Media critical in EFCC anti-graft war — Iredia
Media
By Emmanuel Mogbede
Abuja, Sept. 27, 2016 (NAN) Mr Tonnie Iredia, a former Director-General, Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), has said that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) needs media cooperation to succeed in its anti-graft war.
Iredia said this on Tuesday in Abuja in a lecture entitled “Broadcasting and the Fight Against Corruption.”
He was one of the resource persons at a workshop organised for journalists covering the commission.
The former NTA boss, who described the EFCC as Nigeria’s foremost actor in the country`s fight against corruption, said it was dangerous for the commission to work without the media.
“If you involve the media always from the beginning to the end, you will not only have correspondents, but friends in the media who may become your advisers at the end.’’
He, therefore, charged the commission to regularly brief the media and make literature on its activities available to journalists always.
This, he said, was critical to keeping the public informed of the commission’s activities.
According to Iredia, continuous public enlightenment will go a long way to prevent corruption and keep the public better informed and away from indulging in corrupt practices.
The former NTA boss urged journalists covering the commission to keep themselves abreast of its activities and to always observe the ethics of the profession.
He, however, identified media ownership control as a major challenge in developing nations, as it hindered practitioners from doing their jobs effectively.
“Media practice in Nigeria is handicapped by ownership control.”
Iredia also identified lack of manpower development programmes, obsolete facilities and poor salaries when to the earnings of core civil servants as challenges to journalism practice.
He stressed that in spite of the challenges, journalists in the country should strive for perfection by building their capacity and being courageous to embark on investigative reporting.
He said that it was unfortunate that the Freedom of Information Act was not working as expected in the country, adding that it was the responsibility of its operators to make it work.
Iredia tasked the EFCC to pick lessons from every criticism while demonstrating independence at all times, in order to gain public confidence.
Earlier, the EFCC spokesman, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, said the workshop was designed to build the capacity of journalists covering the commission.
Most journalists at the workshop accused the EFCC spokesman of being economical with information and not cooperating with the media.
According to them, the EFCC spokesman hardly picks calls or responds to text messages aimed at extracting information from him to balance their reports.
This situation, they said, left journalists frustrated, leading to speculative reporting most times. (NAN)
EEM/AK/NKO
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(Edited by Akin Makanjuola/Nkechi Okoronkwo)