Temitope Mustapha, Abuja
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has charged Nigerian editors to use the power of the media to promote national unity, uphold integrity, and project a positive image of the country to the world.
The President made the call while declaring open the 21st Annual Conference of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (ANEC 2025) at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.
President Tinubu, who made history by being the first Nigeria President to declare any Nigeria Guild of Editors’ (NGE) conference opened, emphasised that the image the media projects plays a vital role in shaping how the world perceives Nigeria and how citizens perceive themselves.
President Tinubu acknowledged that while Nigeria faces specific challenges, his administration remains determined to overcome them through sustained reforms and renewed public trust.
“It is our country. We are going to be discussing the value charter from here. What should be worrisome to you is the image of the country we project to the outside world, and how well your institution is making an effort to build a nation of credibility with integrity that is required.
President Tinubu disclosed that he had listened to the concerns of the Guild regarding tax reforms and media sustainability.
He stressed that he has noted the NGE requests on the review of corporate tax policies, value-added tax extensions, and other fiscal measures to support media digitization and press freedom.
Cooperation
The President also underscored the need for cooperation among all sectors to achieve national progress, adding that economic reforms and institutional improvement alone cannot give Nigeria the nation-building required.
“On economy, still we know there is more work to do, and we remain focused on ensuring that growth translates into real improvement in the daily lives of all Nigerians.
“However, economic reforms and institutional improvement alone cannot give Nigeria the nation building required. Nation building requires cooperation. It requires truth. It requires a shared understanding that our future is tied together. Government has its role to play. The private sector has its role to play. Civil society has its role to play, and the media has a distinct responsibility to help shape a climate of reason and unity.”
Tinubu said that he had listened to the concerns of the Guild regarding tax reforms and media sustainability, adding that his administration would review corporate tax policies, value-added tax extensions, and other fiscal measures to support media digitisation and press freedom.
“I ask of you, therefore, to continue to exercise that responsibility with seriousness and honor. Let us choose clarity over conclusion, responsibility over recklessness, and hope over despair. Let us remember that the stories we tell ourselves as a nation and as a people influence the country we become,” President Tinubu added.
He called on editors to lead by example in setting professional standards and ethical tone in their newsrooms, urging them to “choose clarity over confusion, responsibility over recklessness, and hope over despair.”
Concluding his remarks, President Tinubu wished the editors a “constructive, thoughtful, and fruitful deliberation,” reaffirming his administration’s commitment to working with the media to strengthen democracy and national cohesion.
Accountability
While delivering his keynote address, Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, at the 21st NGE meeting, urged editors and media proprietors to accept full accountability for the narratives their coverage shapes.
He tasked the editors on national cohesion and the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
He warned that editorial choices, not only ballots, will determine public trust in Nigeria’s democracy.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Democratic Governance and National Cohesion: The Role of Editors’ and sub-theme ‘Electoral Integrity and Trust Deficit: What Nigerians Expect in 2027’, Governor Uzodinma set a parallel topic: ‘2027: Editors as Catalyst of Democracy, National Cohesion and Electoral Integrity.’
Uzodinma told the media gatekeepers that the pen power carries moral duties that cannot be outsourced to election umpires or security agencies.
“On closer scrutiny (of your invitation to me as keynote speaker and the theme), I came to the informed suspicion that you were cleverly playing with words to downplay your public accountability to electoral integrity and trust deficit.
“But I have news for you. I will not let you escape accountability for electoral integrity, trust deficit, and what Nigerians expect in 2027.
“If you have a role to play in ‘Democratic Governance and National Cohesion,’ then you also have a role to play in ‘Electoral Integrity and Trust Deficit.’
“Your reports and comments paint a picture of tomorrow. Therefore, the picture you paint of 2027 is what Nigerians should expect,” he stated.
The Governor further cited the celebrated English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who, in his 1839 play Cardinal Richelieu, wrote, ‘the pen is mightier than the sword,’ .
