… Says Tinubu has no intention to gag media
Minister of information and national orientation Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi has said national re-orientation will be at the core of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Malagi stated this Tuesday during a tour of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) headquarters in Abuja.
According to him, “If the ministry of information and national orientation prides itself as the custodian of the Renewed Hope Agenda, then the National Orientation Agency is the house of the agenda.”
He charged the agency to give the Renewed Hope Agenda the priority it deserved in order to drive the national re-orientation agenda of the current administration.
“This where value re-orientation and new direction for our country should begin.
“I want to assure you that the president is very passionate about this place, he is very passionate about rebuilding National Orientation Agency,” he said.
Speaking at the NPC, Malagi assured Nigerians that the media will be allowed to breathe and flourish under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“I want tell Nigerians that under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu the media will breathe. The president has no intention whatever to gag the press.
“There will be no attempt under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to stifle press freedom. Mr President has said repeatedly that he is a democrat and the media help in enriching the democracy. While he now turn around and say he doesn’t want a free press.
“The Nigerian press will flourish under president Bola Ahmed Tinubu and everything that is required for it to flourish, the enabling environment will be provided for the media to function,” he said.
He however said freedom of the press must come with responsibility.
“I always say this wherever I go, yes, the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has no intention to gag the press, but the freedom that Nigerian press has must also come with responsibility.
“You cannot enjoy freedom and think that responsibility is no longer yours. Yes there will be press freedom but how do you exercise that freedom?
“I have said wherever I go that it is important and imperative for any administration to ensure that the press is allowed to do its job.
“We have seen it throughout history that the more you try to cage the press, the more problematic it becomes for you. And Nigeria has reached such an advanced stage in its democratisation process that anybody would want to have press that is caged or gagged at this point. But what we are saying is, that freedom has to be a responsible freedom,” he said.
The minister commended the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) for putting an inhouse regulatory mechanisms to check the excesses of some of its members.
“I am glad that before I left the executive council of Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, they have started working on their internal regulations.
“Because they want to be responsible, they came up with what they called an ombudsman. That way complaints against newspapers will be checked by the newspaper itself and then the ombudsman will be appointed by the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria. So if that is done, that regulation that the government is thinking about will no longer be necessary,” he said.
Malagi assured that under his watch, the Nigerian Press Council will not be harmful.
“I will ensure it functions in a way that press freedom is guaranteed,” he said.
