A professor of History, International Studies and Diplomacy in the University of Benin, Prof. Eddy Erhagbe, says the Nigerian media seems to be operating under “autocratic-democratic governance,” as most Nigerian leaders are authoritarian in their approach to governance.
The university don who is also the director, Advancement Office in the federal university, said Nigerian media willingly and unwillingly supports and advances the policies dictated by the ruling elite without subjecting them to critical and public inspection.
Prof. Erhagbe made the observations while speaking as a special guest lecturer on the theme: “Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of Expression as a Driver for All Other Human Rights” during the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) 2023 World Press Freedom Day organized by the Edo State chapter of the NUJ in Benin City.
He said pressure from government and other interest bodies put the media under undue control.
“The government designed various means to put the media under control. The content and purpose of the media output still suffer from self or official censorship since the media are mostly part of the actors in the political economy.
“The media has always faced unlimited pressures from the public, interest groups, political parties and the government in power. These pressures usually force the media to take sides in reporting national events, in order to promote the interest of a particular party or interest group.
“These problems render the mass media unconducive for professional and effective media practice. The mass media practitioners are always reduced to a zero level of independence,” the guest speaker pointed out.
the Oba Oguola NUJ Press Center, Benin City
He said another problem disabling the Nigeria media is the current security situation which has posed a huge threat to the practice of journalism and the sustenance and the democratization of Nigeria. He stressed that this state has been practically heightened by the activities of the insurgents.
Prof Erhagbe further pointed out that most Nigerian media houses are not adequately equipped with the modern communication equipment, adding that poor Infrastructural facilities and outdated gadgets are still being used to spread information.
He attributed these to government’s lack of political will to embark on the transformation of the media industry and corruption that is spread among government officials.
He identified ethnicity is another problem that the Nigerian media is facing decrying that this has taken deep root in the polity of the nation.
The Edo State NUJ chairman, Comrade Alenkhe, host of the lecture, urged journalists to use their profession to unite the people rather than to constitute themselves into instruments of disunity.
He tasked journalists to hold governments and people in public office accountable to the people as provided by the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
In his closing remarks, the pioneer elected chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Edo State branch, Comrade Godwin Erahon, commended the NUJ leadership for doing more to aid development.
“Whenever we come to an event like this I will like to commend the NUJ chairman, Festus Alenkhe and his leadership and all members of his team for the development of the Union. In our time, we were able to do our best. We are very happy to see them doing much better than us.
“We are very glad on our part, I left as NUJ chairman, in 1994, and those who have come after us are doing so well. They are showing good example to Nigerians that the younger generation can do much better than even we the ancestors,” he said.
