Baptized in Words, Armed with Pens: The Fading Glory of the Nigerian Press - Abioye Tosin Lawrence

 

As Tinubu Declares Editors’ Conference Open

By Abioye Tosin Lawrence

The nation’s capital glowed with the presence of wordsmiths, as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared open the 2025 Nigerian Guild of Editors Conference in Abuja yesterday. The hall was alive, editors, journalists, online publishers, and communication minds converged, a fellowship of those baptized in words and armed with pens.

But beyond the applause and photo moments lies a deeper question, what is the fate of the Fourth Estate when survival itself is a headline?

The media, once the roaring lion of democracy, now whispers for breath. Newsrooms are shrinking, salaries are delayed, and advertisements, the oxygen of the press are choked by politics and digital monopolies. Yet, society still calls upon the journalist to uphold truth, integrity, and independence, even as the profession gasps for its own survival.

Across Nigeria and Africa, monetization spins like a clock gone anticlockwise. Fairness is priced, freedom of speech taxed, and the very business of truth reduced to clicks and crumbs. Many in the field now wear multiple hats, reporter by day, hustler by night, simply to keep the pen from drying.

Still, in their weary hands rests the power of light. The journalist remains the unseen soldier, without a uniform, but with a voice sharper than any blade.

It is high time we allowed those who control the nation’s narrative to also enjoy the dignity of their calling, not as beggars of influence, but as custodians of truth. The pen may tremble, but it must not fall. For in defending the press, we defend the very soul of our democracy.