Lawan: Projection of Ethnic, Religious Diversities Cause of Political Instability

By Chuks Okocha

The President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan yesterday acknowledged that Nigeria was going through serious economic and security crises, which were aggravated by people, who projected the country’s ethnic, religious, cultural and geographical diversities.

Lawan while speaking at the Blueprint 10th Anniversary/Impact Series and Awards tagged “Technological Innovation as Antidote to election rigging,” in Abuja noted that “the economic challenges are being felt in many parts of the world, with countries still seeking to escape the havoc of the Covid-19 pandemic on many aspects of life.

He lamented that “the insecurity in our country has taken an alarming dimension with killings, kidnappings and wanton attacks on public facilities becoming daily events in many parts of the country.

While the Government is forthright and unrelenting in its efforts to contain the security challenges, the crisis is certainly being aggravated by people cynically projecting our ethnic, religious, cultural and geographical diversities as the primary cause of political instability and social insecurity in Nigeria.
The Senate President who expressed his fervent belief in the destiny of Nigeria urged every Nigerian to hold on to that faith.

Lawan acknowledged that “in this age of information, the media play a crucial role in creating national unity and re-modelling of public opinions. It is true that public opinion is always disturbed during a crisis. But in such situations, the media can control the public emotions and control public opinion with a positive attitude. Without a positive attitude in the media, even the best efforts of policymakers and government cannot produce results.

He continued: “Let us also remember that crisis is inevitable in society. Indeed, it drives development when properly managed. The Nigerian media must, therefore, always seek to help the nation turn its crises into wheels of progress.

“This they can do by providing useful information to calm the people and encourage them to do positive actions. In the current situations, the media should seek information only from credible sources in order to limit the spread of fake news. They should avoid information that is capable of inciting violence and reprisals. When law and order succumb to anarchy, even lawmakers, journalists and journalism are endangered.

“We also tend to forget the challenges that shortened our earlier democratic journeys, and that our struggle to address those challenges brought us to where we are. If what we adopted as solutions in the past now seem to us as mistakes, let us be charitable enough to see them as honest mistakes, learn from them to fashion better solutions, and move on.

“Democracy is a perpetual learning process that improves with constant practice. It learns from and builds upon experience. That is the reason our constitution makes provisions for its constant review and amendment so that the fears of the past and shortsightedness of the present do not shackle the future and waste its opportunities.

“Under the constitution review exercise, the National Assembly has received hundreds of memoranda from across the country and many bills have been proposed for consideration. These show the commitment of the National Assembly to improving the laws upon which our polity and governance system are based and the support of Nigerians for its efforts.”

Lawan also challenged the Nigerian media to set an agenda for a brighter tomorrow for the country.
Also speaking at the event, former President Goodluck Jonathan asked the Nigerian media practitioners to use the Freedom of Information Act (FO1A), which was enacted 10 years ago, to fight fake news.
The FOIA was enacted in 2011 to bequeath the media with the abiding freedom required to practice and unfettered access to information in the public interest.

Speaking in Abuja shortly after he bagged the Blueprint Newspaper’s ‘Icon of Democracy in Africa’ award, Jonathan called on the media practitioners to use the Act to fight fake news.

Represented by the former Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolemenen, the former president also tasked them to promote patriotism and national pride in view of the current security challenges in the country.
“I recall that in May 2011, my administration enacted the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in order to bequeath the media with the abiding freedom required for this onerous duty, give the people unfettered access to information of public interest.

“The year 2021 makes it one decade since that landmark law was enacted. It will be interesting to see how far that piece of legislation has impacted on general reporting, development of journalism and national leadership.

“The media should therefore guide the crusade to checkmate the spread of false information which obviously does more harm than good in society.

“On this score, I believe mainstream media has even greater responsibilities now, especially at this time of worsening insecurity and ethnic tension, to promote patriotism and national pride.
“The media should be deliberate, constructive and exercise the kind of restraint that should promote unity, peace and sustainable development,” he said.