FORMER GOVERNOR OSOBA OFFERS TO TEACH AT MOSHOOD ABIOLA POLYTECHNIC
The veteran journalist said his interest is to teach the mass communication undergraduate of the institution as part of his contributions towards producing qualified and qualitative journalists for the future in view of the current dwindling fortune of the profession.
Penpushing further reports that, Osoba pointed out that journalism is about passion and commitment, and called on the upcoming journalists to also be cautious of the ethics, and do away with falsehood in the course of the practice of the noble profession.
The former Governor advised journalists to be wary of social media in the course of discharging their duties, noting that the demerits of the platform is more than the merits, just as he also kicked against the proposed hate speech bill which is now with the National Assembly
Penpushing also reports that, the two time Governor called on the National Assembly to include electronic voting as part of the Electoral Act amendment, insisting that Nigeria has no excuse not to digitalised its voting process.
The veteran journalist, lamented that the electoral process in Nigeria had been bastardised and renewed the call for the amendment of the electoral act, pointing out that vote buying, rigging, ballot box snatching among other electoral frauds is still hunt the country’s electoral process.
“I’m shocked at what we have now (electoral process) because it is worse than corruption. “The day we stop selling our votes, that day we will start to get it right and that day we will start electing the right people into offices.”
The former Governor posited that, the inclusion of electronic voting in the Electoral Act would put an end to electoral fraud in Nigeria, adding, “that is why I have been pushing for the amendment of the Electoral Act. Let us all support and fight for the review of the electoral act. Let us fight for electronic voting”,
“When we stop selling our votes, we will get it right, we will get there. Let us all be involved in politics, let us stop selling our votes. We need to go electronic in voting in Nigeria because Ghana has gone electronic, Kenyan has gone electronic, we have no excuse not to get digital in our electoral process, the day of analog system is gone”.
Penpushing reports that, speaking on journalism practice in Nigeria, Osoba attributed the falling standard of the profession to poor remuneration of the practitioners, saying “It is unpardonable; it is unforgivable that employers should owe salaries. It is an offence unto God and even man.”
The Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun in his speech said it was time to appraise the development in the field of journalism vis a vis its practice, stating that as much as the social media has made positive contributions to the dissemination of information, it had unfortunately become ” An easy tool in the hands of some unscrupulous elements for malicious an deliberate misinformation.
“It is also important that we appraise the development in the field of journalism vis a vis its practice. The role and status of journalism and mass media in general have under gone a lot of changes in the last few decades”.
The Governor said it would be uncharitable, “not to acknowledge the fact that as much as the social media has positive contributions to the dissemination of information it has also become an easy tool in the hands of some unscrupulous elements for malicious and deliberate misinformation”.
” This has prompted various reactions from different quarters, with some even calling for death penalty for people who are found guilty of what has now popularly referred to as the hate speech”, Abiodun affirmed
“As veterans you should not only keep abreast of the developments in the field of journalism but you should also play your role as elders, you should be monitoring the activities of other professionals, this will go a long way of repositioning the penpushing profession as truly the first estate of the realm in the day.”
“It is therefore imperative that journalist as professionals should always be on guard against forces that seeks to take advantage of the formidable power of the profession for their selfish ends”, the Governor stated.
Penpushing reports that the highlight of the event was the inauguration of Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo as the Grand Patron of League of Veteran Journalists, and Ogun State Speaker, Rt Hon Kunle Oluomo as Fellow of League of Veteran of Journalists
