…Bags Meritorious Award
Soliu Owoyabu, Abeokuta
The CEO of foremost real estate in Nigeria, Pelican Valley Nigeria Limited and Veteran Broadcast Journalist, Ambassador (Dr.) Babatunde Adeyemo has charged the professional trained Journalists and potential ones to take advantage of opportunities in Social Media to promote the profession and use it as means of livelihood.
Adeyemo stated this while addressing the newsmen shortly after the celebration of 2023 World Television Day organized by the Consolidated Chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Ogun State Council with the theme ‘Television: A Strategic Tool for Conflict Management And Nation Building’ and a sub – theme titled, ‘Media Space For Information Access In Nigeria’ held at the NUJ Hall, Iwe-Iroyin, Okelewo, Abeokuta, the state capital.
He explained that they can use it to pave way for themselves and drastically reduce the dominantion of charlatans who are stylishly using their personal online platform to take over the profession from them.
While expressing his displeasure over the how the Television is gradually coming to extinction, he opined that, if the well trained Journalists can stand firm and claim it back from quacks irrespective of heavy load in the Profession while carrying out their day to day activities, the social media is enough for them to showcase their potentials in the profession as well as golden opportunity for them to be independent and mitigate unemployment amongst themselves.
He lamented that people without requisite professional or on -the-job training in journalism and mass communication have taken over the media space, especially the social media, to push out negative contents that serve the primordial sentiments of unsuspecting members of the public, urged professionals to wrest the trade from the quacks in the interest of peace, harmony, national stability and cohesion.
He noted that the reason charlatans appeared to be dominating the media space and thriving was because they operate largely without censorship and regulations while the average Nigerian also followed them steadily because of their sensational and emotionally charged contents.
He expressed the confidence that when the profession is taken back from the usurpers and charlatans, the real practitioners and professionals would then be able to use it as a veritable tool to manage and resolve conflict, curb vices, build egalitarian society, enthrone quality governance, accountability in government and effectively promote national harmony, peace and stability.
Adeyemo who is the apostle of ‘Second Address’ advocates for journalists in the country, also took a cursory look at his active years in journalism practice and concluded that the profession has given him a lot of leverage when he veered into his second occupation – real estate practice, stressing that the experience remained the same for some of his colleagues too.
According to Adeyemo ” what I want us to do is to take the battle to them and take the profession back from them. The online medium has already given us the platform to be an independent publisher, broadcaster and to be a CEO once you know the ‘do’s and don’ts’ and how to handle and use your languages. As a mass communication graduate you don’t need to search for jobs. You can go on Tik tok life, facebook life, create a programme, you don’t need to pay any TV station to buy Airtime. It is a wonderful opportunity for a potential mass communication graduate or even existing and practicing journalist to take advantage of the opportunity in the social media.
“Unfortunately, we journalists may be because we are always busy trying to file 10 reports per day does not really encourage us to have in-depth thoughts on how we can utilise the opportunity by ourselves. That is why you see some people that did not study either journalism or mass communication making millions of money from our own inheritance. I want to urge all of us to take the profession back from (charlatans) and when we have taken it back, we will now be reporting professionally. That is when we will be able to use it as a tool to curb vices in the nation.”
“This profession actually gave me a lot of leverage, not only me, I realised that when I was a cob reporter in Lagos, there were so many performers in many administrations that I personally know myself that it is the media that brought them to limelight because they were very very good and friendly to the media.
“I want to use this opportunity to urge all those that are working hard and want their efforts to be felt by the public to be friendly with the media. Moreso, let the media use what they have positively to chart a path for a second address. We have the names, we have the connections, So, you can always thrive with your second address using experience and knowledge of the media.
“You can’t really give what you don’t have. The TV may go into extinction because average Nigerian want to hear something negative and the TV and Censor Board will not permit an average TV reporter to show gory scene and if you are reporting, you must have something to complement your reportage, it is not a case of you taking anything you want and put it online and that is why online medium has been having a lot of edge over us.
Adeyemo, who was bestowed a Meritorious Award by the organizers of event, was a pioneer foundation member of the Chapel and also the pioneer chairman of the maiden edition Committee of the chapel on World Television Day anniversary celebration some years ago when he was the Correspondent of MITV.
At this year edition, the duo of the Secretary to the Government of Ogun State, Mr Tokunbo Talabi and CEO of WFM 91.7 Arepo, Toun Okewale – Sonaiya featured as keynote speakers.
Other dignitaries that were given awards at the occasion include its pioneer chairman and TVC reporter, Com. Kazeem Olowe; State chairman of the NUJ, Com. Wale Olanrewaju; Baale Arulogun Olawale Taofeek; the National Publicity Secretary of Labour Party, Dr. Oluwafemi Abayomi Arabambi, Senior Special Adviser to Governor Dapo Abiodun on Information and Strategy and former Commissioner for Information in Ondo State, Mr. Kayode Akinmade and others.