‘You practice irresponsible journalism’, Abike Dabiri slams Rufai Oseni
The chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa has taken a swipe at the co-host of Arise Television’s The Morning Show, Rufai Oseni, describing his style of journalism as irresponsible.
Dabiri-Erewa while speaking on Saturday in Lagos during a panel session at the Kikelomo Atanda-Owo Abati 20th anniversary in the media industry lamented what she described as declining standards and values in journalism, noting that journalists must be held accountable for their conduct.
“In terms of journalism, there’s no talk about irresponsible journalism. Yes, I’m on Twitter [X]. I hear a lot of things,” Dabiri said.
She recounted an incident involving a social media user who, according to her, operates under the name “Voice of Igbos”.
Dabiri said she investigated the X account and discovered the identity of the operator of the handle as one Stephanie.
According to her, the woman had repeatedly attacked her on social media, prompting her to respond to a comment on one of the posts.
Dabiri said the exchange later became controversial after 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.”
