{EDITORIAL} The Social Media: Sound The Drum, Not The Knell!

 

The New Media and its overwhelming preponderance cannot be overemphasized, in terms of widespread reach and importance. The internet, via its various websites and other forms of social media networks are a welcome development. Today, it is no longer an impossibility; talk less difficulty to send messages from a remotest end of an underdeveloped clime and get audience globally almost immediately, even when the ideas and concepts transmitted constitute arrant nonsense of the deepest dye.

The costliest question, which doubles as priceless for this era is: in the face of democracy and its numerous auspicious ideals, is not expedient and worth the while to get the use and operations of the social media regulated, especially as their abuse is becoming more and more rampant in Nigeria?

The saddening dimension to the issue in hand is the reality of abuse of this far-reaching media option and its deployment by some segment of the high and mighty in a most malignant and denigrating manner: in a destructive mission of ‘killing’ their victim and assassinating his character, with almost total impunity. Check any modern media modality today, you would probably find it awash with instances suggesting this!

Morally, it is questionable whether those personalities in high office, who are supposed to; and from whose duty demands high degree decorum and exemplary conduct should throw decency into thin winds and make tantrums and vituperations the order of the day via the social media. Legally and legitimately, appropriate sections of our laws should be made actively instrumental to hold in check, excesses of wrong and foul users of the social media, so that its all-comers’ nature and operation will not, in a no-distant time, turn us into a completely lawless bunch.

There is also the need to sound this note of caution on all media users alike: that we all owe it a responsibility to guide and guard our use of the media, put it in watch so as not to misuse or abuse the privilege. When appropriate laws become real and extant, lawbreakers will be held answerable. It is better to take caution than to be held answerable.

The social media are too far-reaching, speedy and multi-dimensionally beneficial to be abused. Democracy does not imply throwing caution to the winds: you enjoy your rights, relatively to others’, within the ambits of the law.

 

Reassessing Progressive Politics

This newspaper which
always puts the people first
will be using the birthday of the Federal Minister for Internal Affairs to make a fundamental reassessment of the progressive tendency in Nigeria’s politics.

The current crisis caused by the Coronavirus pandemic means that there will be a fundamental reconstruction of political economy and we believe that this reboot must be in the direction of Social Democracy of which Aregbesola has been a shining symbol.

In this interregnum the old order is yielding way. Paradoxically, conservative governments worldwide are using Keynesian tools of demand management which was heretical only a few months ago. As Nigeria retools its fiscal framework, we believe that this is the time to reinvigorate the philosophical base of progressive ideas as the working tool for a post – covic economy. This is why we are using Ogbeni Aregbesola’s birthday in our next issue as a launching pad for the reinvigoration of the progressive tendency in our national life. We urge our teaming readers to keep a date with us and those who wish to contribute to the forthcoming collector’s item are encouraged to do so.