Olayinka Gabriel and his Janjaweed kind of Journalism.

 

For some time now, the Taraba media space has been bedeviled with some kind of plague that is threatening its very existence, which if not immediately addressed will continue to make nonsense of the very noble profession of Journalism. 

It needs to be said that the activities of one Mr. Olayinka Gabriel, who came to Taraba in search of greener pastures but has now, unfortunately, turned his back on a state that clothed and fed him leaves so much to be desired.

Olayinka purported to be an accountant has continued to use his platform with the Moniker Taraba News to disparage the positive works of public servants who are working tooth and nail to right the wrongs bedeviling our society.

It is also common knowledge that his platform has zero regard for ethics which is the hallmark of the Journalism Profession. A paltry sum of ten thousand naira is enough to sway his conscience to allow all sorts of diatribes to fly.

To say the vast majority of Tarabans are disappointed in the kind of journalism currently in practice by Taraba News is an understatement as he has allowed himself to be used as a willing tool to be used to cover so many inadequacies of government and other sectors of our lives on the altar of an invitation to the dining table for a spoon of porridge. 

A reference case is how he has continued to pillory the Federal Medical Center in Jalingo, a tertiary health institution of choice in the northeast, and northern Nigeria. The development of many close watchers says is not only unfair and unjust as no week passes without his medium having anything negative to say about the health facility and its Medical Director. 

This is despite the good works of the Medical Director, Dr. Aisha Shehu Adamu, and her management team in resetting and fast-tracking development at the health facility to the admiration of patients across the northeast who have continued to flock to the hospital with their medical needs daily.  

While this writer is not holding brief for Dr. Aisha, any member of her very excellent management team, or member of staff, It has however become imperative for the relevant professional bodies like the Nigerian Press Council(NPC), The National Broadcasting Commission(NBC), to move in and impose sanctions on Mr. Olayinka and his ragtag mediums to serve as a deterrent to others who may want to follow his path of infamy that has to continue to cast a dark tar on the very noble pen profession.