|
BNW |
|
B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
THE law enacted recently by the authorities of the Federal Capital Territory banning street hawking in Abuja is understandable as an attempt to transform the FCT into a clean and environmentally friendly city. But the extension of the ban to cover the sale of newspapers and magazines requires reconsideration in certain respects.
Both the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) have, in a joint statement, argued that the implementation of the law as it is would pose a threat to the newspaper industry. The FCT authorities have directed that newspapers and magazines can only be sold in designated areas in Abuja from kiosks to be provided by media owners. In recent times, newspaper distributors and vendors who contravened the law were arrested, taken to mobile courts and fined, while their newspapers were seized and confiscated.
Newspaper vendors provide a specialised and essential service of guaranteeing ready access to information and helping to expand the scope for freedom of expression. To limit their activities in this regard constitutes an abbreviation of the letter and spirit of Section 39 of our extant constitution. The FCT law will also negatively impact on the sale and distribution of newspapers and, in turn, the newspaper business itself. The result: otherwise gainfully employed Nigerians at both the distribution and production ends will be rendered jobless.
The NPAN and NGE have observed, correctly, that "this law has not taken into account the business and marketing strategies that have been influenced by the culture of our environment...". The structured, neatly organised sales and distribution method that obtains in many advanced countries is not available here. The subscription method of newspaper sales is underdeveloped. Our cities also do not have newspaper vending machines. It is advisable that standards should be raised, but this cannot be done hastily. Like other lines of local business that have survived the limiting factors of our environment, the newspaper business continues to thrive. Vendors are especially useful to both the industry and the ordinary Nigerian seeking information. Vendors are also not exactly like the ordinary hawker. Nor do they constitute a problem.
They sell clean, take-away products which do not result in such litter that can violate the environment. And, stationed on the service lanes at traffic light and road junctions, they do their business without obstructing traffic flow. To this extent, it is obvious that newspaper vendors do not threaten the FCT's clean-up policy. What does, it seems, is the provision in the law that media owners should set up sales kiosks at designated points. Given the number of publishing houses in the country, Abuja will, in no time, be littered with media kiosks. Surely this is contrary to the good intentions of the FCT authorities. Besides, given the number of persons, mostly youths, engaged in this business, just how many kiosks will it take to keep them in job?
Surely, steps within the law to rejuvenate our urban centres deserve support. Street-trading, in particular, should be controlled. But our laws should be sensitive to the social, economic and other realities of the environment. With regard to the sale of newspapers in Abuja, the FCT authorities should ensure that the necessary infrastructural facilities are in place and that authorised sale points are properly designated and advertised, before implementing the decision to get newspaper vendors off the streets. This can still be done without creating the impression that the FCT Ministry is trying to introduce a form of censorship.
Finally, it bears remarking that street hawking generally must be seen as a symptom of a social problem of unemployment which, in turn, directly reflects the incompetence of our policy makers. Creating jobs will treat the disease and extirpate the symptoms.
Those media awards
IT is increasingly fashionable that media houses and beat associations within the media give awards to public figures or persons in the news. These awards are said to be in recognition of some personal achievement or public service, and the usual targets are politicians and businessmen, whose egos are further inflated by the vanity decorations that are bestowed on them. The criteria for the awards are not surprisingly, vague and mysterious, but the scandal lies in the speed with which this is becoming a tradition.
It is not out of place to honour persons who have distinguished themselves in society. Our country is blessed with men and women, youths and children who, through the application of talent, or hardwork, or simply the display of excellence deserve honour. Indeed, it is part of the African culture to honour genuinely deserving citizens of the land.
But media groups in the business of giving awards have clearly lost sight of their primary duty that is, to critically watch, faithfully report and make informed comments on society. This role demands a certain detachment from vested interests, especially of the sort that derive from business and political figures seeking public attention. A media house that gets involved in this seemingly shady business risks compromising its editorial independence. With this goes, inevitably, its integrity as a source of credible information. The NPAN and the Nigerian Guild of Editors have both threatened to sanction any group in the industry that is found guilty of organising awards. This is in order. In the long run, this practice raises questions of ethics and professionalism. The integrity of the organisers of the awards cannot be guaranteed.
Media professionals need to be reminded that any act that may be suspected as having been motivated by the expectation of reward or inducement violates the professional Code of Ethics. The respectable way a media house can accord recognition is through its editorial opinion. A proliferation of awards lowers the benchmark for quality and trivialises human achievement. And the way we give awards in this country indicates a psychological sense of inadequacy that seems to pervade society.
Too many persons of small achievement, but with a lot of money to spend yearn for public attention with a view to achieve strange ends, and there is a growing tribe of opportunists who help them to achieve their dream. The expensive glitz that attends these events is characteristically obscene. It may be good business but societal values are the worse for it. If really there is such an abundance of "excellence" around, why is our country in this state?
The most credible award a politician can earn is the recognition of his commitment to service by the people of his constituency; for a professional, it is the quality of excellence that defines his work, and not the vanity-praise of misguided media groups.
|
|
||||||||||||
