Managing Director – Albarka 89.9Fm
Albarka 89.9 FM radio station based in Ganmo, in Kwara State, on June 15, 2023, held a one-day roundtable for journalists and media practitioners from across the state on the role of the media in ensuring good governance and accountability at the sub-national level. The roundtable had participants comprising media executives and journalists drawn from conventional and new media in attendance
The roundtable had participants comprising media executives and journalists drawn from conventional and new media in attendance. The participants were engaged in their function as media practitioners in ensuring public officeholders and workers live up to expectations in making taxpayers’ money work for the interest of people and the development of society at large.
Dr Ademola Bakare, a lecturer at the University of Ilorin, who was the resource person, charged participants to prioritise investigative journalism saying it’s the only way public officials can be held accountable for how taxpayers’ money is being used.
Dr. Bakare praised journalists saying as media practitioners, they deserve commendation for the level of media coverage coming out of the state but noted that there is still more to do in terms of investigative reporting because this is where the residents in the state can feel the impact of their profession by holding public officials accountable in what they are doing to make positive change in the life of people in the state.
He also urged journalists always do away with emotion and sentiment while discharging their duties. He said: “As a journalist, you are not expected to be partisan and sentimental in discharging your duties; fact, reality, and fairness must be followed because it’s only by this that members of the public can be better informed.”
Dr. Bakare also charged the media to serve as a watchdog and set agenda for the government and its institutions to see that they live up to expectations and work in accordance with their mandates.
He also lauded the organisers of the roundtable for empowering the media practitioners and canvasing for community development.
The roundtable was organised with the support of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development, Inclusivity and Accountability (CMEDIA) Project and funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
