The chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, (ICPC) Bolaji Owasanoye, has urged journalists to focus more on writing analysis rather than traditional news reporting.
He explained that doing this will allow for a proper understanding of the context while reporting the news.
He gave the advice on Monday at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja while declaring open a two-day workshop for reporters covering the activities of the ICPC.
“For those of us who have a duty to report, I understand that you are always under pressure for time to report the news… But there must be time created also to do analysis and to understand context,” Mr Owasanoye said.
The ICPC boss said this in reaction to the yearly report on Corruption Perception Index (CPI) conducted by Transparency International (T.I).
Since former President Muhammadu Buhari came into power in 2015, Nigeria’s score on the yearly Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranking has been on a downward spiral. But the 2022 ranking improved only marginally, ranking 150th out of 180 countries, up from 154th in 2021.
“Some of you might have noticed that this year T.I’s release did not have as much grounding or impact, and this is not a Nigerian phenomenon, a lot of countries especially developing countries are beginning to interrogate T.I’s reports as to why the countries that are victims of corruption always rank poorer than the countries that are the recipients of the proceeds of corruption and we do not interrogate why this happens.
“Of course, we understand very clearly that in developing countries like Nigeria, we have our challenges and we are not denying that, we are trying to deal with them in accordance with the law and within the local challenges that we face.
“But occasionally when there are prospects to make progress and advance the course there are frustrations that are encountered that are not immediately visible to observers.
Speaking further, he urged journalists to get more involved in the narrative to at least present their own side of the story the way it ought to be presented so there can be a balance of the information exchanged.
Mr Owasanoye also advised the attendees to form a connection with the ICPC, which would be beneficial in dealing with the epidemic of corruption, as well as the problems and hazards that both the media and anti-corruption agencies face around the world.
The ICPC boss also revealed that there had been an improved trajectory of reportage since the first training workshop for journalists was held last year and that this can be further improved by more engagements and sharing of information and perspectives with stakeholders, such as the workshop, in order to close the gaps that have existed.
In his remark, the director, public enlightenment and education department, ICPC, Ashiru Baba, claimed that the press had only focused on the arrests and prosecution of big shots in the society.
He noted that 90 per cent of the ICPC’s activities were focused on prevention and public education, which should elicit high-level media coverage.
“This one-sided outlook by the media was due to the erroneous belief by some media practitioners that the fight against corruption begins and ends with arrest and prosecution of the corrupt politically exposed persons,” he said.
