Don’t break up Nigeria by urge to break news, Lai Mohammed charges media

Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has appealed to the Nigerian media not to break up the country by the urge to break news.
Speaking as the special guest at a two-day Media Conference organised by the Nigerian Army, Mohammed also urged the media to draw the line between support or lack of it for political authority vis-a-vis security services.
The conference was organised in partnership with the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Nigeria Institute of Public Relations, Guild of Corporate Online Publishers and Guild of Professional Bloggers of Nigeria.
Represented by Ms Grace Isu Gekpe, the Permanent Secretary, Mohammed urged the media to give consideration to national security in their competition to break the news first.
“Governments come and go but the security services remain to continue to take the risks so that you and I can live to pursue livelihood.’’
“If don’t like the government of the day for whatever reason, you should not extend that hatred to the army or in general the security services.”
He said that the media had the responsibility to safeguard the military and other security agencies, who stake their lives to ensure the citizens remain safe.
The minister noted while Nigerians always spend their holidays, including Christmas and New Year in the comfort of their homes while officers and soldiers of the army were in the trenches exposed to risks.
“They can’t even think of Christmas. Their thought is on whether they will see another day or even the next hour alive.
“We need to support them.’’
The minister also decried media reportage of the ongoing counter-terrorism operation in the North-East.
According to him, when the Nigerian Army recaptured Baga and other places recently, all the newspapers published it, but only one or two did so on the front page.
“Yet, virtually every paper and broadcast establishment in Nigeria prominently published about the attack by Boko Haram.’’
Mohammed restated that terrorism thrives on publicity, adding that there were lessons to be learnt from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
“Ask yourself whether any journalist was able to practice journalism while that war lasted.
“Yet, the genocide was caused by the inability of the media to ensure the their platforms were not used by hate merchants in propagating fake news and hate speech.
“Unfortunately, even in the mainstream media today, some of our newspapers and broadcast houses allow that kind of thing.’’
He said that the war against terrorism and insurgency could not be won without the cooperation of the entire strata of the media.
The minister said that as the army continues to change strategy, the media must also follow suit and own the army as theirs.