Sequel to the controversies raised currently by the proposed Nigerian Press and Practice of Journalism Council Bill now before the House of Representatives, the House member who sponsored the Bill, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa has appealed for understanding and patience from the Nigerian media.
Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa, representing Ikorodu Federal Constituency, who briefed newsmen Sunday on the issue at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, asked members of the media, particularly those raising the controversies, to take a more critical look at the new bill which, according to her, is meant to bring sanity and dignity to the Journalism profession.
She said the bill is about self-regulation to be able to regulate the activities of the members so that non-members are not allowed to destroy the integrity of the Profession.
“We are talking about self-regulation. We are talking of a profession that is the only profession in the Constitution given the responsibility to hold Government accountable to the people”, Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa said adding that having such a regulatory body would only bring journalism at par with other professions as, according to her, “it is the only criteria for being called a profession”.
According to Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa who is also the Chairman, House Committee on the Diaspora, “We have it in Law, we have it in Medicine, we have it in Engineering, we have it in Accounting, and we even have it now in advertising. Why can’t we have it in the Media?”
Acknowledging that the Media has a Press Council that ought to be a regulatory body for the Profession, Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa, however, lamented, “The Press Council is about 17 years old, but it has been 17 years of inactivity, moribund and not being virile”.
She said the bill would strengthen the Press Council in such a way that the Council will be a self-regulatory body. She explained further, “If Mr. A writes something which Mr. B does not like; Mr. B can go to the Council and complain. The Council then adjudicates; calls the parties together and say you have done this. This is the complaint; what is the solution?”
“The solution might just be an apology; the solution might be oh I didn’t do anything wrong, this is the reality. The solution might even expose the complainant to the public even more than the write-up had done. What we are saying is that we want absolute freedom, but it must come with responsibility”, the House Committee Chairman said.
She said that at the stage which the bill is, it is time to talk about its strength and weaknesses adding that the bill has been forwarded to a committee of veterans who will look at it, make adequate imputes and return it to Parliament for more processing.
She expressed regrets that all that is being written about the bill are the perceived negative aspects of the bill querying, “What about the good aspects?”
The House of Representatives member said the bill would put in perspective the activities of Journalists such that in the near future, they could look back with pride at those activities.
Stressing the role of the bill as a regulatory body, Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa, who cited the example of a fake clinic exposed by the NTA, declared, “At the NTA, that story was sorted out by the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council, just like the Press Council that we are talking about. We didn’t have to go to the Police. We didn’t have to go to any security agent. The Nigerian Medical and Dental Council looked at the whole thing and came out with a verdict that the clinic was fake, that the woman didn’t have a baby and the clinic was closed down”.
Other aspects of the bill, she said, had to do with salaries and wages of journalists, adding that this is a Profession where members go to work in the morning and do not know when they would close. ”I worked in the NTA for 15 years. Sometimes, you don’t know when you resume and when you close”.
“I don’t think that that person who works unlimited hours a day, seven days a week, no public holidays, no going for Sallah or Christmas, I don’t think that that person should earn civil service salary”, She said, adding that the bill even talked about training and retraining for journalists and certification.
She declared, “This is the stage in which we want contributions from everybody and not condemnation. Criticisms, fine to move the bill forward. What we want is ethics and professionalism in Journalism. If we do this we can only enhance our credibility. That is what the bill is all about”.
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