THE NATION NEWSPAPER SHOULD BE PROFESSIONAL

Sir,

THE NATION NEWSPAPER SHOULD BE PROFESSIONAL

The Nation newspaper is as publication I felt was doing fine. At a point one research outfit which some other newspapers claimed was sponsored by The Nation came out with its finding which said that the newspaper was the highest circulated in Nigeria. I do not think that the newspaper has countered the contention of others. Nevertheless what I have observed of The Nation newspaper recently is their often compromised reportages. This may not be their house-style but probably that of some compromised-employees.

The Nation together with This Day newspaper reported that Akwa Ibom government now provides uninterrupted power supply to Eket and environs. Whereas this is a complete lie, which they supported Akpabio in telling, till date they have not retracted the story. They are fond of doctoring stories that concern Akpabio. I know this because when one compares them with others on stories that concern the governor, their version were in most cases tilted in his favour. A particular story of recent seems to have exposed the newspaper.

If you read The Nation of Monday 1^st February 2010, on page 18 was a piece headed "Anti-party comments give it to Obi." Reading the body of the story you will discover that it never related to the headline; I read the same in other newspapers, namely Leadership of January 30, page 10, Fresh Facts of February 1 – 7, page 4, etc. It will benefit the newspaper if it apologized to its readers. The story was on how Governor Akpabio’s comments have put Governor Obi at advantage over the PDP’s Soludo; hence from where Obi drew one of his campaign slogans “How past PDP governments left a comatose State and I revived it”.

I believe some persons working with The Nation for the governor were in a hurry to remove the story body and, as some people would say (God caught them); they forget to remove the headline. The Nation should practice real and true journalism; this is my personal advice to the management. Presently, they are seriously drifting.

Johnbull O. Okon, Mariam Extension, Calabar, Cross River State.