By Sunny Anderson Osiebe
REMARKS BY HIS
EXCELLENCY, DR. ABUBAKAR BUKOLA SARAKI, CON, PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, TO
THE SENATE PRESS CORPS ON THE OCCASION OF THE 'WORLD PRESS FREEDOM’ DAY
2017 ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2017
PROTOCOLS.
1. Good afternoon, Gentlemen of the Press.
2. Although we usually interact in various capacities during the course of our respective duties, today, it gives
me great pleasure to be here again with all of you at the refurbished Senate Press Centre.
3.
As we all know, today is World Press Freedom Day, a day that gives all
of us — both members and non-members
of the press — an opportunity to reflect and reaffirm our commitment to
upholding the rights of the media. This is because, time and time
again, as demonstrated throughout history, the power of the pen has been
proven to be more potent than the power of the
sword.
4.
The stories that you tell; the articles that you write; the videos that
you edit and release on your various
platforms; have the power to shape public perception. The media has
helped to enthrone leaders and topple them. The media, especially here
in Nigeria, has played a crucial role as a watchdog at various points of
our momentous history.
5.
However, as it is often said: “With great power, comes great
responsibility.” What I mean by this is that
just as the executive has a responsibility to enforce our laws; the
judiciary a responsibility to interpret these laws; and we in the
legislature, have a responsibility to enact these laws; you in the
media, especially those of you here in the Senate Press
Corp, have a responsibility to tell our stories in an independent,
impartial, accountable, and truthful way.
6. The media must evolve beyond carrying ordinary propaganda and sensational news to sell newspapers and increase
viewership — to pushing out truthful, verifiable, and pertinent information to the public.
7.
All of you here have the power to shape all that happens here. By
pushing relevant issues — not stories of
who is insulting who; or what ‘Senator A’ said about ‘Senator B’ — you
have the opportunity to define the discourse in the public arena, and by
so doing, positively define our agenda.
8.
The theme of this year’s commemoration of World Press Freedom Day,
which is “The Media’s Role in advancing
a peaceful, just and inclusive society”, also emphasizes the fact that
your stories play a major role in charting the course of our national
development. Hence, today, I would like to encourage you all to strive
to always attain a certain level of substance
in your reporting of our issues.
9.
I urge you all to look beyond the propaganda that is being sponsored to
put down the Senate and judge us based
on facts and figures about our genuine performance. These facts and
figures are readily available, therefore, judge us by our actions. You
participate indirectly in our daily plenary, committee and oversight
sessions. You are a constant feature around here.
So, please, let the public know and understand that this Senate is
working for them, and it is people-centered.
10.
This is why we continue to pass Motion after Motion to call attention
to critical national issues. We have
passed critical laws that will make positive impact on the standard of
living and rate of development in our country. We have investigated key
issues that have helped to expose corruption in high government offices.
We have equally treated petitions from people
who feel oppressed but believe the Senate could help them seek redress
and get justice instead of resorting to prolonged litigations. In less
than two years, this Senate has already cleared 76 petitions. Whereas,
the 6th Senate cleared only six public petitions
in four years; and the 7th Senate did 87 petitions in four years.
11. In the Media, we play up the angle of an executive and legislative friction or face-off. Despite this, if
you look at the numbers, out of 196 nominees that have been sent, 185 have been cleared. Only 11 have not.
12.
Additionally, not many people know that the National Assembly’s
Economic Priority Bills are gradually but
surely making their way through the Senate. Last month, the report of
the long-elusive PIB was submitted on the floor of the Senate — the
farthest stage it has been in 17 years. While taken all together, all 13
of our economic reform Bills are poised to reduce
poverty in the country by double digits and create upwards of 7 million
jobs. These are major milestones that would make the public proud of
their representatives. Nigerians want to hear what this institution is
doing for them in these times of economic uncertainty.
This is where you all come in.
13.
In a similar vein, the Senate has been working to create more avenu4es
of funding for social development
issues in our communities. To this end, since we took office, we have
worked to pass critical legislation that will help to free up a
significant portion of the hundreds of billions of Naira that go into
funding infrastructure so that these funds could be
channelled into funding more Healthcare, Education, Poverty Alleviation
and Security projects in communities across the country. These Bills
include the Federal Roads Authority Bill; the National Roads Funds Bill;
the National Transport Commission Bill; and
the Nigerian Ports and Harbors Bill that we passed just last week.
15. Hence, on this note, I congratulate you all for all the great work that you have been doing, and enjoin you
to take one message out of today: “Push for Substance.”
16. Thank you for your time.
17. God Bless You. God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, CON.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
