John Momoh frowns at media for idolising ex-convicts

The CEO of Channels TV, John Momoh is upset that some media platforms in Nigeria have in the recent time devote their airtime and pages to ‘celebrate’ ex-convicts.

Momoh, who was worried on the declining value system in the society, a phenomenon that breeds corruption and other vices, said these ex-convicts lie low for sometime and afterwards the media start celebrating them.

The Channels boss, who was one of the panellists at the launch of TheCable, a news platform owned by Simon Kolawole, former editor of ThisDay newspaper, believed this celebration will further erode what was left of the value in the system. He regretted that when this celebration was greatly hyped, “in due course, the ex-convicts will win elections again or given other responsibilities and the society will see this as a norm and the cycle continues.”

Momoh categorically said that value system in Nigeria had taken a plunge. Presently, there is crave for materialism without working among the youth, and these need to be arrested.

Some people think that politics is the road to financial security, he said, this has to change, saying he believes in re-orientating the Nigeria Police as response to re-establishing values in the society.

The broadcaster, who discussed ‘Nigeria at 100 years’ alongside Babatunde Fashola, Lagos State governor, Segun Ogunsanya, Airtel CEO, and Chris Anyanwu, a senator, at the event, was not alone in frowning at the declining value system.

On the recurring poor perception and corruption of the political class, Fashola, who made a rough estimate of the number of the political class, putting it at about 72,000 nationwide, disagreed that this class was the problem of the country. “Corruption does not exist in isolation. It exists alongside with the values of the society,” the governor said, saying when somebody somewhere cuts corners it hurts somebody or the system somewhere.

According to him, corruption is not only about taking money but breaking the rules of the society.

Speaking earlier, the chairman of the event held at City Mall, Lagos, last week, and former head of state, Abdulsalami Abubakar, appealed to politicians to always put Nigeria first, telling them to forget their differences when the issue of stability of the country was concerned.

To him, politics should not be destructive but constructive.

Daniel Obi