Sacked 5 Govs, NUJ Boss Advises Journalists

Following last Friday’s sack of the governors of Bayelsa, Cross River, Kogi, Adamawa and Sokoto States by what is largely discribed as a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court, Chairman of the Rivers State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr. Opaka Dokubo, has called for caution from journalists in the country.

While hailing the apex court’s ruling, though noting that it was belated, Mr. Dokubo urged journalists in the state and the country at large to be cautious in their reportage in situation of conflict.

In an interview with The Tide, Dokubo, said, “the issue is that journalists need to be very careful. We do not need to add to the problem. If there’s conflict anywhere, let journalists be cautious in the way they report events as they unfold.”

Journalists he said “must ensure that at any point in time, we are on the side of the people, the law and ensure that we take the harmony, peace and unity of the country, much higher than any one particular interest.

The Rivers State NUJ boss explained that often times, “there is the tendency for journalists to become tendentious. You find them leaning towards a given interest and trying to fan the embers of that interest which may not be that of the people or the law.

“When we do that, we end up fanning the embers of disunity and conflict instead of remaining neutral and allowing the law of the land take its course.

“We must be careful in the way we go about issues in the polity. Let use be wary and ensure that we are on the side of the law and truth always”, he concluded.

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the tenures of Governors Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa, Liyel Imoke (Cross River), Ibrahim Idris (Kogi), Moritala Nyako (Adamawa) and Aliyu Wamako (Sokoto) actually ended on May 27, 2011, even as they had a re-run election in 2008, after the general elections in 2007 following which they were sworn into office.