By Primus Igboaka<\/p>\n
THE Managing Director of News Agency of Nigeria, NAN , Bayo Onanuga has
\nbeen bashed on social media by cross section of Nigerians including the
\n95% that elected President Buhari into office in 2015. Mr. Onanuga is
\nrebuked after his defense of President Muhammadu Buhari and his APC
\nadministration\u2019s handling of economy leading to recession and unprecented
\nsuffering of the masses in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
Bayo as we often called him at the Concord family where we worked together
\nin the 80s and 90s, went on Facebook and wrote, \u201cMy daughter was on Virgin
\nAtlantic flight that took off from Lagos to London today. I asked her to
\nfind out whether the plane was filled up or going to London near empty
\njudging by the noise campaign from the section of the country about the
\nhardship in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Bayo, his daughter sent back this one-line text message after
\nboarding. \u201d Daddy, the flight was filled up\u2026oh.\u201d He remarked :\u201d this makes
\nme to wonder whether all the seemingly orchestrated campaign on the media
\nwas a propaganda to make Buhari\u2019s regime look really bad.\u201d Bayo went
\nfurther to draw another inference about his alleged media blackmail of
\nBuhari\u2019s regime and his economic woes by comparing prices of food stuffs
\nand fruits along roadsides in Bauchi and Jos. He claimed that roadside
\nprices of these food products and fruits were not after all as expensive
\nnot to be affordable by ordinary people as the media seemed to be
\ndisseminating. He wondered whether the media and the social bloggers were
\nreally painting a correct image of the economic situation in the country.
\nHe remarked that it is time for the media to objectively conduct a reality
\ncheck about \u201cour reports\u201d whether \u201cwe are over sensationalizing so-called
\nhardship that we talked about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regrettably, Bayo known for his fiery journalism, and with reputation so
\nstrong in objectivity, balanced reporting, social responsibility and
\nadvocate of citizens journalism became a subject of national ridicule
\nbecause he was adherent in promoting the president than the masses the
\npresident serves. This is the irony of the role of media ownership and
\nrole of managers \u2013 especially those with superbly successful professional
\nexcellence that I find troubling in developing countries. This debacle
\nalso reveals what happens when respected and responsible journalist is
\nhired to become government\u2019s apologist. The conflict in interests between
\njournalistic principles and booth leaking \u2013 the reason why good credible
\nmen and women of the fourth estate of the realms shy away from political
\noffice or appointment.<\/p>\n
As an example, Bayo was a colleague at the Concord press. He is a man of
\nfew words, but mighty with his pen. A fighter for the common man
\nexemplified by his role in removing the tyrant Abacha from office and
\nushering in democracy in our country.<\/p>\n
Succinctly expressed, we witnessed his commitment to the suffering of the
\nmasses under Sani Abacha. Now as head of media organization promoting
\nNigeria and its leader, he ought to have separated the two roles and
\nunderstand that the president was elected by the people who are deeply
\nhurt by the administration\u2019s poor leadership in managing the economy. His
\nfirst priority as the head of News Agency owned by the people is the
\nmasses and not the president that ought to be serving the people.<\/p>\n
Nigerians are suffering from one of the worse economic times in its
\nhistory, and to deny this is delusional.<\/p>\n
I reside 8, 000 miles from homeland, but technology has closed the
\ndistance. I heard stories everyday of family members and friends robbed at
\ngun point or their homes burglarized at daylight because people are
\ndesperate and desperate situation brings out the worse in people with low
\nmoral values or tendencies to steal. Pick-pocketers are every where across
\nthe country menacing and threatening people and lives.<\/p>\n
I receive more than 10 daily calls every week of people asking for
\nfinancial assistance; these are proud and middle class Nigerians that
\nhardly asked for help before until now in my 20 years of living abroad and
\nvisiting homeland every year or twice annually.<\/p>\n
To cut the story short, Bayo is a nice, compassionate fighter for the
\ncommon man. That was when I worked with him, and I am sure that those
\ngenes in him are still present. However, one can never be sure because
\nanybody in his role as image maker to the government ( instead of Nigeria
\nand Nigerians) is like the proverbial baby monkey carried at the back of
\nher mother, but unknowingly to the mother plugged the forbidden fruit in
\nthe forest. I hope Bayo is still the same Bayo we knew then at Concord
\nfamily. On a personal note, let us give him a second chance. Let us
\nforgive Bayo\u2026he erred, and to err is human and to forgive is divine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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