By Chief Patrick Osagie Eholor
It has come to my notice that journalists in Nigeria, like the politicians, have failed us. Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari addressed the nation with his empty speech with the collaboration of his Special Adviser on Media, Femi Adesina, who refused to adhere to the rules guiding the journalism profession that such occasions call for journalists been allowed to ask Buhari very probing questions on his scorecard so far. If Buhari did not want to answer questions from the media he should just have released a communique and passed it to the journalists. Fairplay demands that he should have created such a room.Â
Also, I am very unhappy hearing and reading Nigeria journalists call some of the #endsars protesters hoodlums and thugs. Remember that a hungry man is an angry man. You cannot call such patriots hoodlums and thugs while you paint politicians in bright colours. Is there anybody that deserves to be called a thug and hoodlum than Bola Tinubu who is getting so much money from the Lekki Toll Gate? Is anybody more qualified to be addressed as a thug or hoodlum than members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers(NURTW) who forcefully collect money from commercial vehicle operators. Journalists must be alive to their responsibility of giving us accurate report of events at all times. They should always protect the masses of the people and not the oppressors. I will not encourage anybody to burn and loot but I will always encourage people to fight for their rights because their rights is their life. I am appealing to journalists that they should henceforth show civility by addressing people appropriately. If you address us as thugs and hoodlums when we travel out of the country those who are over there will see us as such.
I am surprised at the emptiness of Governor Obaseki’s address to the people of Edo State recently. He was blatantly accusing members of the opposition of wielding guns and other deadly weapons during the #endsars protest. As the chief security officer of the state. He is vested with all the authority to arrest such people but he didn’t rather he was apportioning blame. We are tired of this unnecessary fight. I am appealing to Governor Godwin Obaseki to desist from inciting the people of Edo State against each other. He has won his second tenure election. Let him go about ensuring that we all enjoy the dividends of democracy which he promised during the campaign. He, not his aide, should tell us why he stored palliatives while people were starving. We have millions of street urchins carrying plates and begging for food in the north yet northern governors stored palliatives not minding that the people are dying of starvation. If there is a definition of wickedness it is Nigerian politicians.
I listened to Bola Tinubu saying that he is still the Jagaban. Let him prove to us that this is true by strolling around a major street in broad daylight unaccompanied by police escorts.
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