Chairman of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Dr. Frederick Fasehun, has congratulated the newly-appointed media aides to President Muhammadu Buhari, urging them to take the sustenance of Press freedom and the enforcement of the Freedom of Information Act as key aspects of their assignments.
Fasehun gave the counsel in a congratulatory message he posted to President Buhari’s two recently appointed spokesmen, Mr. Femi Adesina (Special Adviser, Media and Publicity) and Mallam Garba Shehu (Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity).
According to him, the fact that they constituted the first major appointments by the President demonstrated the key role the Press played in the nation’s democracy.
He wished them well and prayed for their success. Fasehun said the appointment of Adesina and Shehu was
merit-based and commendable. Attesting to the professional competence of the two senior journalists, Fasehun said Adesina and Shehu had over the years demonstrated deep insight into the nation’s problems through their writings and columns. “Garba and Femi are some of the best in their craft, belonging to the crème de la crème of Nigerian journalism.
They have always demonstrated depth in their analysis and opinions on national issues and in the solutions they have often proffered,” he said.
According to Fasehun, Adesina as Managing Director and a leading columnist with The Sun newspapers brought to his trade a quality that was hardly equalled and marked him out as one of the nation’s leading writers.
The UPN Chairman said that as former President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and a columnist on several online media, Garba Shehu would be bringing maturity and courage into the assignment.
Expressing confidence that both men would discharge their duties with the integrity and intelligence that had always characterised their journalism, Fasehun said they must remember that although their primary loyalty would be to the President, the nation looked up to them to offer him nationalistic counsel.
“The role of the Press has always been feedback, so the two gentlemen must be ready to reflect to the President the feelings and nuances moving the nation at every point in time,” he said.
“So other than being mere appendages to the President as his image-makers and spokesmen, they must also be his ears, his conscience and his critics.” Furthermore, the UPN Chairman said the appointments, one from the north, the other from the south, created a balance which hopefully would be reflected in future policies, programmes and appointments undertaken by the new administration.
