A former Minister of Education, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, has called on media practitioners to stand firm in holding political office holders to account for their services to the nation.
Ezekwesili made the call at a media roundtable in Abuja on Sunday with theme: “The Accountability Imperative: Holding Politicians’ Feet to the Fire”.
The event was organised by FrontFoot Media Initiative, a non-profit group, established to advance development in Nigeria and Africa through quality journalism.
Ezekwesili said that time had come for the Nigerian media practitioners to rise above sentiments and hold politicians accountable in discharging the role of the media as the fourth estate of the realm.
The former minister, who also served as vice-president of the Africa Region of the World Bank Africa, expressed her concern that media practitioners in Nigeria were no longer holding politicians accountable like in the past.
According to her, some politicians have made themselves demi-gods and have remained non-challant to the plight of the masses.
“When we talk about accountability, what upsets people the most is that you dared to speak up objectively and publicly about matters that concern the people.
“All over the world, what is known of government is that it exists to deliver improvements in the quality of life and to ensure security of lives and property.”
She said that until media practitioners rose to their responsibilities, politicians might never deliver good governance to Nigerians.
“It is established empirically that the media is central to the development of any society. The 1999 Constitution empowers the media to hold public office holders accountable.
“No group is feared like media practitioners. Therefore, media organisations must live up to expectations."
Ezekwesili said that each time media practitioners were unable to carry out their obligations, politicians would have the impetus to continue to impoverish the masses.
She said it was time for media professionals to fashion out factors responsible for the inability of the media to carry out its constitutional responsibilities effectively.
According to her, until the media is able to look inward to fashion out lasting solutions to problems mitigating against its responsibilities to the citizenry, it will not be able to hold politicians to account.
“If you are concerned about evidence-based approach in analysing society, you will realise that the indicators of progress for us as a country is on the reverse.
“For instance, in terms of Human Development Index (HDI), our level of growth is not more than 0.5 per cent,’’ Ezekwesili stated.
Also, Dr Haroun Adamu, a former Managing Director of the Triumph Publishing Company, said that the history of Nigeria would not be complete without recourse to the media.
He said that the media had played a critical role in the attainment of Nigeria’s independence.
According to him, many journalists in Nigeria had lost their lives in the process of holding politicians to account.
Adamu noted that most of the journalists who lost their lives in the course of their duties never had life insurance.
Citing numerous challenges faced by journalists in Nigeria in discharging their duties, Adamu said they should not relent in doing their jobs.
“There is need to protect the lives of journalists because of the risks involved in doing their jobs.
“There should be implementable policies to provide life insurance for journalists.
“This will act as motivation for media practitioners to go all out to demand accountability and transparency from politicians,’’ he added.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that media executives and retired media practitioners attended the event.