President Muhammadu Buhari will be stepping on “big toes” in the war against corruption according to his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu,
But he will not be surprised if those affected fight back.
Shehu spoke in Kaduna at the opening of a three-day retreat for State House Correspondents in Kaduna State.
The retreat has the theme: ‘Journalism and the Change Mantra, State House in Focus’.
He said:”President Buhari has embarked on an anti-corruption campaign that is bound to offend many. Big toes will be stepped on, personal interests will be cast aside.
“As the popular saying goes, when you fight corruption, corruption fights back. Yes, anti-corruption is a war.”
He thanked the press for the role it played in igniting the CHANGE agenda that brought the President into power in the March 2015 election, but said the CHANGE agenda was just the beginning.
He solicited even more support from the press in waging the anti-graft war.
“The press can help President Muhammadu Buhari to win that war ,” he said,adding”you are one of the government’s most lethal weapons in this battle against the forces that aim to pull down Nigeria.
“The power of the media, if they have any power at all, lies in their ability to expose wrong-doing. This power of exposure is a far more effective deterrent in many countries, including our own, than the court systems that deliver judgement and not necessarily justice.
“If they know that that they will be exposed, many crimes will not happen and herein lies the challenge of the media under the Buhari administration. Use your power to expose wrong doing, the days of impunity are gone. This is the best way to help the CHANGE, now that we have a government with the will and capacity to right all wrongs.
“The government needs you, the press, to keep the public informed on its many activities and policies that are geared towards improving the lives of the Nigerian people, according to the CHANGE agenda.”
He reviewed the activities o the Presidential media team so far and said it had spent much of the last six months countering what he called falsehood by government’s opponents.
Also speaking, Governor Nasir el-Rufai said that it was up to the media to make the CHANGE agenda succeed or fail.
He said: “The job is not done. It is just the beginning. If you fight corruption, it will fight back. And you are the tools the government will use to fight corruption.”
He accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of running the country aground, explaining that the Buhari administration is trying to pick up the pieces and needs all the support it can get.
The chairman of the State House Press Corps, Kehinde Amodu, noted that the retreat was to build the journalists’ capacity as they cover the Presidency.