The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has challenged Nigerian journalists to always focus on reporting what is good about the country, not the other way round.
Mr Gbajabiamila stated this while receiving a delegation from the DAAR Communications, owners of AIT and RayPower FM, led by the chairman of the company, Raymond Dokpesi Jnr on Thursday in Abuja.
According to him, the press is an integral part of the country’s democracy, hence the need for media practitioners to double-check their facts and ensure they are fair and balanced before going to press.
The Speaker noted that if the Nigerian democracy fails due to false press, it would affect all citizens.
While stressing that it would cost nothing for journalists to be ethical and diligent in their work, Mr Gbajabiamila urged journalists to ensure proper investigative journalism that would benefit the country.
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The Speaker said AIT and RayPower FM have been doing well in their reportage of activities around the country, but added that “we’re not there yet.”
“There’s a lot of duty, ethical duty, to be apolitical and report accurately. The National Assembly, sometimes due to its own making and sometimes not, has got a lot of bad press. The sooner we realise we’re hurting ourselves, the better.
“My charge, my hope and my appeal are that we begin to focus properly on what’s good for Nigeria,” Mr Gbajabiamila said.
Earlier, Mr Dokpesi Jnr thanked the Speaker for sending representatives to the last town hall meeting organised by the company.
He said the company came up with the idea of the town hall meeting as an avenue to bring all stakeholders to discuss national issues that would benefit Nigeria.
According to Mr Dokpesi Jnr, the initiative was aimed at promoting the good ideals of democracy using the town hall meetings.
The DAAR Communications chairman, therefore, sought for the understanding of the House to achieve that.
