UNILORIN don, Mustapha, ex-Senator Adeyemi harp on journalists’ protection

As the world marked the day to end violence against journalists last Thursday (November 2, 2023), a former Head of the Department of Mass Communication, University of Ilorin, Dr Kayode Lambe Mustapha, and a former lawmaker at the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, Senator Smart Adeyemi, have stressed the need to protect journalists in Nigeria and across the globe.

 The duo said this while featuring on a special edition of Oro to n lo, a popular Yoruba current affairs programme on UNILORIN FM 89.3, to mark the United Nations International Day to end Impunity for Crime against Journalists.

 In his own contribution, Dr Mustapha, who is a former Head of the Department of Mass Communication, University of Ilorin, said that the journalists are indispensable in our society, because whoever is against journalists is an enemy of God, saying that whoever commits crime against journalists must not go unpunished.

  The Communication scholar stressed further that journalists must be balanced, fair and factual in their reportage to avoid being biased.

 Dr Mustapha explained that a society without journalists is not only incomplete but cannot progress.

   On his part, Senator Adeyemi, who is a former National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), said that journalists are like soldiers going to the war front everyday without arms, saying that they need laws to protect them. He said they should also be able to get justice when being harassed or assaulted in the course of doing their jobs.

 The former lawmaker, who represented Kogi West in the Senate, stressed further that journalists must perform their duties with the fear of God, truth and open mindedness.

  He opined that journalists would be rewarded here on earth and in the hereafter if they diligently discharge their duties.