Femi Falana is not a journalist. He is a lawyer. This man from Ekiti State is indeed a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN and an activist.
But, when he mounted the podium on December 3, 2021, to speak on: “Assessing Media Performance in Consolidating Nigeria’s Democracy: Citizen’s Verdict and Outlining an Agenda for the Future”, Falana in his usual dramatic manner, spoke like a journalist, who has seen it all from the classroom to the newsroom.
The event was the Town Hall Meeting organized by the Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, and supported by the Embassy of the United States of America in Nigeria.
The uncompromising lawyer disclosed point-blank that since democracy the world over is a process, not a destination, editors and journalists from developing and advanced countries should endeavour to under-study democratic trends and directions and exchange notes.
“In America, when Donald Trump ruled as President, he once barred a reporter from Cable News Network, CNN, from covering activities at the White House. But, authorities of CNN, rattled by that move sued Trump and won and the reporter returned to the White House to do his job.
” In Nigeria, the reverse would have been the case as some editors, media houses instead of standing their grounds could go begging the powers-that-be to temper justice with mercy, so to say,” he stated.
Coming back home, the Ekiti-born lawyer assured editors and other journalists, that heaven will not fall if they deploy their troops of investigative reporters to dig deeper and unearth documented facts and figures on cases like the ENDSARS protests and the 21-storey collapsed building in Lagos.
“Lagos State Government and some other agencies involved in the ENDSARS and collapsed building issues, are cooking up all sorts of facts and figures that do not add up, thereby repeatedly embarrassing the LASG”.
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He said it was unfortunate that some journalists and editors, whose names he did not mention are now contractors and consultants to some stakeholders on the ENDSARS and the collapsed building, churning out illegalities all the way.
He insisted that contrary to cook-up reports from government and security agencies in Lagos, the realities were that the government allegedly sponsored thugs and hoodlums to infiltrate ENDSARS protest, adding that the government should own up to it and apologize to the people.
He said editors and media organisations should henceforth ignore the many illegal fines and fees imposed on media houses by the National Broadcast Commission, NBC, stick to the ethics of the journalism profession and continue to set agenda on exposing the many atrocities being committed by corrupt politicians.
On the upcoming 2023 presidential election, Falana explained that the agenda by journalists should be issues-based and not focus on religion, ethnicity, zoning formula, to stand the test of time.
He however commended the media in Nigeria for standing through thick and thin to do their jobs, regardless of the risk and assured that the media shaped and are still shaping the direction of policies and governance in the country, though at snail’s speed.
In his speech, Mustapha Isah, President, Nigerian Guild of Editors said the Town Hall Meeting was expected to assess the performance of journalists and suggest ways for improvement.
While noting that good governance are facilitated by strong and independent media, he said it is only when journalists are free to monitor, investigate and criticize public policies and actions can good governance can take root.
He stressed the need for journalists to set agenda for politicians instead of politicians dictating the pace.
“What is currently dominating headlines in the media on the 2023 general elections is zoning or power rotation. This is the agenda of the politicians. Must the media allow these politicians to set the agenda for us?
“I think it should be the opposite. As the politicians talk about zoning, we, I mean the media, should remind them that we are more interested in the issues of development, education, insecurity, youth unemployment and poverty ravaging the nation.