaper is as important as community policing, and reiterated his call for a strong synergy between the media and the security agencies so as to achieve free, fair and credible elections come 2023.
Ezoem challenged the media to profile the candidates of each political party and publish to the electorates. He also called on the electorates to shun money politics and stomach infrastructure, separate tribalism and religiosity, and vote for candidates of integrity based on their pedigree. With this, our collective dream for a greater Nigeria will be realized.
The high point of the 10th Anniversary of the Association of Community Newspaper Publishers of Nigeria (ACNPN) was the presentation of awards to some well-deserved Deltans who have contributed in one way or the other to the development of their communities.
