Nigeria: British Former Minister Scolds Local Press

BY IBRAHIM CHONOKO, 1 DECEMBER 2012


London — A former British Minister for Africa, Baroness Lynda Chalker has criticised the Nigerian press for focusing on negative issues rather than propagating the many positive things that abound in the country.

Speaking at a press conference at the end of the 13th meeting of the Honorary International Investment Council (HIIC) in London yesterday, Baroness Chalker said the Nigerian press "has let the country down". Chalker is the co-ordinator of HIIC.

"Nigerian media should focus on positive things which are there," she said, explaining that the international press usually picks up what the local media and Nigerians say about their country.

"Even people who have not been to Nigeria make negative comments about the country. If you ask them how the formed their opinion, they will tell you they picked it from the Nigerian media and Nigerians. The media should get their facts right and highlight positive issues about the country, she stressed.

She said a lot of progress was being made in Nigeria, which she said, "has real opportunities", but pointed out that a lot of the problems confronting the country were not being tackled yet.

Speaking in the same vein, Minister of Information Mr. Labaran Maku accused Nigerian media of "bandying" negative statements about the country and turning them into "declarations" without bothering to find out the facts.

"The Nigeria media is so negative about the country. They are not interested in believing the progress being made in the country. They are running the country down".

"You can't blame the international media, because they are re-echoing what the local press say about their country," he said, and urged the Nigerian media to be more cautious and objective.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201212020327.html

And the Brits are getting their asses licked by our current administration hence why they are saying this sort of crap.

And when they don't agree with the administration, guess what happens? Yea, I don't have to say lol everybody knows..

Ohh wait the program on BBC showing nonsense about Lagos is by Nigerian Journalists? CNN is ran by Nigerian journalists? hahahaha

Please people disregard any criticism or praise coming from either Europe or America about Nigeria. All na propaganda!

I'm sure the Nigerian Press would report good things about Nigeria.....










......If there were good things to report about Nigeria!

@0lumide I don't get it.

what's wrong with them wanting Nigerians to read or hear GOOD NEWS
about Nigeria/ns??

*Kails*:
@0lumide I don't get it.

what's wrong with them wanting Nigerians to read or hear GOOD NEWS
about Nigeria/ns??

Because it's condescending coming from a Brit. They themselves have nothing good to say about Nigeria in their media.

And it's rather inaccurate to say it's only negative news Nigerian journalists are carrying because we hear good news just that bad news full 9ja.

So are we suppose to be living in utopia because some Brit think it's better for us to have good news?

We are not America doing packaging for media. This is 9ja; no packaging, reality is things are bad No packaging!!

Hmmm... Not taking sides, however, she should start with the negativity in the British press(that's if they'll listen to her) and the dark continent pictorial narrative... She isn't even an MP anymore lol...

She's just being hypocritical and dishonest probably because of the hero-worship she's getting in Nigeria...

Is there even freedom of press in Nigeria? - and I doubt the negativity in the Nigerian press is on the scale as the foreign media... Heck, I check some of them out online sometimes and they copy most of their news from the foreign media...

0lumide: And the Brits are getting their asses licked by our current administration hence why they are saying this sort of crap.

And when they don't agree with the administration, guess what happens? Yea, I don't have to say lol everybody knows..

Ohh wait the program on BBC showing nonsense about Lagos is by Nigerian Journalists? CNN is ran by Nigerian journalists? hahahaha

Please people disregard any criticism or praise coming from either Europe or America about Nigeria. All na propaganda!

Yea.....CNN in Foreign Countries have Their Own Local Journalists In That Country......U won't See Amanpour Reportin Live From Nigeria....So?.....

0lumide: And the Brits are getting their asses licked by our current administration hence why they are saying this sort of crap.

And when they don't agree with the administration, guess what happens? Yea, I don't have to say lol everybody knows..

Ohh wait the program on BBC showing nonsense about Lagos is by Nigerian Journalists? CNN is ran by Nigerian journalists? hahahaha

Please people disregard any criticism or praise coming from either Europe or America about Nigeria. All na propaganda!

She's just trying to tell those who paid for her visit what they want to hear...

If she really cares about Nigeria, she would have chided the thieving politicians(who paid for her visit), not the press...

lmao, this lady is mocking Nigeria. Does the baroness not know that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit?

Oil and Blood - BBC
Lagos Airport - Channel 4
Welcome to Lagos - BBC
Dolls and Guys - BBC
Nigeria's millionaire preachers - Channel 4
Nigeria: Sex, lies and black magic - Channel 4
e.t.c the list is endless. Not to mention the news reported by british and American journalists living in Nigeria.

I remember being bombarded with questions by work colleagues and clients after some of the programmes were aired. I could not deny these negative stuffs don't happen in Nigeria.

shymexx:

She's just trying to tell those who paid for her visit what they want to hear...

