The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has called on the media to stop mocking the federal government over its declaration of war against corruption in Nigeria.
Mohammed, stated this on Monday at the ongoing 68th General Assembly of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) in Abuja.
According to him, rather than mocking the federal government, the media should join hands with it in its determination to stamp out corruption in the country.
The Minister said: “Without mincing words, let me use this platform to appeal directly to the media in general to join this Administration in facing down the problem of corruption.
“As we have said times without number, this fight must not be seen as Buhari’s fight. It must not be seen as the Federal Government’s fight. It is our fight. If we fail to win by defeating corruption, it will simply kill us as a nation.
“This appeal to the media to join us in the fight against corruption is borne out of the fact that the Fourth Estate of the Realm cannot afford to sit on the fence, as far as this fight is concerned.
“We are not saying the media should not criticize us over our strategy for the fight, but they should stop mocking us. In recent imes, it is not unusual to read such headlines as ”Buhari’s Government Losing Anti-Corruption War”, ”Buhari’s Anti-Corruption War is Failing”, ”Arewa Youths Knock President Buhari Over Failing Anti-corruption War”. This is sheer mockery, not reporting! And this war is not Buhari’s war. It is our war.”
