Adejoke Adeleye, Abeokuta
A Federal lawmaker and Chairman House committee on Rural Development at the House of Representatives, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu has stressed the need for free press and freedom of information in Nigeria, noting that the roles journalists play in the attainment of good governance in the country cannot be overemphasised.
Adebutu added that the country’s democracy would thrive if the Media are given the freedom to exercise their job.
Hon Oladipupo spoke in an interview with the Broadcast Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN) in Abeokuta, the Ogun State.
The Federal lawmaker said free press would lead to the actualization of good governance, hence the need for the Federal government to create an enabling environment for healthy competition amongst media houses and journalists.
His words: “Democracy will only thrive if there is a freedom of speech, information,communication and process of sharing knowledge. In the process of working towards good governance, you must have a solid and sound press, without that we cannot have the choices of information and as such we are not creating a competition.”
“When there is a lack of information, then we don’t have a vision of competition and when there is no opportunity for good competition, constructive competition then the human intellect, human capacity is limited and as such, democracy is limited.
He therefore urged the federal government to address the issue of epileptic power supply that is currently facing the country.
Furthermore he explained that if the issue is attended to Medium and Small Scale Enterprises would grow and in turn have positive impact on the country’s economy.
He also appealed to political office holders to govern with the fear of God, saying only those who do not have the fear of God engage in corruption.
Adebutu also noted that the state has the capacity to generate more revenue without inconveniencing the less privileged such as the market women and artisans amongst others.
HON Oladipupo charged the government to be ready to work hard to generate and increase its Internally Generated Revenue IGR base.
While commending the media, he said “Obviously, it (media industry) is not a paying enterprise in Nigeria but you (journalists) still do your job, I pray that Nigeria will become stronger and will also become more successful nation”.
The President of BJAN, Mr. Kazeem Olowe appreciated the federal lawmaker and promised to always uphold the ethics of the profession as highlighted by the law maker.