…Former Lawmaker Says Media Must Return to Role of Defending Democracy, Good Governance
A veteran journalist and former lawmaker, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, has called on younger journalists to tap into the wealth of experience of older practitioners to preserve the integrity and purpose of the profession.
Ojudu, a former Managing Editor of the defunct News Magazine and Tempo, said regular interface between veterans and younger journalists was critical to transmitting the values, discipline, and public service ethos that defined journalism in earlier decades.
He spoke on Sunday in Ado-Ekiti during a courtesy visit by members of the League of Veteran Journalists, LVJ, Ekiti State Chapter, led by its Chairman, Prince Kayode Oni. The delegation was in his residence to brief him on the League’s forthcoming “Patrons and Matrons Day” scheduled for September 2026, an event he is expected to chair.
The former Special Adviser on Political Matters to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari commended the leadership of LVJ for sustaining the association, describing its members as professionals who committed their entire lives to journalism.
“Each time one looks back at your contributions, one cannot but say that the time you were in practice was a golden time for this country,” Ojudu said.
“Many served shortly after independence, many served through the period of military regimes and coups and counter-coups. So you have seen quite a lot. As it is now, we still need your knowledge and experience to shape the practice of today so that the younger ones can learn from us.
“They can learn that journalism is not about money. Rather, journalism is about charting a path of development for one’s country.”
Ojudu urged universities and other tertiary institutions in Ekiti State to regularly invite veteran journalists to mentor students of Mass Communication and Journalism.
“If they are invited from time to time to talk to the younger ones who are being trained, they will know that people went through tough times, went through hardship to build the profession and get Nigeria to where we are today,” he added.
He promised to attend the LVJ event and said it would provide an opportunity to make “enriching contributions from different perspectives of journalism.”
Comparing the media landscape of his active years to the present, the former Senator who represented *Ekiti Central Senatorial District from 2011 to 2015* lamented what he described as a decline in professional standards and purpose.
“We spent most of our active years under the military trying to fight for democracy, for good governance, trying to uphold the rights of the people and campaign for an economy that serves the majority,” he said.
“These days, the kind of journalism we have is self-serving journalism where everyone wants to make money, they want to buy cars, they want to build homes. They are not well-prepared.”
Ojudu also expressed concern over the declining command of language among contemporary journalists, describing it as one of the vital tools of the profession.
“It is incumbent on us, while we are still here, to assist in really putting these younger ones through,” he said.
The veteran journalist warned that a weak press directly undermines democracy.
“Without a free press, without a robust press, you cannot have a robust democracy. It is the press that assists democracy in growing, and that is where the country is lacking today, which has left our democracy in a comatose state,” he stated.
“We have to question every turn, we have to investigate, we have to expose, we have to entertain and all of that.”
He decried the current state of newspapers, saying: “These days when you pick up the newspaper you cannot find anything in-depth, you cannot find good analyses, you cannot find good investigation. It is a shame.”
Earlier, the Chairman of LVJ Ekiti Chapter, Prince Kayode Oni, said the “Patrons and Matrons Day” was conceived to honor individuals who have contributed to the growth of journalism and to provide a platform for intergenerational knowledge transfer.
Ojudu was formally invited to serve as Chairman of the event.
