2023: Be wary of unfounded stories from politicians, Odusile cautions journalists, media managers

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, journalists and media managers in the country have been urged to be wary of reporting and publishing unfounded stories by politicians as this can heat up the polity.

The Ogun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Waheed Odusile, made this known at a media parley organised by the media team of the of the state government for the leadership of radio and television stations in the state as part of the all inclusive strategy to move the state forward.

Odusile, who appreciated the media managers on behalf of the state government for their relentless efforts at making known the policies, programmes, and activities of the government to the people, called on all to be very critical and ask questions if any story is too good to be true.

He further implored them to endeavour to clarify whatever information at their disposal, especially during the electioneering period.

“We are moving to the era of politics, when anything goes. A lot of people will come and say different things to run down the government, please, let us always remember that credibility is the only thing we have in the newsroom. We should not allow anybody to pull us down because of money”, he noted.

While harping on the importance of the media in a democratic government, the Commissioner noted that the state government has done its best in making the environment conducive for the media practitioners in the state with the building of the Olusegun Osoba Press Center, donation of buses among others.

Lamenting the gradual erosion of professionalism in journalism, Odusile enjoined the veterans in the industry not to be tired of mentoring the younger generation and should always endeavour to share their garnered experience with them.

He, however, encouraged media practitioners to reach out to the media team of the state governor on an issue that is not clear to them about the government before going on air or print, stressing that, “we are not here to hoard information but to give it out for the benefit of the people and to assist you to remain in business”.

The Commissioner said that the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led government in three years, under the ISEYA Mantra, has been able to construct over 400km of roads in all the three senatorial districts, renovated and constructed at least 100 Primary Health Care centers in each ward with the intention of having 236 in all the wards, constructed and renovated over 1,000 blocks of classrooms, increased the numbers of ambulance vehicles to 40 from the 10 met on ground and constructed over 1,000 housing units among other achievements.

In his remarks, the Consultant to the Governor on Media, Mr. Ifekayode Akinbode, used the opportunity to call on the veterans to constantly engage the new comers in the journalism profession, organize in-house training and retraining for them to keep the profession alive while giving priority to content production.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Kunle Somorin in his address, said the parley was to serve as opportunity to appreciate all the stations for the support received so far and to create an avenue to have a more robust engagement to improve on the mandate that has been thrusted on the government of Governor Dapo Abiodun.

In their respective responses, the Consultant/Chief Operations Officers of Roots F.M, Mr. Dele Ayodo, the General Manager of NTA 12, Abeokuta, Mrs. Funmi Wakama and her counterpart from Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC), Mrs. Toyin Sogbesan, appreciated the state government for its developmental strides.

They, however, called on Ministries, Departments and Agencies to always assist them by making payments for their programmes and adverts on the stations to keep them in business.