Mrs Kikelomo Atanda-Owo Abati (the wife of Dr Reuben Abati) celebrated her 20th anniversary in the media industry, but the event has been overshadowed by a clash between Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa and Mr Rufai Oseni.
Mrs Dabiri-Erewa was on stage and talking about responsible journalism when she recounted an issue that developed on Twitter.
“In terms of journalism, there’s no talk about irresponsible journalism. Yes, I’m on Twitter . I hear a lot of things,” Dabiri said.
She said that someone with the Twitter handle Voice of Igbos had a habit of insulting her. She investigated the handle and discovered that it was run by a person named Stephanie who lived in Surulere.
She said that the person attacked her and another person replied and she (Abike Dabiri-Erewa) replied with a smiley emoji.
She said that Rufai Oseni interpreted her response as an endorsement of an offensive reference to the Igbo ethnic group. “Somebody replies to her. Then I do a smiley. And then Rufai Oseni comes and says, Abike Dabiri calls everybody — Igbos — monkeys and gorillas,” she said.
“So that is irresponsible. And then it went viral. Even though I didn’t say Igbos.”
Dabiri said journalists must exercise greater restraint and responsibility, particularly when interpreting or amplifying statements made online.
“We have to ensure that you hold people responsible, but you must be responsible yourself. So we will not accept irresponsible journalism. For you to hold any government official responsible, you must be responsible,” she said.
“And let me tell you, some journalism is going to the dogs. There’s no journalism anymore. There are no standards. There are no values.
“The journalists that we were trained [by] are going to the dogs. There must be values. There must be standards. And not everybody is a journalist, please. That profession is destroyed.”
Rufai Oseni, who was in the audience, said something while Mrs Dabiri-Erewa was speaking but it was not audible because he had no microphone. Mrs Dabiri-Erewa then stood up and raised her voice.
