* Onuigbo

"You  are the conscience of society, and can engender genuine change in Nigeria",  Rep Sam Onuigbo Saturday charged members of Online Media Practitioners of Nigeria, OMPAN Abia state chapter, and urged them to function fully in the role assigned it by the Nigerian 1999 Constitution, as amended.

Delivering a goodwill message  to the association which gathered in Abakiliki, Ebonyi state for 2-Day Capacity Building Workshop for Bloggers, Onuigbo, representing Ikwuano/Umuahia North/South Federal Constituency urged the media to reappraise its role as the conscience of the society, and abide by that.

Rep Onuigbo stressed that the media, as the fourth arm of government, has a responsibility to serve as change agents, the watchdogs of society, and indeed the conscience of society.

 "To be able to engender genuine change, media practitioners must submit themselves to the highest level of integrity and always champion the truth while refusing to be used as tools to sustain injustice and misrule", he declared

 He further noted that the crucial role of the media is enhanced by the  legal backing it enjoys as stated in  Section 22 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution as amended.

Onuigbo, who is also the Vice President (Africa) Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment International, GLOBE further made  references to the various roles played by the media in 2015 and  2019 Nigeria's Presidential elections and that of the USA in 2016, and  maintained that  "... the media play a huge role in shaping the views of electorates and therefore can be powerful agents of good governance. It is just up to them to do it right and not allow financial drives to push them into foisting on the people visionless leaders

"Prior to the 2015 elections, whether for good or bad, the media drew the attention of the country to a need for change. They were relentless about it, and in the final analysis, we witnessed the defeat of an incumbent President for the first time in the history of the country. In Abia State, this same drive saw the near emergence of an opposition party candidate as the Governor of the State", he noted.

Speaking on the negative consequences of  the advent of the social media, Onuigbo urged journalists not to resort to what he  refers to as "echo chamber in political discourse".

"To me though, one of the most important ways the media helps in effecting political change is by beaming its light of absolute truth on what is wrong in our political system and charging the people, through relentless reportage, to rise and vote for transformative change. 

"Fortunately, this retreat is coming at a time when there is still enough time to get it right. We all must tell ourselves the truth, review how things are being done in our country and state and decide if we must stick with the status quo or galvanize towards setting in motion a change in our people's mentality and consequently drive for governance that will set in motion the process of getting it right. This, is the primary responsibility of the media.

"The world is changing. Countries are quickly evolving and striving to do things right. It will be calamitous for Nigeria to be left behind. And the process of getting it right for Nigeria and Abia State is far behind schedule, hence the need for urgency. It is the media that bears the responsibility of kickstarting this and thus should take this responsibility seriously", he affirmed