Sometime ago, I wrote an article where I declared Femi Fani Kayode as one of the bravest men in Nigeria. My conclusions were derived from his relentless calling out of the Buhari administration regarding their callousness and inactions concerning the onslaught of Fulani herdsmen on Christian communities and all other areas of the government’s ineptitude. His utterances were outstandingly courageous putting into consideration that Buhari’s government has a short fuse with critics and was using EFCC to quiet all their critics. And the fact that most media houses were either afraid to criticize the government or are continually collecting brown envelopes. John Momoh’s Channels TV had metamorphosed into a mouthpiece for APC and the government. His talk show hosts were often found unashamedly attacking government critics or defending anti-masses government policies on live television. Northern newspapers like Daily Trust and Leadership Newspaper who were renowned for never criticizing northern or Muslim led governments had also gotten worse and graduated into an annex of the government’s ministry of information led by Lai Mohammed. Even formerly independent dailies like the very reputable Guardian Newspaper is becoming compromised. Vanguard Newspaper that ordinarily ought to be the vanguard and watchdog of malfeasance in the Niger Delta especially with the stinking corrupt NDDC has also been found wanting in their inability to carry out investigative journalism, especially in the Niger Delta.

Femi Fani Kayode’s outburst against the journalist who asked who was bankrolling his visit to Cross Rivers State brings to the fore some pressing issues in the media. For starters, FFK’s apology reminds me of a rude child who was forced to apologize by his equally rude parents. FFK should also answer the question about who is bankrolling his tour. Because if it is the state government led by Governor Ayade who kept in detention a journalist who criticized him, then FFK owes some of us who were gradually seeing him as a Senior Advocate of the Masses (SAM) another apology. Those praising the journalist should not be carried away also. A Daily Trust journalist will never ask a similar question to a northern APC governor or Buhari minister. This is because, over the years, Daily Trust has left no one in doubt that they are pro-north, pro-Islam, and pro-Fulani. They lack any ounce objectivity. Their reply to FFK is another testament to this fact. This journalist might be acting according to a script. A look at the headline, editorials, and even cartoons of Daily Trust will show you they are not trustworthy.

Trust is an exceedingly rare commodity these days especially in the media in Nigeria. The government has infiltrated many media houses. The recent appointment of John Momoh as the acting chairman, governing council of the University of Lagos that followed his earlier appointment as the Chairman of the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON) is what you can call executive brown enveloping. No wonder Channels TV can no longer be objective. Other dailies usually align with government policies and political propaganda as they enjoy advertising from the government. This phenomenon has weakened the watch-doggedness of the media in Nigeria. Even Sahara Reporters that can be credited and commended for publishing high profile revelations about corruption in high places is led by a man who has a presidential ambition and a nepotistic trait that makes him sometimes publish falsehoods as he did during the Goodluck Jonathan administration. This is the sorry state of the Nigerian media. The utterances of Femi Adesina, the formerly respected editor of the Sun Newspaper and now media aide to Buhari is the clearest sign of the degeneration of many media practitioners in Nigeria. But all hope is not lost. Nigeria still has many fearless journalists like the Thisday Newspaper columnists Shaka Momodu, Akin Osuntokun, and many others in other media establishment who continue to show what the fourth estate was established to do.

Ata Ukuta, Editor  – www.towncryyers.com