By Kelechi Amakoh
Journalists in the country have been urged to utilize the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act and other transparency laws to expose corruption and raise the bars of accountability, transparency and good governance.
The call was part of the recommendations in a communiqué signed by Mr. ‘’Lanre Arogundade, Director, International Press Centre on Thursday, October 17.
The recommendations were based on deliberations at a two-day media workshop on ‘Investigative Reporting and Methodologies for Institutionalizing Transparency and Accountability in the Democratic process organized by the International Press Centre (IPC) in Abuja on October 9 and October 10.
Here are the six-point recommendations in full:
“There should be continuous training and retraining for journalists as well as self-development by journalists themselves to raise the standards of professional practice in general and investigative reporting in particular.
“A vastly improved salary scale and working conditions should be put in place for journalists; in particular news mediums should be obliged to cover all expenses incurred by journalists in the course of investigations rather than relying on sources for bribes and payments.
“The new code of ethics should be urgently operationalized as it has set important benchmark for investigative reporting and ethical conduct by journalists.
“Journalists should utilize the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act and other transparency laws to expose corruption and raise the bars of accountability, transparency and good governance in Nigeria.
“The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and other media stakeholders should continue to act in the defense of press freedom and journalists’ rights; they should in particular explore legitimate means to ensure the prompt payment of wages and provision of insurance and other welfare packages for journalists.
“Journalists should take advantage of opportunities offered by grant making foundations, media networks, international development partners, donor agencies etc in support of investigative reporting.”
These recommendations were made to enhance and re-vitalize investigative reporting/journalism.
The workshop had in attendance twenty journalists drawn from print and broadcast public and private media in the Northern part of Nigeria.
It featured presentations and interactive discussions that accentuate the importance and relevance of investigative reporting to the performance of the media’s watchdog role as well as the stoppage of corruption in public institutions and the restoration of public confidence in the Nigerian media.
To participants at the workshop, investigative journalism is hampered by various challenges. “The challenges of investigative reporting in Nigeria are many and varied ranging from inadequate material resources for sustained research or investigation, hostile political environment to non-compliance with legal frameworks that compel the keeping of public documents and access by the public.
Others are poor communications infrastructure, inadequate journalistic skills and weak ethical standards.”
It was observed that investigative journalism has been weakened by corruption and poor attention to journalists’ welfare. Observed are the numerous obstacles investigative journalism encounters due to the media owners’ political and business interests.
Also hampering investigative journalism is lack of funds. The lack of funds according to the participants at the workshop prevents effective and efficient investigative reporting.
The two-day workshop was organized by the International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos-Nigeria with the support of United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Democratic Governance for Development project (DGD II).
Speakers included Barrister Eze Onyekpere, Executive Director, Centre for Social Justice (CENSOJ), Mr. Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda (MRA) and Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi, Publisher/Editor-In-Chief, Premium Times.
