Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba
Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, has stressed the need for a closer working relationship between the Nigerian Army and media practitioners in the country so as to promote better understanding towards the tackling of security challenges in the country.
The COAS stated this at the 2024 first quarter Army-Media Chat held in Asaba, the Delta State, titled “Imperatives of Military-Media Partnership for Attainment of National Security”.
Gen. Lagbaja was represented by, General Officer Commanding 6 Division, Land Component Commander, Joint Task Force, South-South Operation, Major-General Jamal H. Abdussalam.
“The aim of media chat is to create a conducive environment for dialogue between the Nigerian Army and media practitioners, facilitating the exchange of valuable information and ideas for the mutual benefit of all,” the COAS said, adding that “it is incumbent upon us to reorganise our respective roles and responsibilities in this partnership.”
According to Lagbaja, “As the Army is striving to deliver on its constitutional mandate, the media should also uphold the highest standards of professionalism, accuracy, impartiality and patriotism by ensuring that their reports contribute positively to national security.
“The Nigerian Army is aware of the complexities and difficulties presented by the current security landscape in our nation. Constitutionally, the urgency to address security challenges has necessitated the re-strategising and re-jigging of deployed to give the desired results bearing in mind the uniqueness of the various theatres of operations.
“It is crucial to emphasise that the actions of non-state actors aiming to undermine the security, welfare and overall prosperity of our country would be significantly diminished and almost non-existent without the collaboration of certain unpatriotic and unscrupulous individuals within our society.”
On the recent attack on a team of military personnel at Okuama community in Delta State, the COAS advised media practitioners “to refrain from inadvertently amplifying the activities of these undesirable elements”, noting that terrorists, insurgents and other deviant groups “thrive on attention and propaganda to instill fear on in law-abiding citizens” simply to could undermine peace in the country.
In his welcome address, Chief of Civil-Military Affairs, Major-General Nosakhare C. Ugboh, said that the media chat was designed towards a better dissemination of the activities of the army to the general public vis-a-vis fostering mutual understanding by engaging with the media.
“The media chat offers a unique opportunity to bridge the gap the gap between the military and media, by fostering mutual understanding, Through our collaboration with the media, Nigeria Army ensures that accurate and balanced information reaches the public, dispelling misinformation and rumours that can sow public distrust,” he said.
The military-media event climaxed with two panel discussion segments based on the lecture delivered by Major-General Olusegun Adeleke (rtd), titled “Enhancing National Security through Military-Media Engagement”, and the second lecture delivered by Prof Godwin Oboh, titled “Promoting Military-Media Trust for Enhancing Public Support Towards Addressing Nigeria Security Challenges”.
Adeleke’s paper dwelt extensively on the constitutional functions and roles of both the Armed Forces and Media organisations with suggestions for improved collaboration between them in order to advance the cause of Nigeria’s national security and progress. For the first discussion session, anchored by Sonia Unobunjo, the Chairman of the Delta State chapter of National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), the discussants were drawn from both private and public media practitioners in the country while the lecturer also fielded questions from participants.
The second session, which featured the Chairman, Delta State Council of the NUJ, Churchill Oyowe, the Chairman, Editorial Board of THISDAY Newspaper, Olusegun Adeniyi and Conscience Sado, News Manager at Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Abuja, was moderated by Adesuwa Omoruan of the ARISE News Television.
