Kolade-Otitoju and SERAP’s threat

I choose to make my senior in the journalism profession, Babajide Kolade-Otitoju, the reference point in this piece. I do this not just because he has justifiably earned himself the position as a reference point in the profession, but also because what he says is what he practices at TVC News, where he’s the director of news. Under his watch, and compared to other private news channels, I notice the professional manner in which reporters and the editorial staff cleanly present their reports. No loose canons. No speculation in the garb of report. If material doesn’t meet standards, the gatemen don’t let it pass in Kolade-Otitoju’s newsroom. I notice it. Very outstanding; this is a station with character. So TVC News leaves me nodding with satisfaction always regarding the quality of its reportage. Egbon, congratulations on your 60th birthday anniversary as well as the successful public presentation of your book.  You had the kind of outing every journalist would have wished for. Aye ki i ye yan ju ba’un nan lo. Aso iyi ati eye nan ko ni fa ya l’ase Edumare. More success.

Meanwhile, just a few days after the presentation of his book, I tuned into the programme, Journalists’ Hangout, to find Kolade-Otitoju saying one thing I’ve known him for saying over the years: “We are trained journalists…” He usually says this when he comments on the degeneration that has set into the practice of journalism in Nigeria. He’s specific about the lack of professionalism that’s so glaring, and which I’ve also been pointing out on this page for over a decade. Incidentally, in the week Kolade-Otitoju made his latest quoted comment, the NGO, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, had just threatened the FG with legal action. In a letter, SERAP wanted the immediate withdrawal of a recent directive issued by the National Broadcasting Commission; otherwise, the NBC would face legal action.  NBC had earlier issued a formal notice to media platforms on April 17, 2026. It cited a rise in breaches of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code and warned reporters against actions such as expressing personal opinions, intimidating guests, or failing to maintain neutrality.

For this, SERAP says NBC’s notice “amounts to prior restraint that impermissibly excludes commentary, analysis, and value judgements, the core of journalism and democratic discourse”. From my standpoint, SERAP is a partner with the journalism profession because it looks over the shoulders of government just as we do. The NGO has intervened in many other national discourses, for which I applaud them. Regarding its latest intervention, though, I have my reservations. Basically, I dont think NBC has a case to answer here, and I shall explain. Now, the need to not needlessly restrict the media is one all of us in this profession recognise. However, curbing irresponsible journalism and unprofessional conduct in the profession is another matter.  Needless to add that I’m a beneficiary of the freedom journalists in Nigeria have to operate. The reader can check some of the issues, as well as private and public figures in high offices to whom and about whom I’ve expressed views that many journalists won’t dare express. One thing to note is that I don’t make up fables. So it’s hard for anyone to accuse me of anything except get angry that I dare express my view, thinking a matter through and much farther than many ordinarily would. I express opinions on what actually transpired, and this is sacrosanct especially for a journalist. I shall return to this point.

It’s important to note that there’s a line between regulating the profession and muzzling the profession. There’s nothing in the NBC notice that should scare any media platform if they would only abide by the simplest requirement of professionalism that many of us were exposed to in our teething years. Note that the right to express an opinion by a journalist is not absolute. It’s guided by some journalism ethics aiming to ensure fairness, accuracy, objectivity, etc. There’s the NBC code as well. Sentiments or unsubstantiated assertions in a report are the last thing expected of a journalist. Generally, a journalist is expected not to express divisive opinions, as they’re stakeholders in maintaining the peace and unity of the nation. The opinions, the sentiments and biases, expressed by some journalists in their reports are the very opposite of this. I think this shouldn’t be difficult for any journalist who’s respectful of the  ethics of the profession to correct.

Some of us take this view because we were properly guided in our early days in this profession. When I began as a trainee reporter at The Guardian newspapers, my generation was first subjected to rigorous training at the well-resourced training department that the newspaper had. Later, practical training followed in the newsroom and in the field as our published reports were saved and graded. In the newsroom, I was privileged to continue to learn from well-known names in the profession. My editor on the political desk and later Guardian Group Political Editor, the revered Akpo Esajere, as well as his deputy, Chukwudi Abiandu, always offered views and corrections. The Managing Director, Lade Bonuola, and the director of publications, Mr Femi Kusa, would always stop at the political desk, being the first desk outside Kusa’s door, and have discussions of a general nature with Esajere. In the process, I would ask them questions, all of which they would graciously respond to. I was learning.

 Often, the Editor, Daily, Eluem Emeka Izeze, would call me to take down reports sent over the landline phone, and he would instruct me on things I should do and what I shouldn’t do regarding the report.

Esajere would send me out to gather reports on some trending issues, in the course of which I met Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) of the Civil Liberties Organisation, who, on one occasion, patiently explained to me how I could do what I was doing better. Sometimes, other desk editors would ask Esajere or Abiandu to release me to cover some events for them. When I returned and had made all the mistakes I could possibly make, those editors would sit me down and teach me what I should do and shouldn’t do in a report. Sometimes when my editor was not around, I took what I wrote to Mrs Harriet Lawrence, a senior staff, in her office and asked questions. The things each of those good people taught me are still so clear in my mind years later. Training that should make you a better journalist and professional doesn’t stop with earning a B.Sc. in Mass Communication. It continues as you practice.

 These days, do many in this profession continue in this trajectory? A veteran like Kolade-Otitoju is in a good position to know the reason he often condemns the lack of professionalism he sees, and for which he always says, “We are trained journalists…” Now, if expressing personal opinions, intimidating guests, or failing to maintain neutrality is what NBC is concerned about, I’ve written on such for more than a decade here. So, I understand that expressing personal opinions is not the problem NBC has with journalists, rather it’s expressing opinions that are based on sentiment, expressing views based on hearsay, and unsubstantiated claims. Note that a journalist is primarily a reporter. Journalists don’t cook up stories; they report stories as they actually happen. Reporters don’t report from their imagination. Reporters who respect themselves don’t speculate. They can’t put their opinion or sentiment in a report. It was exactly a year ago that I stated something regarding this when a presenter on Channels TV announced that Fulani herders carried out one particular attack in the north-central. It was a report but he cited no sources. He just placed his two hands on either side of himself and announced on national TV that Fulani herders were the perpetrators of a crime (“Dancing headless for Fulani people”, The PUNCH, April 25, 2025). He didn’t even use the word “allegedly”. He is no authority on what happened. He didn’t witness it. He’s a reporter so he must attribute what he reports to a source. It’s the rule. What was on display on that occasion was unprofessional, divisive. I have cited many similar  examples on this page.

Alleging that some journalists fail to maintain neutrality, according to NBC, also falls under the foregoing. Of course, a journalist can operate in two different spheres – report or analyse. What I do here and what Kolade-Otitoju does in Journalists’ Hangout is to analyse and offer opinions. Does anyone notice he always gets his facts right from informed sources before he offers an opinion on any issues? As I do, he visits sites of events as well. It’s the reason he’s well respected. Many journalists handle reports as though it is commentary. They’re different, and I believe NBC refers to the mistake some reporters make in this regard.  Even when a journalist runs a commentary, they’re expected to have their facts as much as possible. It’s here that a journalist is way different from the street commentator who can do armchair theorising, and be forgiven for expressing uninformed opinion. The journalist is supposed to find out, know, and then inform. The journalist isn’t just any commentator on the street. As such, even their opinions must have been informed by credible sources, rather than emotion, biases, hearsay, which just about any commentator on the streets can do.