Impact Of Journalism In Anti-Corruption Crusade

 By Ahmed Abdullahi 001

The media is widely regarded as a very effective tool in the dissemination of information and transfer of both informal and formal education to the citizens of any country in the world. It has variably played a vital role in shaping the lives of the citizen through it’s massive distribution of information either on; television, radio, newspaper, and magazines. In this piece the role of the media in anti-corruption struggle in Nigeria is basically looked into with a critical emphasis on their activities.

Corruption is widely seen as a bane to the growth and development of countries affected by it, it is a very common occurrence in the third world nations otherwise known as developing nations like; Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon among others. Like Rick Stapenhurst said in 2000;”if corruption is not contained, it will grow” that is exactly the root of the evils in Nigeria and the media has done a lot to arrest this drastic  parasite that is slowly ripping off Nigeria as a  Nation.

The most biggest step against corruption in Nigeria was when the then President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo established two anti-corruption bodies; economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices commission, and the media through investigative journalism propagates the role of those bodies by publishing and broadcasting relevant information about it’s activities to the public.

Numerous media houses had supported the anti-corruption and currently more attention is being shifted to the reporting of crime and corruption news most especially the print media, albeit the broadcast media also dedicates noticeable airtime to crime stories example is; Crime Fighter on Galaxy TV and other private stations even though it is criticized for laying too much emphasis on Armed Robbers and not the real political Riggers and Looters at the helm of affairs. Notable writers like; Tunde Fagbenle of The Punch Newspaper and The editor-in-chief of PM News Bayo Onanuga  also have columns dedicated to monitoring and criticizing of government policies.

Through highly inquisitive journalism the media provides an important backdrop on the abuse of power for the enrichment of private pockets and shed lights on the excesses of political office holders. Irrespective of this the freedom of the press is restricted in Nigeria as the censorship of Broadcast/publishable materials has really affected the flow of Information this is seen in some sensitive matters where the Government lie about it being a so-called National Security precaution and therefore not-to-be-broadcast/published.

The freedom of the press is very important in the anti-corruption campaign as journalist can present un-tainted facts and figures on critical issues of national interest, besides several journalists had been killed and maimed in the course of discharging their duty and the people behind it were neither prosecuted nor jailed. Some media houses which were established by politically ambitious individuals had lead to the development of unpopular in-house styles in which journalists are expected not to publish any anti-owner news story otherwise risk losing his job hence the saying; “he who pays the piper, dictates the tune”.

Journalist must be well-trained and media houses should be well equipped to snoop-out vital information on complex crime stories, and then an increase in the remuneration of journalists would also help check the case of compromise by journalists to discard a vital information threatening the image of an over-zealous personality after they are being cajoled with large sums of money.

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