THE forum, which was chaired by Dr. Tom Adaba, a veteran journalist, was also an opportunity for idea sharing as representatives of each media organization not only narrated their personal experiences but also gave account of how their organization participated before, during and after the election. The participants took turns to give account of their field experiences while covering the election, the challenges of working with other essential services team, especially the security unit.
In one of field experience sharing, an example of how a reporter with The Moment newspaper was detained by the police for taking the picture of vehicles police arrested for violating the restricted movement order during the election. It was recounted by one of the journalists who was at the scene, wondering why a police officer should not know a good photograph that would help promote his organisation and promote him doing a good job.
Also, chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Mr. Wahab Oba raised the issue of limited accreditation cards from Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He gave example of how major print media houses were given four accreditation cards to cover the election, wondering what work they would have done if they had relied on the four cards given to them. Oba suggested that in future, there should be a body to liaise with the INEC on accreditation.
The chairman of the forum, Dr. Tom Adaba commended the NUJ but argued that there was a lot to be done by the body in terms of self-definition, training of journalists, intervening in places where media houses are owing staff salaries running into months and years.
The high number of void votes was identified as a bad omen and participants noted that there should be aggressive voters? education before elections in the coming years as it also suggested that the National Orientation Agency should have helped in educating voters.
Adaba hammered on the importance of security units and journalists interacting regularly to avoid security lapses saying, ?If we act as a body, it will be for the good of all?. He suggested that media practitioners should also be careful in dealing with security men on the field and not talk down at them since journalists are usually armless while security officials wield guns with careless abandon.
Assistant Managing Editor of Next newspaper, Mr. Kayode Ogunbunmi, while giving the account of his organization, said that organising training as a pre-step towards covering the election was important. According to him, his organisation invited the police to interact with their reporters on what they should expect when they get to the field, especially in relating with security agencies. The training, he said, really helped as none of their field officers had problems with the security agencies during the election.
The representative of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), and the Zonal Director, Lagos Olufemi Ayeni reported how the commission ensured that the broadcast organisations played according to the rules and stuck to professionalism before and during the election, noting that broadcast stations with politicians as proprietors initially had challenges complying with the rules but because the commission insisted that they must play by the rules, the stations had no option but to be professional in their dealing.
Having a regulatory body for the print media was also discussed, considering the overbearing influence of the owners using them for political goals. Participants argued that a regulatory body like the National Broadcasting Commission for the print media would go a long way in checking the excesses observed in the practice by the print media houses.
Adaba, however, identified creativity by journalists working in organisations owned by politicians. He observed that in the build up to the election and during the election, there was no collaboration among the stations, as each station was doing a yeoman?s job. This, he said, was not proper. He felt that with the finance challenge, each organisation would have performed better and achieved better result with little funds if they had collaborated.
Citing the case of the election debate, Adaba said if the stations had come together to organize the debate, it would had been most cost efficient because it would cut down the cost for each media house and a wider viewing audience. ?If all of us are just looking at our own empire, it will not work,? he said.
The representative of the NBC noted that the stations did not show readiness for the election, especially if its input in this election was compared with its contribution in the past. He also corroborated the comment of Adaba, saying the media went individualistic instead of collaborating.
To speak on behalf of the security units, especially the police was the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Samuel Jinadu.
He reeled out efforts of the police made before and during the election, all in the bid to ensure a smooth exercise. To him, the police did a good job and the Commissioner of Police in Lagos played a critical role in the success of the police before and during the election though he noted that the success was with support from other security agencies, who assisted the police during the election.
Jinadu thanked members of the press for providing the needed support and for doing excellent job in the coverage of the election. Adaba also commended the police for its contribution as he noted that the police are the most criticised of all the security agencies because they are the closest to the people. He, however, maintained that the police and the media must be friends as both bodies must eliminate the mutual suspicion on both sides.
At the end of the deliberation, the forum recommended as follows: ?Owing to the centrality of the mass media in the democratic process, the Nigeria Union of Journalists and Nigeria Guild of Editors should strengthen their capacities in handling elections; in fact, they should start preparing for the 2015 elections right away; The forum advised the NUJ to ensure the centralization of accreditation to discourage impostors and facilitate the assignment of its members; The two bodies should find a means to deepen professionalism and protect members from being victimized for performing their duties as they ought to; The National Broadcasting Commission must act promptly against media houses that contravene its regulations. In addition, it should broaden the scope of penalties to protect professionals against victimization or intimidation by employers; The forum called for the review of legislations guiding the operation of newspapers and magazines and the regulatory body for the print media as it was in the broadcast media; and that the media should maintain a campaign to bring out policy changes arising out of the lapses they observed in Elections 2011?.
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