An assembly of activists have charged Nigeria’s cream of labour writers and editors on the need to send agenda and make politicians accountable for promises made during electioneering campaign.

With the aim of achieving constructive, and productive narratives from the media before and during the 2023 general elections, members of the Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN), organised a workshop for its members and media stakeholders on how to sensitise the electorates to credible voting process and to set a public interest agenda.

The one-day event with the theme “Role of Media in Setting Agenda For 2023 Election” discussed the various ways journalists and media practitioners can collaboratively create mass participation and inclusivity in the 2023 poll.

Supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, the workshop was graced with seasoned and experienced facilitators like the Executive Director of the International Press Centre, Mr Lanre Arogundade, the President of the Voters Awareness Initiative, Barrister Wale Ogunade, former Labour Editor of Vanguard media limited, Mrs Funmi Komolafe, the Executive Director of Media Development, Mr Lekan Otunfodunrin and representatives of political parties like Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party and Action Democratic Party.

The chairman of LAWAN, Mr Abimbola Oyesola set the ball rolling by acknowledging the vital role of the media in elections, stating that the workshop was organised to stimulate the journalists to expand their capacity in seeking the general interest of the country at the poll

“The role of media, as any other thing, has its negative impact and positive impact, it sure plays in elections although one may outweigh the other. The media has also helped many parties to go all out to push their presence and sell their ideals to the populace and present their agenda.

“The goal of this workshop is to achieve near consensus among the media executives– in shaping constructive, objective and productive narrative before, during and after the elections– in order to have credible and peaceful elections in the general interest of our nation,” he said.

IPC Executive Director, Mr Lanre Arogundade who took the participants on “Media Coverage and Reporting of Elections, The Role of Labour Writers in Getting it Right” explained that though Nigeria has a “chequered” history in its past electioneering process, but the media played a huge role in the country’s restoration to a democratic government which cannot be overemphasized.

He posited that the press was a major boost for the return of democracy in Nigeria after several years of military rulership adding that democracy can only thrive in a society with a robust media presence because the press is the mediator between the government and the people. He, however, noted that whenever the media erroneously performs its duty, the consequences on society are usually grievous.

Highlighting that the consequences of media errors in the past elections in Nigeria had birthed vices like electoral violence, underrepresentation of facts, partiality or favouritism for or against candidates, imbalance reports, defamation of characters, promotion of tribalism and sectionalism, slander and libels underrepresentation of women, people with disabilities and youth among others.

He gave instances when the media erred in discharging its duties as expected “stories capable of inciting one section against the other were recorded 45 times during this monitoring period while hate speech featured 8 times despite these provisions. total of 117 reports were recorded in these categories in the six- month period at an average of about 20 per month across the 12 selected national print media. It is instructive that many of the reports that had dangerous and outrageous headlines were not products of the journalists’ findings; but were based on interviews, press statements and campaign vituperations by politicians.

“Some of the statements were disparaging others while a great number turned out to be figments of the imagination of politicians. Though the headlines were attributed to politicians, the bottom line was that their use could set the parties against themselves”, Mr Arogundade said.

He charged the journalists and media stakeholders to enhance their capacity to stabilise democracy by passing right and consequential information across to the society in the coming elections in 2023. His words: “Emphasise the importance of PVC collection and voting by workers. Bring INEC (and SIECs) attention to the needs of disadvantaged voters such as those living with disabilities during elections. Raise awareness on why workers and their unions should not allow themselves to be used as cannon-fodders by politicians

“Time to remind candidates that “Nigeria has ratified a number of key international social equity legislation instruments which form part of the social protection agenda, including the Civil and Political Rights Covenant, the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Covenant, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child and ask them what they will do about it”, he said.

He also encouraged Labour writers to engage and hold the candidates contesting for various positions accountable for their election promises. “Labour writers should work with the NLC and TUC to organise political debates for Presidential and Governorship candidates. Labour writers working in the broadcast media should create worker and election programmes to focus on and highlight the issues of workers in the 2023 elections. Labour writers should work closely with the political desks to ensure that workers’ issues are not relegated to the background in the countdown to 2023,” he said.

Mrs Funmi Komolafe, the former Labour Editor at Vanguard media limited, urged journalists to respect the ethics of the profession and eschew corrupt practices in their conduct during the elections period. She demanded integrity and versatility from journalists covering election matters. According to her, it is expedient for journalists to set a public interest agenda, which is to have credible elections in 2023. “The journalist must also have the electoral laws on his/ her fingertips and reflect compliance or non-compliance in the report.

This is the first step to ensure that the election is credible, peaceful, and transparent.
“Where any aspirant is short-changed or aggrieved, the media must give a voice to such a member/ member who are often in minority within the party. Journalists covering any election must seek information outside the official pronouncements of the Party”, she said.

Barrister Wale Ogunade, the President of Voters Awareness Initiative advised journalists to promote uprightness in their endeavours as the elections are approaching. In his address, he encouraged media platforms to fight against the spreading of false information and misleading stories, rather he charged them to engender inclusivity in governance and not to hesitate to name-shame any corrupt politicians.

Mr Lekan Otunfodunrin, the executive director of Media Career, represented by Mrs Ayo Aderele highlighted the role of social media in the elections, and how it can be deployed to have widely reported polls. She, however, warned the media experts to be on the spot to mitigate false information on social media. She addressed journalists to be versatile and intentional about playing the role of watchdog to the public, for the success of the elections.