By Steve Oni, Ilorin
A media guru , Alhaji Liad Tella has advocated professionalism of the journalism practice in the country in order to take the profession out of slavery and enslavement.
Alhaji Tella, who was a former Editor of the defunct Concord Press Newspapers and former Managing Director of Monitor Newspapers, made the call in Ilorin, the state capital, while answering questions on a Radio Kwara personality interview programme “Playing Host”.
He suggested that the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) should back away from the Guild of Editors, describing the guild as a lame dog that is under the ambit of the owner of the media organisations.
According to him, there is always collaboration between the Guild of Editors and some media owners because they would always protect their jobs to the detriment of the reporters’ welfare, lamenting that most journalists have not recieved their salaries for over two years and are even without appointment letters.
Alhaji Tella, who is also a Senior Research Fellow, Mass Communication Department, Faculty of Information and Communication Sciences, University of Ilorin, urged that journalism in Nigeria should be run as a professional body as applicable in the NBA, NMA and other professional bodies that have regulatory councils in the country.
The veteran journalist disclosed that the Nigerian Press Council , the Guild of Editors and the NUJ made a grievous technical mistake by standing up against the Nigerian Press Council Act which they claimed would stifle freedom of opinion and freedom of the press. Rather, he argued that such Act was in cognisance with the principle of justice and best practices in journalism globally.
Alhaji Tella commended Nigerian journalists for fighting for the independence , sustainance and restoration of democracy and as well as for fighting corruption, intimidation and lawlessness.
The media guru described politicians as destroyers of the nation when it comes to unfulfilled electioneering promises and therefore warned them not to set the nation ablaze by promising Nigerians what they cannot fulfill. He therefore cautioned journalists to keep their heads and integrity while reporting electoral matters and maintain decorum and fairness in their reportage warning that election would come and go, but the corporate existence, entity and unity of the country must be paramount in the discharge of their duties.
He also implored media practitioners to apply the ethics of the profession without crossing the boundary of partisanship. According to him, the military technically destroyed journalism and the media due to undue interference, while the freedom to publish was curtailed and draconian and obnoxious laws such as decree four were passed, journalists were jailed and newspaper houses were closed down.
Answering another question , the don said religious enmity and antagonism have become the order of the day where some religious leaders are partisan in their sermons and cautioned against importing negative religiousity and bigotry into politics in Nigeria.
On the activities of the Boko Haram sect, Alhaji Tella disclosed that the activities of the sect is a Nigerian phenomenon sponsored by the destroyers of this country who do not want Nigeria to become great , it is sponsored externally to stagnate the development of Nigeria , it’s a phenomenon that was imported into the country using Nigerians , there is no religiousity in Boko Haram and if anybody says the sect is Islam, why should somebody who claimed he is a Muslim put bomb around himself and bomb about two hundred and fifty people in the mosque while the Holy Quran says anybody that kills would never see the Kingdom of God and never be admitted into paradise.
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