Shettima: Democracy Safe Only When Power Is Under Constant Observation

Vice-President Kashim Shettima says democracy is safe only when power is under constant observation.

Shettima said this in his address at the Second Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria.

He said this projects the power of the media in the country, adding that the country cannot have a dictator because of the willpower journalists have in holding the government accountable.

He however, said this can only be sustained when the practitioners remain firmly on the path of objectivity.

He said: “Democracy is safe only when power is under constant observation. And it is safe only when those who observe do so with integrity rather than vendetta. That is where your heroism begins.”

Shettima, who was the Chairman of the opening ceremony on Tuesday in Abuja, challenged the media to be fair to the government in power now, adding that there is nothing to fear about possible repression.

He said with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a media owner, it is impossible for the government to clampdown on his own constituency.

He said: “I understand that journalists and politicians sometimes enjoy the friendship of a cat and a mouse. Each side is convinced that the other requires close monitoring.

“But we are better off as friends. Your job is to report events as they are, and this cannot be easy where interests collide. Yet the difficulty of the task does not diminish your essence. It only affirms your indispensability.”

Shettima said the time had come for the cat and mouse game between the media and politicians to end.

He said: “But this cat-and-mouse tango is not our destination.

“What we need is a relationship rooted in openness—a space where you are free to function without intimidation, and where you are also held to the same standards you demand of others.

“Because among you are a few who knowingly fabricate tales, who refuse to retract falsehood even when confronted with evidence, and who cling to the unverifiability of their claims as a shield.

“These bad actors undermine the integrity of the very profession they claim to defend. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, we owe you a space of practice devoid of harassment, intimidation or fear.

“That much is non-negotiable. And as a government, we must continue to create an environment where truth can thrive without obstruction and where the work you do is protected rather than policed.

“This is why institutions like the International Press Institute Nigeria are indispensable, not just as observers and teachers but as standard setters.

“You help shape a professional culture that elevates ethics above ego, verification above virality and nationhood above nihilism.

“We remain friends only when each of us honours our part of the debt we owe the people.

“The alternative to this partnership is one I refuse to breathe life into, because a nation where the media is silent is a nation where public officers lose their way and where the people lose their voice. Such a country serves none of us.

“And so, I stand before you today not as a wary politician but as a friend, one who acknowledges your indispensable role and assures you that this administration respects and will continue to protect, your right to freedom of expression.”

The Vice President hailed the Nigerian press for how far the country had come.

He said every nation is a construction of its media, adding that the country needs “those who sit behind the keyboards and microphones and can make the colour blue appear as red.

“Those who can summon the collective courage of a people to overpower the most brutal dictator. Those who can build dreams or dismantle illusions.

“Those who can give life to hope or bury a nation in fear. Our aspiration, therefore, is to witness the finest expressions of this noble craft where you offer the public a diversity of information from which independent opinions are formed and where truth, not convenience, becomes the supreme editorial policy.

“So, I am honoured to share the company of these professional troublemakers today. There is no doubt that Nigeria has one of the most vibrant media communities anywhere in the world, a fact proven across generations.

“We have lived through days that showcased your brilliance and patriotism, just as we have lived through days that revealed your imperfections.

“Yet one thing you have never failed to do is rise in defence of the public’s right to know.

“You have confronted those who sought to suffocate this oxygen of our democracy and in moments of national confusion, you stepped forward to correct misinformation. This is a responsibility we cannot afford to take for granted, however complex our relationship may sometimes be.

“One of the proudest moments for journalism in contemporary Nigeria has been the sincerity with which the overwhelming majority of you continue to confront the rising tide of Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference.

“You have stood firmly against disinformation and refused to surrender your pens to falsehoods or foreign puppeteers.

“This honourable stance sets you apart from the minority who chase notoriety by manipulating unverified data and manufacturing obvious lies—those who prefer viral fiction to verified facts.

“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, if our collective experience has taught us anything, it is this: not a single practitioner lasts in this vocation without a sense of ethical responsibility.

“The pen is only mightier than the sword when it is deployed in the pursuit of justice and objectivity.

“Without ethics, journalism becomes nothing more than a dictatorship of text and airwaves, a distortion chamber where truth is suffocated by dangerous agendas.”

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