Nigeria Is Where Media Can Abuse President, And Nothing Happens, Lai On Press Freedom

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has made it clear that the type of freedom media enjoys in Nigeria can be measured from the point of view of the fact that some media practitioners can and do abuse the President and nothing happens to them.

“This must be one of the very few countries in the world where a section of the media can refuse to recognize popular sovereignty, or how does one describe a situation in which a President who was duly elected by millions of Nigeria is willfully stripped of that title, ‘President’, and then cheekily cloaked in the garb of a dictator by playing up his military title? Despite that abuse of press freedom, those doing that have continued to practice their profession without hindrance.

“Ours must also be one of the few countries in the world where a reputable medium will report fake news and, when called out, will not retract or apologize.”

The minister spoke today, April 12 when the executive members of the Nigerian chapter of the International Press Institute (IPI) paid him a courtesy visit in his office, Abuja. The executive members were led by the President of IPI Nigeria, Muskilu Mojeed.

Lai Mohammed, who stressed that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is not a threat to the media, and it is not about to stifle press freedom or deny anyone his or her constitutionally-guaranteed rights, asked the media to always stick to their constitutional watchdog role, and not to constitute themselves into a political opposition.

He also charged IPI Nigeria to take seriously the issues of ethics, credibility and fake news, among others, in relation to the practice of journalism in the country.

”For example, on the issue of ethics, is it part of the ethics of journalism for a media organization to function like an opposition party, seeing nothing good in the government of the day and only reporting bad news?”  

He called for a sustained engagement between the government and the IPI in order to share views on how to enhance the practice of journalism in the country.

 This was even as the President of IPI Nigeria, Mojeed, said that the visit was part of a series of engagements with governmental and non-governmental organizations to enhance independent journalism and operating environment for journalists and media organizations in Nigeria.