HOLD GOVT ACCOUNTABLE AT ALL TIME—Adedipe, SAN
By Olusegun Adeyemii HOSEA
The legal luminary of our time,Basorun Ifedayo Adedipe-SAN has charged the Media Practitioners to hold government accountable at all time. This he said today at this year Nigeria Union of Journalists, Ondo State Council 2022 Press week opening ceremony held at the Press Centre, Alagbaka Akure. The legal icon spoke on the theme” 2023 elections: Media Roles in the quest for Desirable Leadership. Adedipe said there are three categories of leadership that the society need to desire which include transformative leader, Revolutionary leader and Philosophical leader. He pointed out the role played by the former America leader Abraham Lincon during the slave trade era. He said being a transformative leader, Abraham Lincon was able to put an end to the abolition of slave trade in America while the noble group want the trade to continue, this transformative leader put an end to the trade . He said, that was why the son of a slave in the country could become a President in the US.
He also said that Nelson Mandela in the Africa continent who was jailed for twenty seven years still ensured that he liberated his people from the Apartheid in the South Africa despite the humiliation and the the denied freedom of his rights by the government of his country. Also he talked about how late Chief Obafemi Awolowo from western region of the states when he was Premier of the whole old western region for the eight years. He said the man transformed the entire region during his reign for that years and this made people to called him a transformative leader because of his deep thinking and the support of his able lieutenant as he brought in policies that benefited the whole region then and till today.
2023 ELECTION AND THE MEDIA ROLES IN THE QUEST FOR DESIRABLE LEADERSHIP .
He said the Press should hold government accountable and report objectively going by the power delegated to them by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.He changed them to carried out these duties with high sense of responsibility and dignity as the who society rely upon them and also sensitised the electorates to elect a strong and visionary leader for the country.
In another development, the guest lecturer also tasked the Journalists to asked the right question on “how” the politicians are going to implement what ever promises or manifestos they claimed to deliver for the people if elected into the public office. He said the kind of interrogations that one expect are not there in most of our daily national Newspaper. Adedipe who said among the human society particularly in Africa-Nigeria, we keep on having a reluctant leaders that are not strong intellectually into the office. He asked the Press to help the electorates to chose wisely during the forth coming election.
In another development, the guest speaker also advised the Press men to educate the electorates not to collect money before voting but they should vote for a credible and competent candidate that they think can lead them. He also tasked the media practitioners to make suggestions by providing solution to whatever that is going on wrongly in the society. He asked them to carried out a critical assessment on the roles the government played in our society on issues affecting the generality of the people in the country.
He also, encouraged the journalists to carried out an investigative journalism on whosoever that want to contest for a public office for the purpose of getting their genuine identity as there are fake people all over the country today claiming to be a Nigerian.
STEALING OF NATION COMMON WEALTH
The guest speaker complained bitterly about the high cost of the petroleum price per litre as its currently going on now in the country as this is bringing in more hardship to the living standard of the people. He also condemned the level of high profile corruption that was going on in the oil and gas industry where our crude oil is being stolen to other countries and yet our government had not done anything to make sure that the culprit are brought to judgement. He said he expect the media to asked questions on this from the Minister of the petroleum and the person deputising for him and the roles the Army , the Navy and Air Force had to play in all of this? He said it is the duty of the Press to interrogate the activities and the actions of the government on this matter for the benefit of the Nigerians in general.
He also said if Nigerians made a mistake by chosen a wrong choice in electing their leaders into various offices in 2023 , that we are going to suffer the consequences. Therefore, according to him, media has to educate the electorates very well so that they could elect the right leaders. He asked the Media to highlight the challenges facing the people in various communities and let the government know about them as some of the politicians does not know about all these challenges because they are too far away from their people.
He concluded, by saying that with just two hundred million naira (200m) is enough to transform some of our communities by providing them some social amenities like solar energy , water and fixing of bad roads for our people. He said if we do not have accountable leadership to do all these, then we will continue to be living in an abject poverty.
He commended governor Akeredolu –SAN for introducing the Amotekun Corp for tackling the security challenge in our society.He said that is the only governor in the whole south west that have the capacity, the audacity and boldness to say “I will defend my people” He charges NUJ to get others governors in the zone to task. He said for people to develop you must learn from each other.
