Vice President Kashim Shettima has hailed the Nigerian media for the sincerity with which they handle what he described as the rising tide of Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference.
Shettima spoke at the 2025 Conference and Annual General Meeting of the International Press Institute, IPI, Nigeria, themed, ‘Addressing Media Repression and Safeguarding Democratic Accountability in Nigeria’, held in Abuja on Tuesday.
The VP said Nigeria has one of the most vibrant media communities anywhere in the world.
In an address at the event, Shettima said, “One thing you (Nigerian media) have never failed to do is rise in defence of the public’s right to know.
“You have confronted those who sought to suffocate this oxygen of our democracy, and in moments of national confusion, you stepped forward to correct misinformation. This is a responsibility we cannot afford to take for granted, however complex our relationship may sometimes be.
“One of the proudest moments for journalism in contemporary Nigeria has been the sincerity with which the overwhelming majority of you continue to confront the rising tide of Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference.
“You have stood firmly against disinformation and refused to surrender your pens to falsehoods or foreign puppeteers. This honourable stance sets you apart from the minority who chase notoriety by manipulating unverified data and manufacturing obvious lies—those who prefer viral fiction to verified facts.
“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, if our collective experience has taught us anything, it is this: not a single practitioner lasts in this vocation without a sense of ethical responsibility. The pen is only mightier than the sword when it is deployed in the pursuit of justice and objectivity.
“Without ethics, journalism becomes nothing more than a dictatorship of text and airwaves, a distortion chamber where truth is suffocated by dangerous agendas.
“Perhaps the most sacred duty of the media is the responsibility of saving democracy. This duty involves not only saving democracy from the political class, but also saving the political class from themselves.
“It includes shielding institutions from the excesses of human impulses. Democracy is safe only when power is under constant observation. And it is safe only when those who observe do so with integrity rather than vendetta. That is where your heroism begins.
“I understand that journalists and politicians sometimes enjoy the friendship of a cat and a mouse. Each side is convinced that the other requires close monitoring.
“But we are better off as friends. Your job is to report events as they are, and this cannot be easy where interests collide. Yet the difficulty of the task does not diminish your essence. It only affirms your indispensability.
“We often fail to appreciate the Nigerian media enough. But the truth is unmistakable: it is impossible, utterly impossible, to have a successful dictator in Nigeria. And it is not for lack of trying.
“Never in our history has any person or government succeeded in suppressing the media permanently. You have stood firm in the coldest nights of national adversity, and you have outlived those who attempted to place their boots upon your freedom.
“You have been the life-size mirror of our nation, reflecting us not as we wish to be seen, but as we truly are.
“But this cat-and-mouse tango is not our destination. What we need is a relationship rooted in openness—a space where you are free to function without intimidation, and where you are also held to the same standards you demand of others.
“Because among you are a few who knowingly fabricate tales, who refuse to retract falsehood even when confronted with evidence, and who cling to the unverifiability of their claims as a shield. These bad actors undermine the integrity of the very profession they claim to defend.
“We owe you a space of practice devoid of harassment, intimidation, or fear. That much is non negotiable. And as a government, we must continue to create an environment where truth can thrive without obstruction and where the work you do is protected rather than policed.”