… NiDCOM boss urges veterans to champion ethical standards, recalls 2010 Journalism Enhancement Bill
Written By Rashidat O. Okunlade | Lagos
The Chairman/CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has urged media practitioners to refocus their energy on restoring ethics and professionalism to journalism, rather than seeking apologies.
This was contained in a statement issued in Abuja by the Commission’s Director of Media, Public Relations and Protocols, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, in response to an article by Mr. Livinus Chibuike Victor.
While acknowledging Victor’s genuine concerns that there is a “huge problem plaguing journalism practice in Nigeria,” Dabiri-Erewa maintained that his call for an apology was “totally misplaced and utterly irrelevant.”
A Long-Standing Battle for Standards
Dabiri-Erewa, drawing from her tenure in the Parliament (2003–2015) as Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Media, recalled her efforts to sanitise the profession.
She championed the introduction of the Journalism Enhancement Bill in 2010, which aimed to set standards and enhance the journalism profession. She argued that unlike medicine, law, and accountancy, the absence of strict certification criteria in journalism allows anyone to lay claim to the title of “journalist” without any form of training.
“Unfortunately, the move was resisted by those that should have supported it, and today the dignity of journalism is now being clearly eroded,” she noted.
‘An Apology He Will Never Get’
The NiDCOM boss called on the writer to focus on working with veterans to champion the return of ethical journalism.
“…than seeking for an apology that he will never get, because the erosion of standards is glaring,” she stated.
She noted with satisfaction that it was the journalism profession that nurtured and trained her, recalling the mentorship she received from outstanding lecturers at the Mass Communication department, University of Lagos. She expressed her willingness to join hands with the writer and other veterans in the industry to tackle the challenges facing the profession.
She also called on the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Guild of Editors, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), and other media professionals not to sit back and watch the esteemed profession denigrated.
Why It Matters
The public exchange between Hon. Dabiri-Erewa and the writer shines a spotlight on a deep-seated structural flaw in the Nigerian media landscape: the lack of a unified, enforceable regulatory framework to determine who is truly a professional journalist.
Dabiri-Erewa’s reference to the 2010 Journalism Enhancement Bill is a critical piece of historical context. The bill sought to do for journalism what the Nigerian Bar Association does for lawyers or the Medical and Dental Council does for doctors. Its failure to pass—due to resistance from within the media itself—has arguably contributed to the current ecosystem where anyone with a blog or social media account can operate with impunity, sometimes blurring the lines between journalism, activism, and blackmail.
Her refusal to apologise also signals a hardening of stance against what public officials often perceive as a culture of entitlement among some media practitioners who demand accountability from others without holding themselves to the same rigorous standards.
However, the response also highlights a lingering friction between the government and the press. While the NiDCOM boss makes a valid point about the erosion of standards, her directive to the NUJ and NBC to step up suggests a regulatory push that some in the media may view as a threat to press freedom.
Ultimately, the true test of this debate lies in action. If veterans, regulatory bodies, and government officials can genuinely collaborate to establish a framework that rewards ethical, rigorous reporting while weeding out quacks, the entire nation stands to benefit. Until then, the debate over the dignity of the Fourth Estate will continue to rage.
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