Akwa Ibom Media Practioners Seek Reversal of IPI’s Sanctions Against Gov Eno

Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Umo Eno with Alhassan Yahya, National President of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ.

Some Akwa Ibom Media practitioners have risen with one voice to urge the International Press Institute in Nigeria, IPI Nigeria, led by Musikilu Mojeed, to review and reverse the sanction on Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State, as the sanction does not reflect the proven actions, friendly disposition and contributions of the Governor to the media ecosystem in Nigeria.

Recall that IPI Nigeria’s President, Musikilu Mojeed, last week during the Institute’s Annual General Meeting in Abuja on the theme “Addressing Media Repression and Safeguarding Democratic Accountability in Nigeria.” had announced the blacklisting of Governor Eno for withdrawing the accreditation of Channels Television Reporter and Cameraman from Akwa Ibom State Government House Press Corps.

Speaking with journalists in his office at Government House Uyo, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Eno on National and International Media, Mr. Anietie Usen, said the decision by IPI Nigeria to move against the governor was “possibly based on misinformation, disinformation and the absence of a thorough investigation into the routine withdrawal of accreditation from the TV crew, who “without doubt violated the rules of the game”.

According to Usen, a former General Editor of Newswatch Magazine and multiple award winning journalist, the affected TV crew from a respected TV house aired on an international TV, a certain portion of the governor’s remarks, which had been officially declared as “off record”.

In his words: “Of record remark is a time honoured practice in journalism profession globally. Every journalist of intergrity the world over is trusted to honour every material officially declared as off record. It must be noted that in a Press Corps of 38 journalists, the affected TV crew of two, was the only team that violated these laid down rules, which I personally considered as ethical misconduct”.

According to Usen, a former General Manager and editor-in- chief of Akwa Ibom Newspaper Limited, “the curious aspect of this issue is that it was not the reporter who filed the embargoed story but his cameraman. While that unusual circumvention remained inexplicable, we had no choice than to request Channel TV to kindly replace their crew and the TV station obliged without any hesitation whatsoever. It’s as simple as that. Every solid organisation is run and driven by rules and regulations, otherwise you may wind up with some sort of anarchy in a sensitive environment like the Government House…

“As a core, infantry (if you permit that word) journalist myself, there is no way I would have accepted any form of sanction against another journalist, if these guys were on good professional grounds… I imagine the affected crew members were not just an embarrassment to us in the Press Centre but to their first class TV station in Lagos”, Usen said.

Similarly, the Chairman of the NUJ, Mr. Niebet John and his immediate past predecessor, Mr. Amos Etuk, have condemned the indicipline of the journalists whose accreditations were withdrawn. According to Mr. John, “if there is any infringement against journalists in the state I would have been in the forefront to fight the government”.

Said Etuk: “Governor Umo Eno is the first governor in Nigeria’s history to have appointed more than 50 journalists into various departments of his government…Governor Umo Eno is the first Nigerian Governor to be honoured by the national leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists for two years consecutively as Nigeria’s Most Friendly Media Governor. To therefore say that he suppressed journalists is heartbreaking, objectionable and unacceptable to journalists on the ground in Akwa Ibom State”.