Osinbajo tasks Africans on hate speech, racism, others

• Urges Nigerian journalists on effective gate-keeping
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has described as frightening the resurgence of hate speech, racism, nationalism and other identity challenges globally.He noted that the development calls for reasons by Africans to reflect on what happened in Rwanda 25 years ago.

Osinbajo spoke during an interactive session with journalists shortly after participating in the activities to mark the silver jubilee of the genocide in Kigali on Sunday.According to him, “the resurgence of hate speech is frightening for everyone we see in different countries not just in Africa, but also in Europe.”

The vice president added: “So, I think that there are many leaders today who want to ensure that we do not ever see a repeat of what happened, the genocide that happened here in Rwanda or any where else in the world for that matter.”He stressed that leaders across different sections of the society must caution against acts that incite and cause disorder.

Besides, the Nigeria’s second citizen said the nation direly needs the services of investigative journalists with passion to put government on its toes.‘’Our country needs more breed, dogged and passionate investigative journalists that can speak truth to power with accuracy without diluting the fact, journalists who can dig deep into the heart of a story for our common good and improve the lives of the common man and not the selfish interest of the few,” he submitted.

The vice president further stated that the country needs reporters that could “rightfully expose corruption in every sector of our society and make our country a better place for all of us.”

Osinbajo gave the charge yesterday in a keynote address to a two-day ‘’Editorial Conference on Legal and Ethical Issues in Investigative Reporting in Nigeria’’ organised by the Daily Trust Foundation in collaboration with the Centre for Media Law and Development as well as the Mac Arthur Foundation in Abuja.Represented by his Special Assistant on Media, Laolu Akande, the vice president noted that the media remained the last hope for the common man, and as such, must be trustworthy gatekeepers.