The former lawmaker said, “I know that, as editors, you will be quick to remind me that, as powerful as your pen may be, you are professionally restrained. But objectivity is both an epistemic and an ethical principle.
“I am not asking you to abandon objectivity. I am asking you to practice it at its highest level: accuracy over speed, verification over virality, and context over clickbait,” he urged.
He compared the editor’s role to a pastoral duty that decides what is urgent and what disappears, warning that framing, not only facts, drives perceptions of policy and elections.
The governor cited the 2023 polls, saying parts of the media prematurely called outcomes and undermined confidence in the process.
“What editors actually do is akin to a pastoral duty. You decide what becomes urgent and what disappears.
“When we look at the performance of the media in the 2023 elections, we find that it was actually below expectations.
“Unlike other professionals, editors can not claim to be merely executing mandates. They are actively responsible for how the citizens rate the electoral process.
“A civil servant implements policy. A police officer enforces the law. But you actively choose the lens. The question is whether you are wielding it with the weight it deserves,” he argued.
Deepen Unity
Speaking on trust, he described a “corrosive” deficit in Nigeria’s information ecosystem and warned that both government and the media are implicated in deepening polarisation when coverage amplifies division.
He explained: “There is a trust deficit in Nigeria’s information ecosystem, and it is corrosive.
“These are real pressures, and I don’t dismiss them. But constraints are not excuses. Every profession operates under pressure.
“The bitter truth is that editors have largely escaped that examination. Electoral integrity does not begin and end with ballot security or INEC transparency. It includes public confidence in the process. Public confidence lives or dies in the narratives you control,” Governor Uzodinma added.
With about 17 months to the 2027 presidential poll, he tasked the Editors to avoid sensationalism and to make national interest their editorial north star, resisting the commercial incentive to inflame divisions.
He insisted that electoral integrity begins with editorial integrity, cautioning that misinformation, rumour, and tribal framing compromise the vote, long before election day, challenging editors to self-audit their motives.
Uzodinma added that the President’s presence at the conference reinforced communication channels, from the National Orientation Agency to weekly ministerial briefings, and signals a deliberate fight against disinformation.
He urged editors to act as catalysts, not spectators, and to defend information integrity without becoming propagandists.
“Your Excellency, distinguished editors, ladies, and gentlemen. His presence at this conference is a huge statement of priority.
“You are not spectators in 2027. You are active participants. I am not asking you to become a propagandist for the state. I am rather asking you to become custodians of information integrity, which sits well with electoral integrity.
“The media is still the fourth estate! Now you see, ancient or modern, you are the last man standing. Therefore, as the saying goes, ‘the gold fish has no hiding place,’ Uzodinma stated.
The two-day event, which will continue at the NAF Conference Centre, Abuja, will feature panel conversations on law, politics, the economy and the media’s watchdog role.
According to the programme those to be honoured as Fellows include, Arinze Azuh, Casmir Igbokwe, Ephraims Tokan Sheyin, Dr. Amanze Obi, Dr. Sulaiman Sule and Ken Njoku.
New members/inductees listed in the brochure include the Director General of Voice of Nigeria, Jibrin Ndace (Voice of Nigeria, Abioye Oyetunji (Editor, PUNCH), Samson Folarin (Weekend Editor, PUNCH), Onyegule Lilian (Imo Broadcasting Corp.), ), Chinemma Umeseaka (Universal Television Africa), and Constance Ikokwu (Arise News).
Others are Anthony Nwizi (Ebonyi Broadcasting Corporation), Jenkins Alumona (nbgafrica.ng), Okah-Jonah Ibifuro (Bayelsa Broadcasting Corporation), Sunday Areh (The Southerner), Fagbiule Temitayo Francis (BusinessDay), Umoetuk Peter (Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation), Bamidele Johnson (nbgafrica.ng), Omale Akor (Silverbird TV), Simon Igwe-Iroh (Ebonyi Broadcasting Corporation), Nwaebuni Eziafa (The Point, Asaba) and Chioma Ugboma (NAN).