Understand how the media works, Bamigbetan counsels local officials

By ECHONEWS

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ECHONEWS Newspaper Limited, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan said community media is involving in Nigeria while it contributes immensely to the development of the communities.

However, Bamigbetan, the former Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy while fielding questions from journalists on a weekly programme organised by Kukuruku Oshodi-Isolo WhatsApp platform, said despite the roles of the community media at the grassroots, local officials need to understand how the media works and how to earn media space. He also talked about what could be done to eradicate rape in the society. Excerpts:

Sir, today we are looking at the role of community media in Nation Building. As a media professional, how will you define the role of community media in Nigeria and why is community media important in Nation Building?

The history of Nigeria’s journey to independence is not complete without the role of community newspapers such as the Lagos Weekly Record, the Lagos Times, etc. These newspapers put the agenda of the nationalists on the front burner of public debate.

So from the earliest days of Nigerian nationhood to date, the press has always played its role as the voice of the voiceless majority by setting agenda.

Another role of the press is to make government accountable to the people. Even when Nigerians were under colonial rule, the Press did not shy away from performing this duty. Recall the Bristol Hotel case when blacks were disallowed from its premises, the Lagos water rate, etc.The press fought for Nigerian independence.

Under military rule, the Press held the government to the observance of the 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and stood by the Nigerian people against different junta. Remember the story of Gov. Diete-Spiff who shaved the head of Amakiri because he wrote a story that annoyed him on his birthday. The matter was taken to court and late Gani Fawehinmi fought till he got justice.

Gen. Babangida, Nigeria’s military dictator will never forget the radical press for exposing his tenure elongation project and defending the June 12 vote.

We can go on and on to demonstrate that just as human beings need air to breathe, they must also exercise their freedom of expression and freedom to participate in the decision making process in their country.

Community journalism brings to the local level what you have at the national and international level. It is an essential building block of democracy.

Nation building involves pulling together the human and material resources that God gave us together to solve the problems that we face. Our ability to solve the problem is the evidence of our development as a nation. For this process to work, people must be informed, with information they will be able to exchange ideas and debate the way forward so that the decisions taken and executed by the people we elect to represent us will be popular, democratic and consensual.

What are the objectives of community media?

To inform, educate, entertain, mobilise for just causes, hold government accountable, defend the public, etc.

Community media is getting a lot of attention these days and there are high expectations around it. Many think it can fill gaps in the media landscape and give a voice to the voiceless. Still, it faces many challenges. Can you enumerate some of the challenges sir?

There is no doubt that the developments in technology have expanded the media of mass communication. It started with print, then radio, then television, then internet and now we have a plethora of media to choose from- email, podcasts, social media such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. As people cluster around these platforms to pass and exchange information, the popularity and fame of these media channels soar.

Community media has also followed these trends. It exists on all these platforms most especially Facebook, instagram, whatshapp, snapchat and Twitter. There is community radio and community television. What defines this trend of community media is that they service or cover a geographical locality or a commonality of interests. So if you are attending a professional course and you have a whatsAapp group to inform each other and share idea, you already have a community medium.

So, you can imagine how massive the universe of community media can be in a local government such as Oshodi-Isolo.

Now, for community media set up as a business to gather news of interest to the local community and use its platform to sell messages, there are many challenges.

First, many readers are used to national and international news and give priority to them. Take the Readership of Oshodi-Isolo football league and the UK premier league for example. At ECHONEWS, we try to push local community leagues and we don’t report the international leagues because we believe our role is to develop what is our own, but do the readers agree? If we were to ask readers to pay N50 because of sport reporting, would they?

Second challenge is advertising. Despite the fact that our rates are low- a full page colour in ECHONEWS print and digital edition is N100k- against N500k plus at national newspapers, people are still reluctant to advertise. The biggest problem is when they do advertise and ECHONEWS publishes the advert, some of them don’t honour their side of the contract. So you have advertisers owing for six months, one year and giving excuses.

The third challenge is feedback. Despite the fact that ECHONEWS distributes 5,000 copies free, the feedback we get on campaigns doesn’t meet our expectations.

But the most challenging is the need for people in power to understand how the media works and how to earn media space.

As the Patron of Community Media Practitioners in Lagos State, how do you think the community media operators can improve their services in information processing?

Processing information for news begins with professional preparation. I trained as a sub-editor at The Guardian Newspaper. I honed my skills in news and feature reporting at Vanguard. I have headed the political desks of National Concord and The Punch. I know what news is and how to get it. Every news processor must be trained.

