A file picture of journalists jostling for position to capture images of the voting during elections in Ikeja district of Lagos. Photograph by Akintunde Akinleye/CCIJ
David Ajang, the bishop of Lafia diocese and chairman of social communications at CSN, spoke in Abuja at the end of a mass organised to mark the 2025 Communications Week public lecture.
The theme of the public lecture was ‘Media with gentleness: A path to being narrators of hope in a distressed nation’.
The bishop noted that media practitioners have been sermonised to be gentle and meek in carrying out their duties as the country faces numerous challenges that are threatening its unity and existence.
“But they are being called to be gentle and meek in this agenda,” he said.
“If you were present at the public lecture, I think this theme was properly handled.
“You know, the delicate balance which those in the media will have to maintain between reporting the truth and then maybe the ownership of the media and then maybe pleasing the government.
“And I think the take-home there was that, at the end of the day, the good of humanity must be at the back of every news item that should be reported.
“While the truth must be maintained, how it either fosters human life and the unity of the country and then the togetherness of the country, that too must be maintained. It’s a very delicate balance to maintain.”
The priest also appealed to the government at all levels to ensure an enabling environment for media practitioners.
“All we can do is to appeal to the government to try and see that they make the work of the media such that it will be appealing and can be carried out by those in the media. But you know, when you talk to politicians, when they are desperate, there is nothing that they will not do,” he said.
“But I suppose that as experts, we must give credit to a lot of media personnel who are doing the job well; you know, there is a way the truth is still being reported, you know, without watering down the reality of the situation and yet not getting on the nerves of people.”
During the Communications Week, the church conferred a posthumous award on the late Raymond Dokpesi, chairman of DAAR Communications, for his exceptional role in the media industry.
