Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, National Waves Newspaper & Magazine, Mr Jimmy Enyeh
By Our Reporter
The publisher of National Waves Newspaper and Magazine, Mr. Jimmy Enyeh has said that Nigeria’s democracy must be encouraged and protected.
He added that those who would not adhere to the principles and objectives of democracy must be checkmated.
He disclosed this duting the 16th anniversary lecture and award ceremony of National Waves held at Merit House, Abuja penultimate Thursday. Read full speech below
“The auspicious occasion of the 16th anniversary of the NATIONAL WAVES titles provides yet another opportunity to reflect on the state of the media industry; and more importantly for me, it’s an occasion to give thanks to God for the support during the thick and thin journey of NATIONAL WAVES
“The media as information source has done well in keeping the citizens abreast of developments in our system, be it politics, economy, education, social structure, entertainment and others. The business of informing the public has always come with its risk, given the adversarial relationship between power elite and journalists as a result of the latter mediating the social contract which is often kept in breach by the powers that be at every point in our political history.
“This credit to the Fourth Estate of the Realm can not be denied, even in spite of the difficulties encountered in sourcing for news to pass to the public. The freedom of information bill which makes it mandatory for disclosure on the part of government agencies, departments and ministries, including the Presidency is often not followed under some opaque national security interest.
“The idea was that with the advent of the Fourth Republic the situation of access to information would be much better, but that has not been the case, neither has the cruelty of media harassment abated, as journalists continue to be threatened, harassed and even arrested and sent to prison for simply doing their job.
“For us at NATIONAL WAVES, we have and we will continue to remain resolute and unwavering in reporting the truth. Our motto has always mirrored even with greater intensity that of the British Economist magazine, which is to continue to allow the NATIONAL WAVES to take part in
“a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress”.
“Precisely, we have sworn to eradicate ignorance by educating our people on affairs of governance in all its ramifications, protecting public interest, and advancing the cause of democracy, social justice, equity and fairness.
The grim realities of our political system, democracy and absence of accountability on the part of government officials both elected and selected have given all of us a cause for concern, given that this democratic journey ought to have moved into realm of civilized conduct and global best practices.
“There’s no denying the fact that since the advent of democracy, some politicians have not genuinely acted in the interest of the citizens, they have betrayed their hopes and aspirations with impunity, knowing fully well that in our faulty democratic process, the people’s voices do not count, neither do their votes count.
“But we as the Fourth Estate cannot fold our hands in resignation as the political buccaneers continue to take charge, amputate our democracy, subvert the rule of law with the rule of might and brawn, we must as journalists stand up to their excesses by exposing them , and lining them up for public scrutiny.
“Though we live and operate in a milieu and society where political operators have no respect for democracy and accountability, as journalists we must neither give in to intimidation in the discharge of our duty of informing the public, detecting or exposing crime or a serious misdemeanour whether on the part of public officials, but also in organised private sector, religious institutions, academia, non-governmental organizations, and the society as a whole.
“We must continue to protect public health and safety, and report abuses, and we must also hold dear, the sanctity of
preventing the public from being misled by some statement or action of an individual or organisation.
“Since the public is our ultimate source of income for media, acting in their interest is both an ethical and pragmatic concern for us journalists.
“I implore my colleagues to always maintain the public’s trust as a directive principle because it is on the foundation of trust that information is collected and exchanged. The public must trust journalists to provide accurate and valuable information, or else the journalists’ works will be neither sought out nor believed.
“It’s also imperative to note that sources of information must trust us to protect their identity, where applicable, and not to misrepresent them or their views.
This can be seen as an ethical value, but it is also a pragmatic one: a media outlet cannot do business if it cannot obtain sources or be believed by the public.
“There is the pragmatic concern of financial solvency. No media outlet wants to have to choose between accurately presenting an important story and turning a profit, but these objectives sometimes conflict. Staying in business is, of course, the primary concern in such situations. When faced with a decision about what stories should be published, or how to portray a particular issue, the press is often more likely to publish a story that portrays events and issues unambiguously and straightforwardly.
Often this results in an oversimplification of complex issues, or even a substitution of sensationalized stories for important ones.
“NATIONAL WAVES has always maintained the sanctity of the right of our readers to be informed on happenings in the polity and governance no matter whose ox is gored. Our reporters have witnessed countless harassments and intimidation, but we have continued to do our job undetered, as we consider it a sacrilege to betray the right of the citizens to be accurately informed.
We must through our reportage, editorials and analyses force our leaders to do the right thing, we should continue to hold them to account, we must not relent in persuading them to respect the sanctity of the social contract, and the will of the electorate on behalf of who they hold power in trust.
“This democracy must be encouraged to be internally and externally democratic.
We should also encourage credible opposition, for as the celebrated Palestinian- American scholar Edward Said had noted, “the power to narrate and to prevent other narrations from forming and emerging is common between dictatorship and underdevelopment, and constitutes the main connection between them.”
We must persuade the current power elite in the power loop to allow credible opposition. Let a thousand flowers bloom, this is what democracy is all about.
“On a final note, there are Nigerians who have contributed to the development of the country. These few people who have been meticulously nominated by the editorial board and award selection committee of NATIONAL WAVES stand out in their respective endeavours. These are Nigerians with unblemished and untainted characters. NATIONAL WAVES will honour few of these people in commemoration of its16th anniversary.”
