From Sola Ojo and Okwe Obi, Abuja
Vice President Kashim Shettima has implored media professionals to serve as the conscience of political institutions by standing for the truth in the discharge of their duties.
Shettima argued that it would be a herculean task for citizens to build an ideal state if the intellectual class, especially journalists, are not allowed to be the conscience of society.
The vice president, who spoke at a book launch entitled Persona Non Grata, authored by Ismail Omipidan, in Abuja yesterday, added that the country was in need of courageous media professionals to speak the truth to power.
He remarked that members of the fourth estate of the realm should distinguish between antagonising a government and speaking truth to power.
“While we need an army of courageous media professionals to speak the truth to power, we also need them to serve as the conscience of political institutions and individuals who influence the evolution of society, including the questions of our collective survival.
“What must be spelled out is that there is a distinction between antagonising a government and speaking truth to power.
“The latter is driven by a noble principle to serve a greater good and a deserving humanity.
“The former, on the other hand, is usually a self-serving exercise that fades into futility, and that is not the end we should aspire to achieve with the information and ideas we labour to acquire and process in our line of work.
“The real courage lies in resisting compromise in one’s pursuit of truth. True courage is being able to tell the truth even in a congress of critics and bullies.
“The rush to partake in a smear campaign, even in the face of superior facts, is, of course, not an act of courage. This distinction sets courage apart from cowardice. It takes rare integrity to recognise the difference between the two Cs.”
On his part, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, lauded the author, Omipidan, who served as his Chief Press Secretary, for his ingenuity and diligence to work.
Oyetola said: “The book we are gathered here today, Persona Non Grata by a highly respected journalist, Ismail Omipidan, is a collection of his past experiences and contribution to public discourse.”
The author, who is also the Politics Editor of The Sun Newspapers, said the inspiration to write the book stemmed from the experiences he had as a correspondent in Borno State, where he was declared persona non grata by the state government due to his decisive and courageous stories.