Juliana Taiwo
16 November 2007
Abuja — The Special Adviser to the President on Communications, Mr. Segun Adeniyi has bemoaned the poor package for journalists in the country. Adeniyi said this during the inauguration of the newly elected executive of the State House Press Corps in Abuja.
He described the situation as most agonizing, considering that journalists work longer than most other professionals.
"Very often, journalists are not thanked for their work. We get paid less than our colleagues in the banks and oil companies. We work long hours. We are derided as press boys who cannot see beyond what they call 'brown envelopes'", he said.
Adeniyi was himself a former State House Correspondent with the defunct African Concord. He noted that despite the imperfections and hazards journalists face in the charge of their duties, journalism remains a noble calling. He therefore urged journalists to be proud of their important roles and achievements in the development of the nation and in the nurturing of the country's nascent democracy.
"Quoting a respected American businessman, Warren Buffett, "the smarter the journalists are the better off society is. For to a degree, people read the press to inform themselves-and the better the teacher, the better the student body," Adeniyi charged the State House Correspondents to always be conscious of their crucial role in the society irrespective of the situation.
"I must stress that your primary role here as State House Correspondents is that of reporters while every other thing is secondary. Your role is very crucial because the society relies on you to inform them of what transpires at the highest seat of government. To that end, you have to be accurate and professional in the charge of your responsibility while the extent to which your reports are taken seriously depends on its credibility," said Adeniyi.
Recalling his days as a reporter at the Presidential Villa, he praised the current Chief Security Officer, CSO, to the President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua for being media-friendly, noting that in his days it was unthinkable to cross the path of the CSO. This means, "under the current dispensation, we have a media-friendly CSO which means we can do our job without any fear of molestation from the security agents," he said.
In his message to the SHPC on the occasion, Information and Communication Minister, Mr. John Odey Ogar commended the members for their patriotism in effectively covering the activities of the highest political seat in the land.He thanked them for appreciating the limitations of government and charged them to continue to take up the challenges ahead and do their job with dedication.
Odey asked them to tune into President Yar'Adua's 7-point agenda and support him in the task to entrench rule of law as the norm of Nigeria.He assured them of government's support in their activities and expressed the hopes that Freedom of Information, FOI, Bill will soon be a law. Officers that were sworn-in were: Daniel Idonor of Champion newspaper (Chairman); Abayomi Adeshida of Vanguard newspaper (Vice-Chairman); Chesa Chesa of Daily Independent (Secretary); Ben Agande of Vanguard (Financial Secretary); Philip Ojisua of The Guardian newspaper (Welfare Secretary) and Tunde Olaniyi of Daily Independent (Treasurer).
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