Kabiru Danladi Lawanti

All journalism is advocacy. The only question is—for whom? Journalists can’t and will never serve as neutral "umpire". Truth is that in our 100 and 200 level media training we were taught that reporting involves being a neutral arbiter, reporting the "two sides of a story without judging". The concept of objectivity, fairness and balance were taught like articles of faith.  But after 300 and 400 level in the university we come to realise the fallacy of that thinking. It is a thinking entrenched in normative ideal — one that critical media studies deconstructed as theoretically flawed and practically unsustainable. Through critical epistemology, political economy, and ideological critique we come to understand the myth of neutrality and the umpire fallacy.  It presupposes an Archimedean point outside ideology, power, and social relations—a fantasy long dismantled by scholars from Stuart Hall to Noam Chomsky. The very act of “selecting” which "two sides" to ...

In today’s Nigeria, saying you want to study education is almost an admission of failure. It’s no longer a noble pursuit, but a fallback for those who "couldn’t get something better." Admission trends at universities tell the story - education courses have become some of the least competitive, and even among those enrolled, a troubling majority landed there by accident not choice. This is a reflection of a deeper rot in our national values. A society that sees no honour in training teachers is a society that has written off its own future. Yet we pretend to be surprised when public schools crumble and the next generation flounders. The truth is, we’ve devalued education at its roots by neglecting the very people who make it happen. Just this morning, I came across a Facebook thread where friends were discussing the risks of building a life in Nigeria’s public universities. One remarked that if you choose to teach in a Nigerian university, you must first secure your own oxygen...