The SMC Career Forum Series for FT9 has been amazing. You think you've heard the best in the industry and suddenly the next guest blows your mind. May 17th was another remarkable experience in the career series with Dr. Patrick Oluwaniran Malaolu, popularly known as ‘Niran Malaolu, a man of many parts as you'd see at the end of this post. I particularly enjoyed his prison gist and the passion with which he spoke on the future of media in Nigeria.
Dr. Niran spoke to MSc. FT9 on The Role of the Media In Nigeria’s Development: The Road less Travelled. The road less travelled by the media in line with its surveillance function is -
i. Budget Watch: critically examining budgets at all levels of government
ii. Monitoring the Budget Implementation Process
iii. Engaging with statistical analysis of Budget
iv. Periodic Budget Appraisals
According to him, there is seemingly an age-long enmity between Journalists and innumeracy, but celebrates it. Therefore the challenge for current and future Media practitioners is :-
Statistics in Nigeria. Citing Randall (2000), he reiterates that Journalists are suffering from a “blind spot” for numbers, tend to dismiss statistics altogether and quite a few see numeracy as “a kind of virus which, if caught, can damage the literary brain, leading to a permanent loss of vocabulary and shrivelling of sensitivity,”; while Pilhofer (2014) described Journalism as one of the few professions that not only tolerates general
i. To embrace statistics
ii. To apply statistics towards enhancing and improving media work
iii. Engage with budget monitoring, analysis and periodic budget appraisal
iv. Budget Watch will enable journalists to meet the aspirations of our people, and
v. Journalists can then truly claim to act as the voice of the voiceless and the defender of the defenceless
As budding media and communication professionals, the above are life lessons we must imbibe towards strengthening the fabric of this nation.
More on our guest:-
Dr. Patrick Oluwaniran Malaolu is a Journalist, Writer, Poet, Public Affairs Commentator, Researcher, Scholar and Fellow of the prestigious Poynter Institute, St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.A., lecturer in journalism at Babcock University and Founder/Chief Executive Officer, Rockcity FM, the first independent radio station in Ogun state. An irrepressible journalist, consummate academic and eloquent philosopher, Dr. Malaolu is a member of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, (NUJ); the US-based Society of Professional Journalists, (SPJ) USF Chapter, St Petersburg, Florida, U.S.A. He is also honorary member of several international professional media organizations including PEN CENTER, U.S.A West, Los Angeles, U.S.A; International Pen, English Center and International Pen, Scottish Center among others.
He is an experienced, tested and thorough-bred professional journalist and editor, Dr. Malaolu was sentenced to life imprisonment by the late General Sanni Abacha regime over the December, 1997 phantom coup. He was then the editor of The Diet, a Lagos-based daily newspaper. Dr. Malaolu, who almost lost his sight during his incarceration, was charged with concealment of information on the coup. He regained his freedom March 4, 1999. A deeply religious man, Dr. Malaolu spent his time both in Jos and Katsina prisons studying the Bible, doing pastoral work and writing poetry. He was reputed to have led several prisons' inmates to Christ through his powerful prayers and teachings. He was quite popular amongst prisoners in both prisons as well as in other detention camps where he was detained. A very principled, honest and forthright man, Dr. Malaolu, who wrote sixty poems in Katsina prisons amongst other literary works, is a study in courage and commitment, loyalty and fidelity.
i hope this inspires you towards excellence.
Beryl
No comments:
Post a Comment