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Media event, Special report

HOPE RENEWED AS FORUM BOUYS CHRISTIAN MEDIA ENTREPRENEURS TO KEEP THE FAITH, AIM FOR EXCELLENCE

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By Tobi Oyetunde

In order to remain relevant and to fulfil the mandate and purpose of impactful reporting, Christian media entrepreneurs, publishers, writers and journalists have been enjoined to prioritize their faith in God and strive for excellence in the media industry.

The call came from Olawale Perfect, Chief Executive Officer of WiGRadio; Gbenga Osinaike, Publisher of Church Times; and Blessing Oladunjoye, Publisher of BONEWS, among others at a virtual forum organised by the Christian Press Association of Nigeria (CPAN).

The discussants, who provided diverse perspectives of their work as Christian media entrepreneurs noted that coverage of Christian news should not be limited to reporting on pastors and church events, but should also report on other issues that are important to the Christian Faith

The session, which focused on insight, lessons and testimonies in pursuing the vision and passion for media ministry, was moderated by Sanmi Falobi, Chair of CPAN interim Management committee and Managing Editor at SUCCESSTACT.

In a compelling testimony, Mr Olawale Perfect, who pioneered WiGradio, one of Nigeria’s foremost online/internet radio stations, shared his journey into the media landscape.

According to him, his journey into media was a divine calling received during his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) year. He said that he initially wanted to be a lecturer, but God led him into the media.

“When we started, the journey of internet radio was actually something new and I realised that there were very few people in the field of online radio and so there was a need for me to do a lot of research.

“I graduated with a first class in biochemistry, and the thought on my mind was that I wanted to be a lecturer and my lecturers really wanted me to come back to the school. So, when I went for my NYSC, I began to pray and to ask God what I was to do and God began to lay it on my heart that he had an assignment for me in the media, even though I did not have my origin in the media initially. So I then went to the University of Lagos, and I did a post-graduate diploma in mass communication and from there I began to see one or two opportunities to do one or two things in radio.

Wale Perfect

“God began to lay to my heart that the next phase is, you need to start your own radio station. And I was like, it is either God does not know what it takes to start a radio station in Nigeria, or maybe someone is trying to deceive me, most likely I’m trying to deceive myself because by my estimate, to start a radio station in Nigeria, you need not less than 40 million. So I was praying and fasting and one of those days while I was fasting, it just came to my heart, I can’t really explain it, but there should be a way that radio can operate over the Internet.

“We started one of the first online radio in Nigeria then, and gradually, we began to move it step by step and we began to see results with time such that within a short period of time, we were able to reach about 126 countries,” Perfect narrated.

Reflecting on the challenges faced, Perfect emphasized the importance of faith, prayer, and innovative thinking in overcoming obstacles not only in the media but in life generally.

Mr Gbenga Osinaike, who also shared his experience as a publisher, said he was motivated to start a church newspaper because he noticed that newspapers hardly reported church events and Christian news except it is scandalous events that involved churches and pastors.

Osinaike, who was an Assistant Editor in Punch newspaper from where he resigned to start Church Times, highlighted the lack of coverage for church events and positive Christian news in mainstream media.

Gbenga Osinaike

Speaking on how he started Church Times, he said, “the idea of Church Times came to me around 2005 when I attended a retreat program and I was wondering, who is documenting this event.

“There was no space, as it were, for Christian news in the mainstream media, it is only when it is negative or scandal that you get pastors mentioned. They were not allowing stories that can edify lives and there are a lot of things happening in the church that were not reported. So the idea came to me that it would be a good idea to start a church newspaper.

“By 2006, the Lord said to me it was time for me to leave and start this thing, but I was really afraid because how do I start a paper when I know that the mortality rate of papers in Nigeria is so high? Those who had money, who had millions were finding it hard and were dying.

“We actually printed the first edition in April 2007.”

Recalling how the journey has been over the years in publishing Church Times, he urged that those pursuing Christian media ventures to spend more time with God rather than look up to people for support.  He also urged Christian journalists to be ethical and professional in their work. Citing testimonies of God’s providence and favours with which the newspaper have thrived over the years, he warned on the need to put focus and trust in God, rather than some persons because man, as it were would disappoint.

“Don’t depend on yourself and put your faith in people because they will fail. The lesson is to stay with God and depend on him for supply.

“Don’t be under pressure, nobody should define success for you. Let your success be based on what God wants you to do, and remain there.

“Christian publishers can report beats from a Christian point of view. The church papers should not be limited to reporting pastors and church events, it is a wide field,” the Church Times Publisher added.

Ms Blessing Oladunjoye, who shared her experience of starting a news platform that focuses on women, children and persons with disabilities, said her platform started from a blog during her days in the tertiary institution and evolved into a news platform in 2018.

Oladunjoye highlighted the importance of professional experiences, especially in reporting on women and persons with disabilities, in shaping the platform’s niche.