If she really cares about Nigeria, she would have chided the thieving politicians(who paid for her visit), not the press...

He who pays the piper.....

Glad someone shares my views.

the british are known all over the world for being racist, lying backstabbers, im glad you guys can see through their fake concern.

Nigeria is where it is today because of the economic ra.pe perpetrated by britain its corporations and banks , which is still carrying on as we speak.

Labaran Maku must hav told her all those crap behind the scene & 2 help him change heart of †ђз 9ja press, by tryn 2 redeem †ђз govts rotten image.

What's bad cannot be called good. The. Bad stuffs outweigh †ђз good stuffs, dats y †ђз good stuffs are not obvious.

Y wuld a sane journalist wanna ridicule his/her country's image? Even if, can all nigerian journalists conive 2 ridicule †ђз country? If so, are all Nigerians blind? No!

Wot she said is a propaganda orchestrated by †ђз govt. She lives in †ђз U.K, WTF does she know about our corrupt govt?

We refuse 2 be fooled by Britico, dis ain't colonial era. Make she go chop snow. F*cking neocolonialists. Mtcwww

sambussie: Labaran Maku must hav told her all those crap behind the scene & 2 help him change heart of †ђз 9ja press, by tryn 2 redeem †ђз govts rotten image.

What's bad cannot be called good. The. Bad stuffs outweigh †ђз good stuffs, dats y †ђз good stuffs are not obvious.

Y wuld a sane journalist wanna ridicule his/her country's image? Even if, can all nigerian journalists conive 2 ridicule †ђз country? If so, are all Nigerians blind? No!

Wot she said is propaganda orchestrated by †ђз govt. She lives in †ђз U.K, WTF does she know about our corrupt govt?

We refuse 2 be fooled by Britico, dis ain't colonial era. Make she go chop snow. Fucking neocolonialists. Mtcwww

They've got a point though.

Sensationalism is more like washing your dirty linen in public.

We mostly become what we feed ourselves with.

Nairaland too is affected.

Chedarking: I'm sure the Nigerian Press would report good things about Nigeria.....










......If there were good things to report about Nigeria!

i think ME if not the ONLY good thing out of wenaijakon3

Why does it concern her?

Honestly, the press has been hijacked by opposition political parties.

The british guy is 100% right. Look at this for example
The Eko Atlantic Project is the largest human works project in the history of west africa
It's several times larger, more useful and more complex then the great wonders of the world today, Eiffle Tower, Empire State Building, Big Ben, etc.
It's also one of the most innovative projects in the world in dealing with global warming.


This mammoth feat of human achievement and human vision is seldom if ever covered by the Nigerian press. In a country that is building the largest project since the pyramids of egypt "Man turns into a goat after killing wife" is the headline news and this work (eko) which if it were in america, or any more reasonable country would be the talk of the century, is completely ignored.

The result is i can bet money that 80% of non lagosian Nigerians don't know there's a new city being built in their own country.
This is how they can say something as stupid as "If there were good news to be reported". Nigerians don't life in reality, they create a hellish alternate universe that they view everything from that this is why that can't say anything good about their country. If you start thinking Nigeria is bad because of what nigerians say, remember what nigerians say about

their neighbor
their friends
their family members
opposite tribes
their own tribes men
their children
their life
and then their country


always negative. ALWAYS.

I would have accepted this view if it was from a Nigerian but from a Brits is a no, no. Guess she was trying to suck up to Maku, what we all need to realise is that if things are positive in Nigeria, you cannot create a negative version of it
But if negative, you cannot make a positive of it.

She should rather counsel our leaders to live up to their responsibilities!

"You can't blame the international media, because they are re-echoing what the local press say about their country," he said, and urged the Nigerian media to be more cautious and objective.

Point of correction Lynda, they don't need to step on Nigerian soil, Nairaland is more than capable of revealing the excesses of Nigeria and Nigerians.
A nation where everyone blames everyone.

Tippy Top is correct. Everyone in Nigeria is just negative and hateful. Our media reflects it. Our politics reflects it. Every man woman and child is hated on by someone or is an active enemy of the progress attained by someone else.

If Fashola does something good, someone in Nigeria will be writing that he's satan
If Sanusi does something good, someone in nigeria will be writing that he's satan
if Nnaji does something good, someone in Nigeria will be writing that he's satan.



How is it that Okonjo Iweala how free nigeria of debt and started a government culture of savings that kept our economy from disappearing in the 2009 crisis is the second runner up for the world bank, and the ONLY place she is hated is Nigeria?

How is it that Fashola's Lagos wins innovative city of the year world wide, of the million of cities man kind has built, and the ONLY place he's hated is Nigeria?

How is it that Sanusi wins central bank governor of the year and the ONLY place he is hated is nigeria?

