By Press Council.
An unidentified blogger has responded to the claims made by Press Council, in one of her publications tagged, MASS COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT, WHERE PATIENCE MOURNS.
Attacking the publication, the blogger, accused Press Council of inflating the amount charged by the departmental association.
“For clarification, the Association ID card has been named with a fix price of a thousand naira (N1000) no additional fee only the newly executives introduced card holder, File, and the ASCOM wear of Three thousand Naira (N3000) resulting the total amount of N5000 Naira and not six thousand Naira (N6000) as published by the press council.
However, according to the investigations carried out by Press Council, it was gathered that the students were being charged Six thousand naira (₦6,000.00) and not Five thousand naira (₦5,000.00), as claimed by the blogger.
“This is the break down of the total amount you are to pay; 1. ASCOM DUE – ₦1000; 2. ID CARD, HOLDER AND FOLDER – ₦2000; 3. ASCOM WEAR – ₦3000”
“NB YOU ARE TO PAY 1000 ASCOM DUE TO WEMA ACCOUNT
WHILE YOU COME WITH 5000 CASH TO DEPARTMENT”. – a broadcast message shared by the financial secretary of the department revealed.
The blogger also accused Press Council of attempting to bring down the image of Mr Olusoji Olatunji by accusing him of fund mismanagement. However, it is obvious that the blogger’s publication was emotionally generated.
Since the inception of the body, Press Council has never pitched itself against any lecturer or individual in the institution, rather the body frowns at any form of injustice against the students of the institution, which is in accordance with the constitution guiding the body.
“To look into and dispose of any petition from any aggrieved member of the community…”, constitution says”
According to Press Council, Mr Olatunji was never accused of “mismanaging funds, diversion of funds and improper records/accounts of money” as claimed by the blogger, rather the report was targeted at the accumulated fund not being accounted for.
“KOB said we should pay ₦1,000 for practical that we are going to do pen, jotter, power bank, and the likes, he didn’t conduct any test or CA for us, he just said that the ₦1000 would serve as our CA.”
“Up till now that we are in first semester HND 2 first semester, I haven’t set my eyes on what they used the money for even sef, they have started collecting this same kind of money too from the HND 1 students” a HND 2 student of the department told Press Council.
“Yes, we are told to pay money for the project. At first, we were told to pay ₦2,500, but I think they’ve brought it down to ₦1000, I’ve paid mine sef” a HND 1 student told Press Council.
Accusing Press Council of being “politically driven, politically biased and unfair in judgement”, the blogger stated an incident in 2020, that Press Council’s editors in conjunction with the Dean, Students’Affairs, of killing a story that called the management to buckle security on campus. These claims made by the blogger are false.
There are countless stories published by Press Council, calling the management to order on security issues. Also, there are several stories sent to Press Council that are not published, based on the fact that the senders of such stories are not always ready to assist Press Council in getting to know about the root of the matter. All they want is Press Council publishing whatsoever they send with Press Council not bothering about the authenticity of such stories.
Also, Press Council has always been known to be a non-political body, which is the reason none of her members must be involved in politics, as agreed by the blogger.
Finally, the unethical blogger, claimed the motto of Press Council to be “Justice and Equity”, however, this claim has furthermore, left many questioning the professionalism of the blogger, because since her inception, Press Council’s motto has always been known to be “Trust, Justice and Freedom”, and these words have been solely driven the affairs of the council over the years.
However, it is so disheartening that the lack of censorship and gatekeeping in the Conventional Journalism has granted anybody the access to explore the media world.
For facts and references on Press Council’s publication, it is advised that letters be sent to Press Council for a proper clarification.
