The 17th annual National conference of the
Nigerian Anthropological and Sociological Association, NASA, kicked off at
Nnamdi Azikiwe University, UNIZIK, Awka, Anambra State capital with resource
persons including, the Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamade; the Managing Director of Nigerian Compass newspaper,
Mr. Sina Kawonise; and Prof Boniface Egboka, the Vice Chancellor of the
university in attendance.
In her key note address, the President of NASA, Prof. Olabisi I. Aina said that the theme of the conference, “Social Value, Corruption and Security”, was not only timely but at the core of debates and discourse on the future of Nigeria as a nation state.
According to her, the Nigerian political scene was built on lawlessness, violence and instability.
She described sociologists and anthropologists as reformers of these problems, who seek to explain, postulate, predict and prescribe how best to fashion out a new Nigeria that the people would be proud of as its citizens.
In his lecture, the Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorade, ably represented by Mr. Chibuzor Ezeh said that the problem was with the society, adding that the value system has been dragged to the mud.
Nigeria, he said, has been described as a place for corruption, terrorism, robbery among others vices, pointing out that to curtail the trend, all hands should be on the desk as it was not only meant for the security operatives to fight.
In his own lecture, the Compass newspaper MD, Sina Kawonise revealed that, “the media was the watch-dog of the society with the advent of the social media and online publications, the media sector in Nigeria is really very robust. Not less that thirty (30) newspapers publish daily; the weekly magazines- the serious ones, that is are about fifteen (15), while the soft sells are not less than fifty (50).
Nigeria currently has more than 150 radio and television stations publicly and privately owned. Five of the television stations are on the satellite and are thus watched beyond the shores of the country. Quite a number of the television and radio stations that broadcast on the terrestrial space are available online and could be accessed wherever there is broadband Internet access”.
The implication of the multiplicity of news and information channels is that the control of the media has moved from the grip of the government and a few private individuals to varied holding, players and participants.
He, howeve,r accused the media of not being a saint to have been exonerated from corruption.
His words, “to say that there is a lot of corrupt practices in the media is to say the obvious. With over twenty years of media practice at all levels (as a member of the Editorial Board of the oldest surviving private newspaper in Nigeria – the Nigerian tribune, as a media consultant to governments and international organizations, as Commissioner for Information in a state government, and as Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of a national newspaper), I think I’m a vantaged position to say categorically that there is much corruption in the media. And it operates at different levels for different reasons”.
The MD narrated the power of the press, saying, “traditionally, the media is known to wield a lot of power in democratic settings where the mass media are constitutionally guaranteed to operate without let nor hindrance. Where the game is to influence the opinion of the people who vote in elections, the media will undoubtedly exercise a good measure of power.
With power comes the possibility of abuse and the likelihood of self aggrandizement. In an environment of pervasive corruption within the social order, weak laws and regulatory control, and compromisable judicial processes, it is almost certain that an institution as the media in a social formation like Nigeria would be corrupt. While this position isn’t a relapse into social determinism, the reality of the pervasive corruption in the media in Nigeria suggests that the phenomenon goes beyond individual weakness and predilection towards corrupt practices.”
Earlier, the UNIZIK Vice Chancellor, Prof Boniface Egboka said for the first time UNIZIK witnessed the NASA conference, pointing out that it would help to know that NASA has helped tremendously towards societal building.
Among those in attendance were Prof. Ngozi Egbue - Chairman of the Local organizing Committee of NASA, Anambra State – Commissioner for Economic Planning and Chief of State Prof. Stella Okunna and Prof. Wale A. Olatan.
In her key note address, the President of NASA, Prof. Olabisi I. Aina said that the theme of the conference, “Social Value, Corruption and Security”, was not only timely but at the core of debates and discourse on the future of Nigeria as a nation state.
According to her, the Nigerian political scene was built on lawlessness, violence and instability.
She described sociologists and anthropologists as reformers of these problems, who seek to explain, postulate, predict and prescribe how best to fashion out a new Nigeria that the people would be proud of as its citizens.
In his lecture, the Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorade, ably represented by Mr. Chibuzor Ezeh said that the problem was with the society, adding that the value system has been dragged to the mud.
Nigeria, he said, has been described as a place for corruption, terrorism, robbery among others vices, pointing out that to curtail the trend, all hands should be on the desk as it was not only meant for the security operatives to fight.
In his own lecture, the Compass newspaper MD, Sina Kawonise revealed that, “the media was the watch-dog of the society with the advent of the social media and online publications, the media sector in Nigeria is really very robust. Not less that thirty (30) newspapers publish daily; the weekly magazines- the serious ones, that is are about fifteen (15), while the soft sells are not less than fifty (50).
Nigeria currently has more than 150 radio and television stations publicly and privately owned. Five of the television stations are on the satellite and are thus watched beyond the shores of the country. Quite a number of the television and radio stations that broadcast on the terrestrial space are available online and could be accessed wherever there is broadband Internet access”.
The implication of the multiplicity of news and information channels is that the control of the media has moved from the grip of the government and a few private individuals to varied holding, players and participants.
He, howeve,r accused the media of not being a saint to have been exonerated from corruption.
His words, “to say that there is a lot of corrupt practices in the media is to say the obvious. With over twenty years of media practice at all levels (as a member of the Editorial Board of the oldest surviving private newspaper in Nigeria – the Nigerian tribune, as a media consultant to governments and international organizations, as Commissioner for Information in a state government, and as Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of a national newspaper), I think I’m a vantaged position to say categorically that there is much corruption in the media. And it operates at different levels for different reasons”.
The MD narrated the power of the press, saying, “traditionally, the media is known to wield a lot of power in democratic settings where the mass media are constitutionally guaranteed to operate without let nor hindrance. Where the game is to influence the opinion of the people who vote in elections, the media will undoubtedly exercise a good measure of power.
With power comes the possibility of abuse and the likelihood of self aggrandizement. In an environment of pervasive corruption within the social order, weak laws and regulatory control, and compromisable judicial processes, it is almost certain that an institution as the media in a social formation like Nigeria would be corrupt. While this position isn’t a relapse into social determinism, the reality of the pervasive corruption in the media in Nigeria suggests that the phenomenon goes beyond individual weakness and predilection towards corrupt practices.”
Earlier, the UNIZIK Vice Chancellor, Prof Boniface Egboka said for the first time UNIZIK witnessed the NASA conference, pointing out that it would help to know that NASA has helped tremendously towards societal building.
Among those in attendance were Prof. Ngozi Egbue - Chairman of the Local organizing Committee of NASA, Anambra State – Commissioner for Economic Planning and Chief of State Prof. Stella Okunna and Prof. Wale A. Olatan.
The Compass
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