Kadaria Ahmed: To effect change in governance, media must regain trust of Nigerians

Kadaria Ahmed, managing director of Radio Now 95.3FM Lagos, says Nigerian media must regain the trust of the people to enable effective performance of their constitutional role.

Kadaria spoke in a chat with 90MinutesAfrica, an online news programme hosted by Rudolf Okonkwo and Chido Onumah.

The seasoned journalist said most Nigerians believe the media are “somewhat in collusion with people in positions of authority”, which has festered distrust of the sector among the people.

She said the Nigerian media has a responsibility to correct the distrust with quality reportage that re-enforces its role in society.

“I think there’s a lot of distrust for traditional media in Nigeria. A lot of people you talk to will tell you they believe we are somewhat in collusion with people in positions of authority. Sometimes they find it difficult to differentiate between us and the people we are supposed to be holding accountable,” Kadaria said.

“And if we are being honest, partly it’s our fault we have lost the trust of the people. So, a lot of them now rely on social media, and we know how problematic that is in terms of authenticity. The responsibility and onus are on the media to regain trust and find the right kind of language to be able to speak to the rank and file of the Nigerian audience.

“We must take the challenge seriously to gain trust and ensure that we carry out this constitutionally-protected role.”

On his part, Simon Kolawole, founder and the chief executive officer (CEO) of TheCable Newspaper, criticised the agenda-setting priority of the Nigerian media.

He said journalists must give equal coverage they accrued politics to other key issues like ongoing strike actions by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the country’s rising debt profile.

“The agenda, currently, is not being properly set. We have a lot of issues in Nigeria, dealing with lots of issues: ASUU strike, debt, etc. We are not discussing these issues deeply. For me, this is part of the issue with the media’s agenda settings,” Kolawole said.

“Yes, there are issues around rotation, and if you don’t have stable politics, you’ll continue to run helter-skelter. But let us discuss all issues together. Don’t let us just focus on politics but on all issues that affect Nigerians.”

Azu Ishiekwene, editor-in-chief of Leadership Newspaper, called on media organisations to ensure information is reaching places outside the bandwidth of the conventional media.

He said this is important because a chunk of the voting population is outside the reach of conventional media.

“The media has to go beyond the conventional spaces, like big cities. Because we have a large population of voting population that can hold politicians accountable that are, incidentally, outside the reach of conventional media,” Ishiekwene said.

“I think it’s also our responsibility to go beyond people within reach of conventional media and get them to be part of this conversation.”