Jesus christ himself has enemies in Nigeria. I'm an optimist and a realist. I tell people that Nigeria has developed a lot since i left because when I was in nigeria only the state governor had a phone and schools were closed for years at a time, all things of the past now. Leave it up to negative nigerians to come in and start attacking me for telling the positives that i see. Nigerians are obsessed with evil and hatred. Even Rochas Okorocha that is giving people the free education they have been begging for has enemies in those very schools.

Chedarking: I'm sure the Nigerian Press would report good things about Nigeria.....










......If there were good things to report about Nigeria!

lolzzz,tru talk whats good to talk abt dis country wit a jeopardized economy

Someone who is using a personal computer is talking about a jeopordized economy. I left Nigeria in 1995. Nobody had a computer. Nobody had a phone. You're talking about bad signal today, when I was living in Nigeria there was no such a thing a signal unless you worked for the government. If you wanted a message relayed you would send someone on an errand like in the stone age.

I remember kids trying to fight me and my siblings because we had socks. Everyone was skinning and weak, people could legitimately die of hungry. In todays nigeria that's not possible. Everything that's in the west is in Nigeria, except in an inferior quality but once upon a time non of those things were anywhere close to Nigeria.

If i say any of these things Nigerians, being so negative and hateful will get on their laptop, or their blackberry and start attacking me, telling me they're poor and suffering. Nigerians are just negative. Only whites can see the progress and growth potential and that's why they're buying up the country and making money.

bad news sells ,every media house knows this

Ikengawo: Someone who is using a personal computer is talking about a jeopordized economy. I left Nigeria in 1995. Nobody had a computer. Nobody had a phone. You're talking about bad signal today, when I was living in Nigeria there was no such a thing a signal unless you worked for the government. If you wanted a message relayed you would send someone on an errand like in the stone age.

I remember kids trying to fight me and my siblings because we had socks. Everyone was skinning and weak, people could legitimately die of hungry. In todays nigeria that's not possible. Everything that's in the west is in Nigeria, except in an inferior quality but once upon a time non of those things were anywhere close to Nigeria.

If i say any of these things Nigerians, being so negative and hateful will get on their laptop, or their blackberry and start attacking me, telling me they're poor and suffering. Nigerians are just negative. Only whites can see the progress and growth potential and that's why they're buying up the country and making money.

Oga I think you should check your calender and revise some your sweeping statements. Except..

Nigerians are nt happy with d situation of things, things fall apart.

This lady is the pocket of Naija govt and some African govts. She's an image launderer for the most corrupt regime in Naija.

0lumide:

Because it's condescending coming from a Brit. They themselves have nothing good to say about Nigeria in their media.

And it's rather inaccurate to say it's only negative news Nigerian journalists are carrying because we hear good news just that bad news full 9ja.

So are we suppose to be living in utopia because some Brit think it's better for us to have good news?

We are not America doing packaging for media. This is 9ja; no packaging, reality is things are bad No packaging!!

Oh ok.

The Nigerian press is just honest, it's d foreign ones that are negative.

If you call your country a goat... Others will call it a goat too. Negativity brings about negativity.

If you don't take care of your country's image, who will?
The comments on this thread have proved what Baroness Lynda Chalker said. Most people do not believe anything good is happening in Nigeria.
Take a good look at the newspaper headlines, or NL frontpage, its all negative!! Does this mean than NOTHING good happens in our lives everyday?
I once asked the SR chap why all his reports are never positive, and he said that's what NTA and other govt media are for, to publish lies and propaganda. That was the day I stopped believing anything published by SR.
'the grass is always greener over the fence'

It is very true. I think Nigerians in Nigeria are too bitter and negative about their country. Everyone knows that life is tough in Africa as a whole but Nigerians have a way of making their situations look worse. There are a lot of great things going on in Nigeria that is not focused on. Their are young Nigerians going back to Nigeria and investing and getting involve economically in Nigeria. But when I visit the media outlets, including Nairaland, most comments and reports involves negative remarks and attacking anything that looks like progress.

I am also saddened when I see young folks making ethnocentric remarks against each other and attacking personality. I thought that the younger generation in Nigeria would have been more enlightened and tolerant. I hope comments on nairaland does not reflect the mindset of the nation.

You can not be writing negative things about your country and as well dress in your traditional wears in foreign countries and claim to love Nigeria at the same time.

Furthermore, Nairaland should be a medium to engage in reasonable dialogue and exchange of thoughts and ideas not exchanging vulgar and bitterness. Diversity of thought is normal but character assassination is absolutely uncivil. The world is watching and the internet has made the world a global village.
If there is something that gets you mad, then you should not feel powerless. Instead of always complaining, you can challenge the status quo and also make the difference.

Just my thought.

The Baroness is 100% correct. And why's everyone suprised? You only have to go through Nairaland itself to see that most Nigerians are pessimists who view EVERY news about their own country (whether good or bad) negatively. We need to change our general mind sets if this nation's going to move forward.