Minister Hails Media For Covid-19 Fight, Seeks More Support

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
commended the Nigerian media for their support for the ongoing fight
against the Covid-19 pandemic

The Minister, who made the call on Tuesday at a virtual meeting with
the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), also
appealed for more media support for the Federal Government’s efforts
to tackle the pandemic, saying the Government needs the media now more
than ever.

”The government is very grateful to the media. You have done a lot to
bring our message (on the pandemic) to Nigerians,” he said, quoting a
poll as showing that 99% of Nigerians are aware of the pandemic while
95% said they have received information on how to protect themselves.

Alhaji Mohammed said that in the absence of any known drug or vaccine
against the virus, the only option is Non Pharmaceutical Intervention
(NPI) which includes social distancing, wearing of face mask, avoiding
mass gathering and ensuring personal hygiene.

He said NPI is hinged on getting the necessary information to members
of the public, and that this could only be done with the support of
the media.

“You see, the truth of the matter is that as long as there is no
vaccine or drug for Covid-19, the only way we can all survive is
through the Non Pharmaceutical Intervention, which is actually
anchored on advocacy and public sensitization and there is no way you
can do this without the media in whatever form, whether it is the
print, electronic or the New Media.

“Yes we are going to spend more on research and ventilators but we
will spend less money on ventilators, less on isolation centres if we
invest just a fraction of what we are spending on ventilators in the
media,” the Minister said.

He said even though the Federal Government is facing huge economic
challenges due to dwindling revenue, he would consider the requests by
the association to mitigate the effect of the pandemic on its members

In his remarks, the Chairman of NPAN, Chief Nduka Obaigbena, said the
media has continued to sensitize Nigerians on Covid-19 on all
platforms, even in the face of drastic reduction in revenue.

He called on the Minister to enact a policy that will ensure that some
online platforms pay for the original content they generate from the
various media outlets in Nigeria.

“In Australia, the Government has intervened in ensuring that
Facebook, Google and Twitter pay for original content by journalists
and media practitioners as a matter of policy,” he said, urging the
Minister to do the same for the Nigerian media

The requests by the NPAN for mitigating the effects of the pandemic
include a soft loan, tax relief and other fiscal incentives as well as an
increased patronage of the media by the government.