The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Press Council, NPC, Dr. Dili Ezughah, has expressed dismay that those who oppose the existence of the council are themselves setting up organs to perform functions similar to those of the agency.
Dr. Ezughah, while interacting with some journalists in Abuja, observed that the stakeholders in the media industry who had been fighting tooth and nail to kill the NPC were setting up private ombudsman for their media houses.
He said he was not against the establishment of private ombudsman by media organisations because the more the merrier, as the aim should be to sanitize the environment of journalism practice in the country.
The Executive Secretary, however, questioned the morality and audacity of those who felt they had the right to set up private ombudsman, but struggling to deny government the right to do the same.
“It’s like telling government that because you have private militias, government should not have an army; or, because you have private security outfits, government should not have the police force; or, that government should not have the judiciary because you choose to settle your cases in your village square”, Dr. Ezughah argued.
He asserted that those taking such position were actually challenging the sovereignty of government, remarking that such conduct would not be condoned by any government.
Dr. Ezughah explained that contrary to the negative perception in some quarters that the Nigerian Press Council was an instrument for gagging the press, the council was actually established by government with the best of intention for the media profession.
According to him, “what government has done by setting up the Nigerian Press Council is not to censor journalists or to cripple the practice of journalism. Instead, it is to ensure that those who inform the public are themselves informed; to ensure that journalists and journalism operate in the country at the highest standard obtainable anywhere; to ensure the accuracy of news; to ensure a healthy and safe environment both for journalists and Nigerians with regards to dissemination of information in the print media”.
He continued: “Part of what we do is if anybody or organisation harms a journalist or obstructs the performance of his duty, or a journalist is arbitrarily arrested by law enforcement agents, we intervene. If a journalist wrote fake news or wrote a libelous story against someone, we come in and effect reconciliation. Why should that be a problem?”
The Executive Secretary remarked that it would only be a problem to someone who didn’t want to practice professionally; someone who wanted to continue to practice blackmail journalism, disseminating disinformation, misinforming the people, using the powerful tool of journalism to cause disaffection and mayhem.
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