She said, “I created it on blogspot.com and it was called Blessing Oladunjoye Community News as of the time. Sometimes, in 2018, I had an encounter with someone, a senior colleague within this space, who just said, ‘you are doing well with what you’re writing. We checked the rating on alexa.com and it was ranked. So, he felt and said that if the website could be ranked because of the content you put in, and just you as of the time, I think you should register it.”

Blessing Oladunjoye

She noted that in determining the focus of what niche to pursue, she had to do a scan of the available potentials and opportunities.

“To determine what BONews will be doing, as of that time, I had worked with Women Radio, which is a women’s radio station which focuses specifically on women’s issues, I had worked with an NGO called CEE Hope Nigeria with focus on child rights issues in informal communities and at that time also, I was interacting with members of the disability community. And so due to my experience back then in school with the challenges and experiences that persons with disabilities encounter, I feel like why not just create a niche within this space because I’ve gathered some form of experience reporting these issues. So I then decided to officially register BONews Service in 2018 and started publishing content on children, women and persons with disabilities.”

Noting that running BOnews as an independent outfit was challenging, she said that she had to find sources of sustenance from other media and journalism-related tasks on a personal level, in order to fund the operations of BOnews.

“Of course, there are numerous challenges and there are issues. I had asked myself, am I sure I should be doing this, am I sure I should do that, but then, the tenacity, being focused over the years really made me realise that it pays a lot, it pays to do this.”

The award-winning and journalism Fellow noted that though there were challenges faced, she encouraged aspiring journalists to persevere, stay focused, and find fulfilment in reporting on critical issues. She also spoke of the need for journalists to be creative and innovative in their work.

In adding to the discourse, Mr Lekan Otufodunrin, Executive Director of Media Career Development Network, emphasised the importance of fostering international connections and collaborating with both local and global colleagues.

Otufodunrin encouraged Christian journalists to actively engage in events and participate to unlock new opportunities.

Highlighting the ever-evolving landscape of technology, Otufodunrin stressed the necessity of embracing change and exploring innovative approaches in reporting.

Lekan Otufodunrin

“Every day, technology changes, and it is important to see how we can do things differently. As much as possible, let us improve on what we are doing.

“Technology is changing everything and we should see what can be adopted locally and how we can benefit from it. We should always seek to expand and not stick to narrow ways of focus,” Otufodunrin said.

The forum, also received robust engagement during the questions, answers and comments sessions. According to the organisers, the forum is part of the series of capacity development initiatives of CPAN, and to reposition the Association for greater relevance. The Association, which has been in existence for some years is made up of Christian news outlets, publishers, editors, writers and related independent media professionals.  

The audio recording of CPAN forum#2 is accessible @ https://bit.ly/CPANFORUM2 while update about subsequent editions of CPAN forum can be accessed @ bit.ly/CPAN_FORUM

Special report

Ekiti: Where govt officials renege on following budgetary allocation

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By Emmanuel Ukudolo, Ishaya Ibrahim, Funmi Falobi and Seyi Babalola

There is widespread impunity in Ekiti State with misappropriation of public funds. Government officials seem to have made it a habit of dipping their hands into the public purse and spending at will without recourse to the budget in five Local Government Areas.

Auditor General of Local Governments in Ekiti State, Dr. Iyadunni Victoria Oke made allusion to  these breaches in the audit certificate she presented on Ekiti West Local Government Area, Ijero Local Government Area, Ikere Local Government Area, Ilejemeje Local Government Area and Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area, where she posited that her observations reflect a true and fair view of the local government areas as at 31st December, 2022.

Investigations into the books of Ekiti West Local Government Area revealed that these breaches occurred in overhead cost, transfer and purchase of assets, overshooting the budget by almost half of the amount budgeted, without a supplementary approval by the local government approving authorities.

Ekiti State Governor
LGAs in Ekiti State

For instance, in Overhead Cost, the total budget for the year ended 2022 was N81, 480, 000 but Ekiti West Local Government Area spent N122, 931, 602.00, exceeding the budget by a total of N41, 451, 602.00. 
Items captured in the Overhead Cost include maintenance services, transport,  grant, SUBEB Overhead,  fuel and lubricants,  training and human development, field overhead expenses, professional services,  miscellaneous expenses,  material supplies, Iyaloja Imprest and general utility.

Under transfer to other government entities, the total budget for the year 2022 was  N1,025,000,000 but what was spent without supplementary approval was N1,577,252,389.63, overshooting the year 2022 budget by  N552, 252, 389.63. As usual there is no supplementary budget to approve the excess based on the impunity which seems to have eaten deep into Ekiti West LGA.
Items captured under transfer include pension and gratuity,  SUBEB staff salary,  Security fund,  Parastatals and agencies, Peace Corps, Ekameta LCDA, Okemesi /Ido-Ile LCDA and  Special Rates with JAAC.

