As some may have followed, there was a statement issued earlier today, by our very respected colleagues in the correspondents chapel, who represent all national and international media houses in Borno.
I will call what happened “a family matter” (to borrow a phrase from our political leaders.
It was a misunderstanding that was bound to happen whenever people coexist without pretending. Oftentimes, those who coexist and never disagree tend to live in deceit.
It is absolutely normal to disagree. The important thing is learning from our experiences.
Fact is that both the correspondents, and my colleague, Hon. Babashiekh Haruna are critical stakeholders doing same thing from opposite direction.
The correspondents report issues including covering the governor’s activities and asking questions. They do so freely at the government house in Maiduguri and wherever the governor happens to be. I must add that the correspondents have been incredibly supportive of Governor Babagana Umara Zulum’s great efforts in Borno.
On the other hand, my colleague, Hon. Babasheikh, the senior special assistant on media, who is next to me in heading the governor’s personal aides (on media), has been extremely hard working in his handling of media affairs to support our boss, governor Babagana Umara Zulum.
As I once testified during a remark at a major gathering which had in attendance, the governor, the deputy governor and diverse leaders to launch a media compendium on the governor’s first year, Babasheikh is so far, one of the most dedicated media aides I have come across. He is normally the first to be at the office and last to leave, all in support of the governor. He is so committed that even while Zulum is out of town, Babasheikh will be at office supervising TV productions on the governor’s activities.
Both Babasheikh and the correspondents do the same thing with the same commitment both from different directions.
As media aides, our relationship with journalists-colleagues is that of interdependence. We need the journalists to continually report the governor’s activities positively while the journalists need us to increase their access to information subsidy in order to generate news. These subsidies are in the form of news events, mostly from the activities of government.
The relationship between media aides and journalists, is to use the words of some academics, an equal “dance in tango”, “a convergence of mutual dependence”.
We all need each other. No group is superior to the other. Media aides need journalists and so do journalists- they need media aides to make their jobs easy.
As much as possible, we should tolerate and respect ourselves, after all, life itself, as we have often seen, can be very short.
Gusau is Special Adviser on Public Relations and Strategy (Spokesman to Governor Babagana Umara Zulum).
