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As Nigerians continue to flay the Punch over sensational report on the National Youth Service Corps mobilisation, the socio-political group, Buhari Osinbajo Solidarity Front (BOSF) has condemned the newspaper for the misleading report.
The group which queried the rational for the misrepresentation of fact, described the report as inaccurate , adding that it was irresponsible of the newspaper to lead with such falsehood.
Reacting to the report, BOSF in a statement signed by its Convener,Mr. Liberty Olawale Badmus, said contrary to the report, the Federal Government did not reject Osinbajo’s report.
The group said:”Our attention at the Buhari Osinbajo Solidarity Front (BOSF) has been brought to the sensational cover headline on the Saturday edition of PUNCH Newspaper.
“According to Saturday PUNCH cover headline stated that, “COVID-19: Again, FG snubs Osinbajo report, mobilises corpers to camps.” This is not only inaccurate, it is irresponsible of the newspaper to lead with such falsehood, especially as the media is regarded as proponents of the hallmarks of objectivity, fairness and truth.
“We can only conclude that in a desperate attempt to gain clicks on its website and drive traffic to its social media handles, the PUNCH Newspaper had to lead with a sensational cover headline, no matter how skewed it is and regardless of the maligning of the steerling reputation of people serving the nation and its institutions.
According to the group, the paper claimed that “The Federal Government has again snubbed a recommendation by the Economic Sustainability Committee led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and decided to re-open orientation camps nationwide next Tuesday amid rising COVID-19 infections. The Osinbajo-led committee had in June 2020 recommended that while the National Youth Service Corps programme could continue, the three-week orientation exercise should be suspended for two years.”
BSOF, however, added that contrary to the Punch’s erroneous claim, the report by the Osinbajo-led ESC made up only a fraction of the report, adding that “But it is obvious why PUNCH led with such, simply to gain online traction and sell newspapers. But does this mean that objectivity, fairness and truth, which are hallmarks of the media as watchdogs of the society, be sacrificed simply because of online clicks? No, it shouldn’t be.
The group insisted that the federal government didn’t reject Osinbajo’s report. Explaining the the true side of the story, BSOF added:”In June 2020, the ESC had indeed recommended that while the National Youth Service Corps programme could continue, the three-week orientation exercise could be suspended for two years. But at that time, the recommendation was based on the escalating COVID-19 pandemic, and also the fact that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) did not have enough capacity then to conduct rapid testing. The rapid testing option was not available when the ESC, and not Osinbajo, submitted its report.
“As of February 2020, when its first case of the virus was reported, Nigeria had only five laboratories in four states able to test for COVID-19. Now the situation has improved. It is thus obvious to any discerning and unbias person to know that the need to review the earlier position was strictly based on improvement in rapid testing now made available by the NCDC.
“In the light of this improvement in rapid testing that was made available by NCDC, which helps to detect COVID-19 positive cases, the NYSC only then had to take the natural option of reviewing the situation. Again, this option was not available when the ESC had submitted its report. So COVID-19 positive corpers are removed at the inception and this is being reported publicly already.”
The group said it was misleading for PUNCH to claim that the ESC was “Osinbajo’s report”, saying that the ESP which the President Muhammad Buhari-led Federal Executive Council endorsed was the outcome of the ESC report and recommendations.
“This is not the first time PUNCH would lead with such inaccurate headlines and stories related to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. We would urge PUNCH as a respectable media outfit to do better. They should lead the charge in restoring the confidence in the Nigerian media and not join the bandwagon in hyping sensationalism with misleading headlines and stories simply to gain online traction, rather than uphold the tenets of journalism, which is objectivity and truth,” BOSF said.
