She made the call on Thursday while delivering a convocation lecture at the fifth convocation ceremony of Salem University in Lokoja.
Abu, who is the Chief Executive Officer of The Eugenia Abu Media, said media must be the enablers of the nation’s democracy through their media platforms by providing the necessary capacities and infrastructure for their staff to perform optimally.
The lecture was titled ‘Beyond the 2023 Elections: The Role of The Media in Deepening Democracy in Nigeria’.
According to Abu, the media play a crucial role in shaping a healthy democracy, adding that it is the backbone of democracy.
She noted that the media must review how well it has carried out it’s constitutional assignment via Section 22 of the Constitution.
“What are professional media organisations doing to help ensure the media is carrying out its constitutional responsibility? What are they doing to build the capacity of their members?
“The media must be deeply knowledgeable to be able to provide the much needed illumination for citizens on their rights and on issues of governance while holding leaders accountable.
“It is important that different organisations and topics are represented in the media be it on human trafficking, the physically challenged or election coverages,” she said.
According to her, voter education is critical to democracy sustenance and must not stop even after an election.
She added, “I’m alarmed at the number of votes for Big Brother Naija, an entertainment programme at one point three billion votes as against 96 million votes garnered by winners of the presidential election in four different election cycles.”
