Former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu on Saturday
urged editors in the country to support the president’s
media aides to make their jobs less challenging.
Tinubu, represented by Gov. Adams Oshiomhole of Edo,
gave the advice in Abuja at a reception organised by the
Nigeria Guild of Editors for its members recently
appointed as president’s media aides.
Those honoured were Mr Femi Adesina, the Special
Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President and
Mallam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant on
Media and Publicity to the President.
Tinubu, who is APC’s Party Leader and the chairman of
the occasion, said the two presidential aides needed the
support to make their job less difficult.
I can already see that Femi and Garba are going to have
real challenges but the men and women in this hall have
all what it takes to help you to make the job less difficult,’’
he said.
Tinubu urged editors to keep fighting corruption and other
vices that undermine the growth and development of the
country.
For me, the media are the best fighters. If you don’t fight,
the society will not grow. Today, there are debates about
poor governance. Nothing is going to change if we don’t
fight.
It is important to fight the war until we get the country of
our dream; for me, let us fight a cause that is necessary
in order to deliver prosperity to our people,’’ Tinubu said.
He said editors should keep fighting until the war against
corruption was won, Nigeria was free from its insurgency
and created an economy that was not so much dependent
on one commodity.
Tinubu expressed happiness over the President’s political
will to fight war against corruption in the country.
He congratulated the NGE for having two members of its
own being appointed by the President to play very
important role in his administration.
I believe it is a reflection of the role of the media in the
democracy. No matter what anyone will say, the Nigerian
media remain a powerful pillar and force in the struggle
for democracy.
In history, you are on record as having been convicted for
allegedly plotting a coup only with the power of your pen
without a gun and you paid your prize.
People went to prisons because you wrote pro-democracy
stories that you thought that would prevent military
government,’’ Tinubu said.
He said nobody understood the benefit of freedom more
than the media, adding, “when the society is free, the
media can operate.
If we are celebrating democracy today, we are celebrating
what Nigerian media has helped to build over the years,’’
Tinubu said.
In his address of welcome, the Acting President of NGE,
Mr Garba Muhammad, said the NGE grand reception was
organised to celebrate its two media icons, who were
appointed few months ago by the president.
Muhammad described the president’s media aides as
exceptional professionals, who had never engaged in
fighting their colleagues in the course of exercising
professionalism.
Alhaji Ismail Issa-Funtua, the Publisher, Defunct
Democrat Newspapers, urged NGE to come up with ideas
that would improve the capacity of students produced by
the Nigerian Institute of Journalism in Lagos.
He said the NGE’s input was imperative as younger ones
in the journalism profession lacked skills and wanted to
run down the profession by begging for money at public
events.
Adesina, who thanked the guild for the grand reception,
urged the media to be fair in its reportage of the
president’s activities.
Present at the occasion were Mr Ima Niboro, the
Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr
Shola Omale, Director-General of Nigerian Television
Authority (NTA) and other dignitaries.
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