Admin I Friday, Sept. 01, 2023
LAGOS, Nigeria – Director Research and Programme Development at the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP), Dr. Godwin Morka has called on corporate organisations, government and agencies to treat journalists as critical stakeholders and not as people worthy of brown envelopes.
Dr. Morka who was speaking at the presentation of “We Are Priceless”, a book authored by Jiliana Francis said what he detests in corporate practice is the use of the term ‘brown envelope’ and ‘press men’.
According to him, journalists must be accorded same respect and status accorded critical stakeholders in organisations with all the perks and not as individuals to be brought together when needed, used and handed brown envelopes for needed result.
He explained that as Head of NAPTIP, Southwest, some decades ago, he took journalists as “Media Partners”, and accorded them the respect and perks accorded other critical stakeholders.
He said that though many people saw this as spending too much money on Public Relations, PR, the development yielded the desired impact as he never had course to tell journalists what to write and what not to write since they were critical stakeholders and partners and that the development gave NAPTIP the needed result and global recognition.
He said journalists attached to the agency were properly trained like other stakeholders and that they covered NAPTIP events as professionals without asking for anything.
He also frowned at the situation where journalists are made to sit in the hall, while those organising events sit on high table, when the journalists are actually the people that should be up there adding that he sat with journalists addressing issues with them as head of the agency in the region.
He recommended Juliana Francis’ book as one of the things needed in the fight against trafficking and urged her to continue to write.
Former Inspector General of Police and Chairman Police Service Commission, Dr. Solomon Arase, media aide to former President of Nigeria, Femi Adesina and celebrated newscaster, Bimbo Oloyede were among those who graced the occasion. Femi Adesina reviewed the book, “We Are Priceless“.
