LIKE ARISE TV, LIKE THISDAY NEWSPAPER: ET TU BRUTE?

The south ward movement of the media is becoming very worrisome; it is so shameful that opinion takes the front page of a supposedly reputable newspaper of THISDAY’s standing. An accident occurred, and a newspaper that ought to report the incident, in truth and without bias, decidedly reported the incident from the political angle of Crusoe Osagie, the hybrid spokesman of the failed government of Edo State. Hear Thisday: “COUNTDOWN TO EDO 2024: APC CAMPAIGN BLIGHTED, AS CONVOY CRUSHES 5 TO DEATH.” This headline could only have sprouted from the ashes of Thisday’s partisan posture, to say the least; it is deceitful, misrepresentative, wrong-headed, spitefully contrived and utterly untrue. Thisday’s reportage is not only a crippling travesty of what occurred, but also an intentional rehash of Crusoe Osagie’s reportage of an incident he was not an eyewitness to. That this Machiavellian conclusion passed the editorial test of Thisday, points to how low the newspaper has sunk.

First, the APC Convoy did not crush 5 to death as reported by Thisday. A reckless and seemingly drunken driver rammed into one of the vehicles in our convoy, shortly after that driver overtook one other vehicle. He obviously lost control, and left to fate, crashed into our vehicle. It was a fatal one, sadly. At the scene of the incident, some officers of the Road Safety who came from nearby, confirmed to us that the driver of that car was reckless. They reported that they had tried unsuccessfully, to slowdown the vehicle as it was over-speeding, before it crashed. On inspection, they concluded that the passengers in that vehicle must have been under the influence of alcohol; bottles of alcoholic drinks were seen inside the vehicle. It was the victims vehicle that rammed into one of our vehicles; it was not a head-on collusion. The driver was reckless and over speeding, according to the men of the Road Safety Corps. That said, even though the victims were the cause of the accident, our candidate insisted that we took them to the hospital in company of the Road Safety Officers. That was what we did, before we left the hospital for Benin.

In trying to play politics with the lives of accident victims, Crusoe Osagie, the Spokesman of Governor Obaseki, totally bereft of humanity, sat down, concocted a self serving story, and sent it to many media houses, including Thisday. Regrettably, Thisday of all newspapers, put his jaundiced opinion on their front page, and even went further to slant it with their own opinion. For the first time in my life, I saw once thought humans scouring for treasures in human blood! I dare say barbaric! Accidents are so-called because of their very nature- unfortunate, unpremeditated, unexpected. It could have been anybody. To conclude that an accident has “blighted” our campaign is the height of journalistic partisanship; and they were shamed by day’s end. Like ARISE TV, like THISDAY, these two surly platforms of same leprous hand, have unremittingly been biased in their stories, poised to promote the aspiration of their friend, Asue Ighodalo. What is worrisome is how they perfunctorily shun the age-old ethics of journalism, as the impartial chronicler of society’s happenings. Their style is most reprehensible and unconscionable. We condemn in its entirety this odious report, poised to confuse, misinform and mislead the public for selfish motives. And we demand an apology.

We saw that Asue Ighodalo quickly rushed to one of the victims house to condole with the family, in a bid to score cheap political points. We stand far away from such politicisation of peoples lives, and gruesome treasure hunt. We wholeheartedly and deeply condole with the families of the departed, and make haste to say that we will never play politics with the lives of Edo people or anyone else- we truly sympathize with their families. While some other politicians like Asue Ighodalo may in desperation, find it profitable now, to even visit the toilet, to sympathise with someone trying to defecate, that is not our style. The good people of Edo can rely on the APC to deliver on our campaign promises, as we recognize that we are all one. And the emotional intelligence and empathy of our candidate are credentials that stand him out in this election.

PRINCE KASSIM AFEGBUA

DIRECTOR OF MEDIA

EDO APC CAMPAIGN COUNCIL