The Provost of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Mr. Gbenga Adefaye on Wednesday said that business mogul, Sir Kessington Adebutu has set the pace for capacity building with the donation of Media Resource Centre to the monotechnic.
Mr. Adefaye made the remark while delivering a vote of thanks during the commissioning of the Sir (Dr.) Kessington Adebukunola Adebutu Media Resource Centre in the school premises.
“We will like to express our heartfelt gratitude to our donor, Sir Kessington Adebutu. Thank you very much, thank you for the honour. Thank you for this, because it has opened the eyes of the world for what can be done for capacity building,” he said.
Similarly, he lauded the donor, stating that this is not the first time he is giving a helping hand for a good cause.
The former General Manager of Vanguard Newspaper recounted that he was privileged to witness to the donation of the biggest event centre by the philanthropist in Ile-Ife, Osun State two years ago.
He reaffirmed his gratitude to the donor, and also thanked other notable figures present including the members of the institution’s governing council for their dedication over the years.
In his remarks, the Governor of Lagos State, who was represented by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso acknowledged that he is not surprised to see the edifice donated by Sir Kessington.
“For me, it is not something that is new because I have seen the handwriting of Baba Ijebu all over the place, not only in Lagos, not only in journalism or education, you will be surprised in sports, and not just in soccer, every year when I go to Teslim Balogun Stadium to watch the World Table Tennis Championship, I see it boldly there that it is sponsored by Baba Ijebu.
“In a country that so many people are crazy about soccer, that we want to put everything there, but for Baba Ijebu to have looked at Table Tennis and invest in it, I think he deserves a round of applause,” he stated.
Mr. Sanwo-Olu decried the lack of professionalism in the media, explaining that it is perilous for a noble industry.
“People who go about calling themselves journalist, once you can buy an android phone and you have a quiet place for you to sit down, you can just punch the telephone and write whatever you like, publish it and everybody sees it and people begin to forward it, and it becomes breaking news.
“Some people will even say forward as received, no verification, no integrity, people still don’t understand how dangerous it is, but I will not want to blame the people who are doing this so much because these are people that are not in the know.”
He urged media practitioners not to relent in training young journalists, noting that the act of journalism is reporting.
According to him, reporting has lost its way and no corrective action is being taken. Consequently, he expressed gratitude to Baba Ijebu for thinking about how to train good journalists.
“Today, there are so many people that the only talent that they have is a good voice, time to search through the social media and they call themselves commentators, and they begin to talk. So, I will like all of us who are here today, those of us who are students, teachers, consumers of journalism products, that we should take it as a very sacred duty not to allow reporting to die,” he pleaded.
He added: “Today, everyone is talking about Chief Osoba, he didn’t make a name for himself by chance, he was a good reporter, so the act of journalism must be sacred, and not allowing people that I call microphone terrorist to begin to talk on television, radio and make everybody scared all over the place.”
He further heaped praises on Sir Kessington for being futuristic about the profession of journalism in Nigeria.
“I thank him for sparing a thought for this important aspect of nation building, and the Lagos State Government will do whatever it needs to do to support, encourage and improve journalism in Nigeria.”
Mr. Ray Ekpu, representing the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), delivered a goodwill message, noting that journalism is a profession built on a foundation of facts for growth.
“Facts correctly stated, checked gives validity. It is facts that can lead to good decisions by our decisions makers. Contrary to some mischief makers, there is nothing like alternative facts, facts are facts, alternative facts are misinformation, disinformation.
“Journalism is not wild speculation, it is not rumour mongering, it’s not apocryphal story telling. It is a profession for those who are trained to check facts before sending it out, a profession with code of ethics,” Mr. Ekpu explained.
The veteran journalist emphasised that the prevalence of lying on social media has led Nigerian legislators to attempt to impose stricter regulations on media practices.
“The media do not need more handcuffs, they need more training, more support, that is what can give more oxygen to our democracy and to our country, so that both our democracy and country can breathe well. Most of the great tertiary institutions in the world became great due to support from philanthropists.
“The facility, Sir Kessington Adebukunola Adebutu Media Resource Centre commissioned today, is a landscape transformer for the NIJ, it will help the institution to breathe a lot better than before,” the media practitioner added.
