World Communications Day: Arogundade decries spate of insecurity

By Josephine Oguntoyinbo, Mary Agidi & Babatunde Olorunleke

As the 2019 World Communications Day was celebrated yesterday, the Catholic Bishop of Ondo Diocese, Most Rev.(Dr) Jude Arogundade has decried the level of insecurity situation in Nigeria, saying it would take unity and solidarity  to bail the nation out of the situation.

The Bishop called on Journalists to rise to their responsibility and shed light on the darkness prevailing over Nigeria, using their tools.

According to him, the mood of Nigerians is sad as people are living in deplorable situation without any solution in signal to arrest the situation.

He however condemned the usage of the social media  to disseminate falsehood, and charged Journalists to bring dignity to the society through their reportage.

The Bishop said it is the duty of media practitioners to expose the ills and elevate the society by reporting the truth.

He expressed difficulty in detecting what is true from false due to the manner the social media operators propagate lies, noting that journalists are saddled with the responsibility of protecting and bringing wisdom to the society using their gift.

In his message, His Holiness, Pope Francis Benedict II, stated that internet is an opportunity to promote encounter with others, but it can also increase our self isolation like a web that can entrap us.

He therefore called on all and sundry to invest in relationships, and affirmed the interpersonal nature of humanity including in and true the network.

In his lecture on the topic “We are members one another: From social network communities to the human community, “Barr.Steve Alabi affirmed that the advancement and the use of the internet had a great impact in our time both positively and negatively.

The Guest Lecturer posited that the positive impacts can be categorized into six which include, improvement in communication, immediate access to information, enhancement of education, scientific and medical advancements, employment generation and business efficiency and growth.

He harped on the need to use the internet to promote encounter with others and put away falsehood and speak the truth.

Earlier, the President of the Catholic Media practitioners Association of Nigeria, Mr Daisi Ajayi affirmed that the media environment is so pervasive that it has become a source of knowledge and platform where relationships can either be built or destroyed depending on its use.

He said that with the profound transformation technology has brought to the process of production, distribution and use of content, many experts also highlight the risks that threaten the search for sharing of authentic information on a global scale.