How Journalism Died in Nigeria—Ex-Publisher

Moffat Ekoriko

 “For the
past couple of years, we have not had many very professional newspapers. So, it
is a matter of one politician having a political interest and setting up a
political newspaper.

So, what we have is that we have more political party’s
newsletters masquerading as newspapers than we should really have newspapers
because if you are a newspaper you can’t also be partisan…….In Nigeria you
don’t just set up a news paper, you have to set up a logistics company as well.
Buy vans to run the paper all over the country or you are not serious. You have
to become a utility company as well in order for you to be using your
electricity and water. You have to become even a bank to your staff, granting
staff loans so that people can pay their house rents. And then you have to
become a social welfare department again that must be able to sort out personal
problems of staff, If they are getting married, if they are burying their
parent or doing any social outing, you must be the social welfare office to
draw money from”