Moblising The Media For Security, Development

The United Nations (UN) General As
sembly at its 26th session in 1991, pro
claimed May 3rd every year as World Press Freedom Day. It was intended to shed light on the fundamental principles of press freedom, evaluate press freedom around the world, defend the independence of the media and pay tribute to journalists who die on duty.
Ever since, the world had used the day to promote the need to guarantee a free, independent and pluralistic media environment, where journalists and other media workers, can work safely and independently without threat or harm.
The theme for this year’s celebration is: “Media Freedom For a Better Future: Shaping The Post 2015 Development Agenda”. It underscores the need to create an environment for the media where attacks, intimidations, harassments, abductions arbitrary imprisonment, and threats are the exceptions and not the norm.
Unfortunately, this cannot be said to be the case in many African countries, including Nigeria where journalists are constantly intimidated and harassed by vested political and entrenched economic interests.
The traditional media being the most vulnerable to political or economic coercion and manipulation has been reduced in Nigeria to platforms where praise-singing takes centre stage, in a bid to stay afloat through government patronage.
It is disheartening that Nigeria has joined the list of countries where journalists are confronted with unresolved murders, mindless assault and violence. This much was revealed by the international journalists watchdog body, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in its 2013 Impunity Index released in New York recently.
The Tide thinks that the safety of journalists is non-negotiable if the country must join the civilised world and achieve the basic freedoms for her citizens, enforce the rule of law and make development the right and duty of her peoples.
While the media is said to be the freest in Africa, the challenges inherent in their practice calls for a lot of concern. The freedom for anyone, including illiterates and job seekers to either practise or even pretend to be media owners alone carries for the country so much danger.
Although the media is seen as the fourth arm of government, that is expected to watch over governance, the seeming indifference extended to the media in many African countries also breeds abuses in the media.
In Nigeria, efforts at attaining some measure of standards by a policy that disqualifies anyone that had no professional training, at least a Diploma in Mass Communication or Journalism from practising has failed to see the light of day.
The combined effect of the intrusion of non-professionals and the establishment of all manner of publications have legitimised sensationalism, open and dangerous outlet for partisan and unethical practices and other unprintable conducts that make it difficult to define who a journalist is in Nigeria.
Perhaps, we should state that a people are as good as the media that informs them. Besides, exposing people to some unguarded information would not only mislead them but ferment the crisis that can be so costly. Apart from its ability to educate, the agenda setting quality of the media is what every government must be mindful of.
That is why we expect the government and the professional associations including the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), the Broadcasting Association of Nigeria (BON) and the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) to bring up the challenge of how to sanitise and grow the media in Nigeria.