The Guardian newspaper is alarmed by the State House Press Statement issued by Mr Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President, Information and Strategy on October 26, 2024, on the newspaper’s lead story titled ‘Misery, harsh policies driving Nigerians to desperate choices’, published on Friday, October 25, 2024.
In the statement, the Special Adviser claimed that the newspaper, by its news report “openly incites unrest against President Bola Tinubu’s administration and advocates regime change under the guise of journalism.” Mr Onanuga added that “the inflammatory headline and content deviate from responsible reporting.”
We are most surprised by this grave allegation and hereby reject the Special Adviser’s assertion which is a patent misrepresentation of the newspaper’s report. Contrary to the assertion contained in the press statement, the story is a factually balanced, dispassionate, well-researched and intensive report chronicling Nigeria’s civilian administration from inception to the current state of affairs, without any atom of hateful or inciting elements, remarks, innuendoes, and or connotations against the national and sub-national governments of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The publication simply aggregated the concerns of Nigerians across all classes on the troubling state of the nation with the expectation that the government will take the necessary steps to address the challenges. There is nothing in the report that advocates, propagates, endorses or suggests a military overthrow of the current government, as suggested by the Special Adviser. It is necessary to restate The Guardian’s philosophy as an independent newspaper that owes allegiance to no political party, ethnic community, religious or other interest group. Its primary commitment is to the integrity and sovereignty of the Federation of Nigeria. As depicted by its logo, an ancient Egyptian symbol for conscience, and motto: “Conscience Nurtured by Truth”; The Guardian, has for more than 40 (forty) years proactively demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the promotion of intellectual excellence, balanced coverage of events, consistently upholding the interests of justice, equity, fair play, the rule of law, pursuing integrity in public life, advancing the best interests of professional ethics and responsible journalism, in Nigeria, Africa and globally, anchored upon principles of Truth, Accuracy, Objectivity, and Accountability.