The second is access to information. This is supposed to be easiest at the local government level. It is often the most challenging because even routine information is often not available. This is a general problem across board. We pray that it improves.

Looking at the media development in Nigeria, would you say the Freedom of Information (‘FOI’) Act has helped the development of media in Nigeria?

I was involved in the campaign for the FOI Act. I appeared before the National Assembly to make the case. We brought several people to agitate for it.

The federal lawmakers didn’t want to pass it. They believed that the press would get a licence to probe into their personal lives. It is to guard against such abuses that there are strict provisions for applying for information from public agencies.

The results have not been encouraging. Most state assemblies have not passed it. Although we initiated a process at the Lagos State House of Assembly under the 7th Assembly, I don’t think we have succeeded in domesticating it in Lagos. I will have to check for an update. But if you follow the Attorney-General’s Annual Report on FOIA and the report of the Media Rights Agenda, the NGO that originated the law, it is not yet uhuru.So, the journalists are left to their investigative skills to report public affairs.

Sir, at the local government level, there is friction between the position of the CPS and the office of the Information Officer such that information flow to the local press is stifled. It seems there is an overlap in the duties of these two offices that is breeding an unhealthy rivalry. How can we, as community media, navigate this impasse in a way that will enhance information-gathering at the Council level?

The press secretary is responsible to the chairman. He is press secretary to the executive chairman. The information officer is the head of the information department of the local government. He is a public and government official paid by the Local Government Service Commission to manage the image of the local government. So, there is no friction if these boundaries are observed. The press secretary goes when the tenure of the chairman expires. The information officer will only retire after 35 years in service or when he clocks 60 years. The information officer is also protected by the guidelines on local government administration issued by the Governor as the one to publicise the local government. So the more you look, the clearer it becomes.

I was Chief Press Secretary to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as governor. I spoke for the governor. I was Commissioner for Information & Strategy, I spoke for the Lagos State Government. Each role has its distinctions.

What is the relationship between the community media and the Local Government Authority?  If you are given the Green Pen by the President of Nigeria to make a request on behalf of the community media operators in Nigeria, what will that request be?

As it is in all civic and democratic systems, the press is the fourth estate of the realm. The 1999 Constitution makes it clear that nothing must abridge the freedom of the press.

Each community medium must decide how it wants to relate to the local government authority. And this depends on its objectives for publishing in the first place. For instance, if it believes that there is a lot of corruption at that level and has been set up to expose it, its relationship with the local government will be adversarial. However, if it believes that access of the people to information is key to community development, it may co-operate with the local government. Everything depends on the ideology of the medium.

What would I tell the President about community media? First, that government should give annual subvention because community media perform public function

We explain government to the people and inform the people about what the government is doing.

Second, I will demand more disclosure of public information so that we can tell the people more of what they need to know to understand what is going on in their local government.

Moving away from media topic and talking about the role of parents in bringing up a 21st century child. As a father and seasoned administrator, what would you advise in bringing up a 21st century child in our society?

First, cultural immersion. Your children should be socialised into the language, history and culture of your people. We live in a multi-ethnic country and we are always negotiating our national and cultural boundaries. Our children should be able to play with confidence in this field.

Second, technology. Our children should be techies. They must be able to code. They should understand how the web works and the uses and abuses of social media. Without these, they can’t function in today’s world.

Third, entrepreneurship. Whatever your course or profession, children must learn how to create and market value. They must have eyes that identify opportunities and create solutions that someone can pay for.

Fourth, networking. You are as influential as the people you know. Build networks right from school that you can fall back on as you grow old.

Fifth, personal development. Don’t wait to be told. Read and improve your knowledge, attend free online courses and get certified. You never know when you will need them. Thanks!

Rape is one of the trending issues in the country today. Miss Vera Uwaila, a female student of the University of Benin was recently allegedly gang-raped and murdered. In your own view, how do you think rape can be eradicated from our society? Do you agree with the voice calling on the government to introduce severe punishment for rape offenders, to help reduce the act?

Start with the boys, the potential rapists. Teach them that they are not entitled to have their fill from the girls. They must earn it. Teach the boys to know how to woo a girl, how to ‘toast’ her and win her consent and confidence. We are dealing with bad, irresponsible parenting. People are giving birth to children but neglecting the more challenging duty of nurturing the children to be responsible adults because they are in search of money or fame or simply selfish.

Two, teach our girls to learn self-defence. If I had some money, I would enroll 500 girls in karate class. And I think our schools should be looking that way. We can no longer afford to grow girls that are vulnerable, that can’t defend themselves. Our girls must have some fighting chance.