I woke up this morning, grabbed my device, behold, news of a purported endorsement carried out by EPM renegades, or should I called them jokers, flooded my timeline.
What is the buzz about? One Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, has been endorsed as the EPM consensus Governorship Candidate.
And so? “I mumbled” Is he a member of the APC? Is EPM a registered political party? Was the endorsement done by the legitimate Edo state APC-led executive of Barr. Aslem Ojezua? Where did the endorsement take place? Who attended the meeting? No logical answers were provided. Then, why the buzz? I fumed!
Minutes later, I got a notification on my phone. It was a WhatsApp message. Reached out to it. I unlocked and opened the message.
It was a ‘breaking news,’ from The Nation newspaper that read: “BREAKING: Ize-Iyamu emerges Edo APC consensus candidate.”
Consensus candidate? I soliloquies. Has the Governorship primaries taken place? How did The Nation newspaper arrive at the phrase: “APC consensus candidate?” Junk journalism, I screamed! Well, it is the most effective way to destroy, deny, and completely obliterate people of their own understanding of the process and ideal best practices.
But who owns The Nation newspaper? the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a man known for spreading hatred and division among the party faithful, once his insatiable appetite for political patronage cannot be satisfied. The newspaper must do the bidding of its owner. After all, he who pays the piper dictates its tune.
The Nation newspaper has turned itself to a gang of cruel media faggots and misfits. It has completely failed to understand that Journalism is a profession, not a trade.
The newspaper is fast becoming a filthy piss-ridden media outfit, shamelessly masturbating like a chimp in a zoo-cage.
The intelligence of its editorial is small. Their propagandizing power and prowess are enormous. Yes, it’s receptivity by the masses is at an all-time low.
The newspaper is not aware that a rumor is social cancer: it is difficult to contain and it rots the brains of the masses. However, the real danger is that so many people find rumors enjoyable; but loath the rumor monger.
And in such cases when a rumor is only partially made of truth, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where the information may have gone wrong. It is passed on and on until some brave soul questions its validity.
I admonish them that, going forward, should they want the masses to take them seriously, they have to start from scratch for the sake of purity and truth.
It is unfortunate that The Nation has sacrificed its professionalism on the alter of petty and irresponsible politics. In a saner clime, the reporter, editor would have been fired for misleading the entire nation, if not the world.
I hereby counsel The Nation who is becoming the megaphone of Pastor Ize-Iyamu to retrace it steps, purged itself from “bread and butter” journalism and apologise to the nation or be ready to lose readership .
Mercy O. Robinson
Senior Special Assistant on Social Media
Edo State Government.