How to make reorientation campaign credible, by Maduka

For effectiveness of the ‘change begins with me’ campaign of the Federal Government, there must be a credible platform to drive it, former Director General of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Vincent Maduka, has said.

Delivering a speech as guest speaker at the third History Series organised by the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN) in collaboration with the Lagos State University (LASU) and Diamond Award for Media Excellence (DAME), he noted that most government-owned media were biased.

“Voice Of Nigeria, for example, is not supposed to be partial, but project Nigeria’s view to the rest of the world. Domestic services are supposed to enlighten the people and create a balance for development in which everybody feels a part,” he said.

Maduka, who was the DG of NTA in 1984 when the military administration of Muhammadu Buhari first launched his ‘War Against Indiscipline’ campaign, said the organisation succeeded in driving the campaign because it was perceived at the time that it put premium on credibility, hence it was easy for the public to believe.

The president of ACSPN, Prof. Lai Oso, however, attributed NTA’s loss of credibility to mismanagement.

“Generally, government stations are not perceived to be credible, there is no physical journalism practice but propaganda,” he added.

The Dean, LASU School of Communication, Prof. Rotimi Williams Olatunji, said the forum of experts was to impact students from their wealth of knowledge.