For Purchase of Assets, the total  appropriation for the Year  was  N74,000,000 but what was spent without budgetary approval was N71,031, 304.90, again exceeding the budget by  N2, 968, 695.10 kobo.
Items covered under this subhead include: land, building, infrastructure,  motor vehicles, plant and machinery, office equipment, furniture and fittings. 

This same trend was replicated in Ijero Local Government Area where budget for overhead cost was N74, 242,000.00  whereas what was spent without budgetary approval was N182, 020, 858.04, surpassing the budget by N107, 778, 858.04 kobo. 

The trend continued in Ikere Local Government Area where no amount was captured in the 2022 budget for Iyaloja, yet the local government paid a sum of N155, 256, 935.23 to the Iyaloja of the state. 
To be specific, N300,000 was paid to the Iyaloja as stipend for 12 months, N78, 162, 600 was paid for Iyaloja’s Logistic Security and another N76, 794,335.23 kobo was paid to the same  Iyaloja as Assist/workshop claims without being captured in the 2022  budget. 

Ikere LGA also overshot the budget for the year 2022  in transfer to other government agencies.  For instance, the total budget for transfer in the affected year was N414, 358,322, whereas what was spent was N1, 144,  077, 709.55, exceeding the budget by N729, 719, 387.55 kobo almost N1 billion.  In fact, the practice of overshooting the budget was carried over from the year ended 2021.

In fact the Ikere Local Government Area is so neck deep in impunity in the area of allowances also. For the year 2022, the budget captured N11, 500,000.00 for allowances but government officials spent N91, 179, 621.79 on allowances, exceeding what was provided for in the budget by N79, 679, 621.79 kobo. 

Ilejemeje Local Government Area is not left out in the mess pervading almost all the local  government areas in Ekiti State. For instance, under transfer to other government agencies, the Local government budgeted N543, 300, 000 for transfer to other government agencies, whereas  what was spent out of budgetary approval was N970, 836,  332.94 kobo, overreaching appropriation for the year by N348,  956, 892.52 kobo.

The cankerworm also spilled over to Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area under the subhead of Salary payment for the year ended December 31, 2022.  The Local Government Area  budgeted N1,158, 724, 854.72 kobo, whereas it spent N 1,818, 764, 568.38 kobo, consequently spending  a whooping N660,039, 713.66 without budgetary approvals. 


The same holds true for social contributions, where the sum of N6, 550,000 was approved for the local government but as a result of inherent impunity, officials of the local government  spent N56,512, 399.11 kobo without any supplementary consent.
The same level of executive lawlessness was exhibited in overhead cost, where  the total budget  approved for the local government under the subhead was N60,  290, 000, whereas officials of the local government went ahead to spend N101, 471, 297.67 Kobo, exceeding what is approved by  N41, 181, 297.67 kobo. 

This financial lawlessness was also carried further to the subhead, transfer of other government entities, where N530, 000,000 was approved in the budget but what was spent for the year was N762,  718, 354.54 kobo, exceeding approval by N68, 285, 303.45 kobo. The same trend holds  true for allowance and others.

Reacting to this  ugly development, Chairman, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) , Ekiti State, Mrs. Funmi Alonge, said the local government officers involved should be called to explain what happened if there is no virement.
“If there is no virement, then they should be called to explain. Ideally, they should not have spent beyond their budgetary allocation,” she said in a telephone interview with one of our team members.  

She said although inflationary trends could sometimes lead to spending beyond budgetary allocation, but that when such happens, officers who dispense such funds must provide a clear explanation for the gap. 

 “Most times, the amount allocated and funds expected do not match and the cost of things are also increasing. For instance, if you budgeted N3, 000 on fueling before, look at the cost of fuel now. If you budgeted N189 per litre, look at it today. So, the amount budgeted will be at variance because the cost of things are escalating every day, and unfortunately, the revenue remains the same. But there should be a system for explanation. Once something is very wide like that, it calls for questioning. The officer in-charge should have been called to explain the reason for the gap.” 

In his reaction, Policy and Research Officer at Corporate Accountability, Advocacy and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), Zikora Ibeh said the practice of local governments in Nigeria spending beyond their budgetary allocations indicates a deficiency in due process and weak financial management and oversight structures. 

“This pattern poses a significant threat to the financial health of any state and fosters fiscal indiscipline, leading to financial mismanagement, misappropriation, and the potential rise in public debt as governments may need to borrow to cover deficits. This prevalent issue across multiple local governments in the country is also the reason why local authorities are unable to finance capital projects, undermining economic development and effective governance.”

According to him, when local authorities fail to adhere to their budgets without due process, they undermine public trust and raise concerns about transparency and accountability in their financial management.

“ In the long run, this practice will ultimately destabilise the macroeconomic stability of any state, leading to adverse effects on its development prospects.”

>>Budget Infographics: Innate communications<<