Last week, Prof. Ismail Adegboyega Ibraheem, who teaches Journalism and Communication Studies at the University of Lagos Department of Mass Communication, paid the debt he owed for his appointment as a professor by the University of Lagos with an inaugural lecture on the interesting topic “Casino Journalism and the End of History.”.

In the lecture, he examined and described the woeful tragedies of journalism practice in Nigeria, whose rot is probably of the same scale and form as the Nigerian judicial system, which is described in the most disparaging language by Attorney Dele Farotimi’s book, titled “Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System.”

When you interrogate “a building or room used for social amusement, specifically… used for gambling,” one of the definitions given by Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary for the word, ‘Casino’, you get a drift of the disastrous state of journalism practice in the Nigerian realm.

After acknowledging that he was “a living testament to the boundless grace and favour of the Almighty,” Prof. Ibraheem recounted how fate denied him the opportunity to serve his mandatory youth corps years in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation but pushed him to the Civil Liberties Organisation, where he served and ended up working for eight years.

His tour of duty with CLO allowed him to work closely with the Nigerian media, where he had first-hand experience of the tricky world of “shaping public discourse and crafting narratives that advanced” identified causes.

He notes that the first constraint of the media in Nigeria is the ethnic and religious affiliations of their proprietors, which determine the nature of their content. To work with Nigeria’s media, CLO adopted three strategies, namely, co-opting journalists; sponsoring their investigative reports that are considered worthy of the attention of the public; and engaging the media in its programmes.

In choosing the thrust of his inaugural lecture, Prof. Ibraheem asked himself, “What should the role of journalism and the media be in (the) society?” He then proceeded to critically evaluate how the media met, or unmet, society’s expectations.

His theory, which agrees with the question posed in the title of the inaugural lecture of his teacher, Prof Ralph Akinfeleye, “Is journalism the Fourth Estate of the Realm or the Fourth Estate of the Wreck?” is as follows: “Is there an intrinsic connection between society’s governance structure and journalism’s performance?”

He alerts his audience that Nigeria’s media is being assaulted by the rise of blogs and clickbait-driven content; the pervasive influence of foreign-owned media that is shaping the consciousness of Nigerians; increasing dependency on news sourced from social media; and sensational journalism.

He cautions, “Reducing the crisis in (Nigerian) journalism to ‘brown envelope’ (or accepting gratification)… alone, risks oversimplification and cosmetising what is, in truth, a systemic, structured, and existential problem within the industry.”

“Casino Journalism”, he explains, is a critique of the “randomness, sensationalism and profit-driven motive that sacrifices journalistic integrity and the public good… for short-term gain and sheer adventurous clicks.”.

He contends that those who practice journalism mostly online “do not stand by facts” and usually “retreat readily when confronted by facts.” He adds, “Casino Journalism describes a style of media reporting in which sensationalism, entertainment and speculation overshadow thorough investigation and factual accuracy.”

It derives its name from the notion that “journalism, instead of being in serious pursuit of truth, has become a game in which the media stakes its credibility for high ratings, clicks, advertising revenue and personal gains.”.

“The End of History,” a metaphor that he adopted from a Japanese-American writer and academic, Francis Fukuyama, “reflects the existential risk (that) these (base) practices (of the Nigerian media) pose to journalism’s role as a cornerstone of democracy.”

He then goes further with the argument, “When journalism loses its compass, we risk a society devoid of critical inquiry, accountability and truth—a society where history (or humanity?) ceases to evolve in its true sense.”

Prof. Ibraheem acknowledges that, from its inception in 1859, the Nigerian media has played positive roles in the history of Nigeria: Its defining roles included setting Nigeria’s political evolution,… the struggle for independence, the fight for the return of democratic governance during the years of military rule and the subsequent efforts to sustain democracy.”

Also, he contends, “At the core of adherence to professionalism is good journalism that can help to unearth the truth, presenting facts in a clear, accurate and unbiased manner. It provides the public with the information necessary to make informed personal, political and social decisions.” You could add that a media that fails in this assignment has completely lost its purpose.

Prof Ibraheem enumerates the five filters, compiled by American scholars Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky, that the media (including the Nigerian media) uses in choosing to publish stories that serve the interests of the privileged few while also compelling other citizens to align with the agenda of the elite.

The filters are: “Ownership and profit motive; advertising dependency; government influence; flak and anti-dissent mechanism; and ideological alignment.” To emphasise the extent to which the credibility of the Nigerian media has been compromised and undermined, Prof. Ibraheem assembles a list of breaking news that ebbed out after a Pacific tremor that quietened without notice.

This breaking news that ended up with a hugely underwhelming impact are: The failure of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (sic) to remit billions of dollars of petroleum revenue to the government’s exchequer; the unending recovery of Abacha loot; the arms purchase scandal; the nearly successful scam of the government by Process & Industrial Development and its Nigerian collaborators.

Others are the Halliburton scandal; the Ibrahim Magu scandal; the inconclusive probe into the Niger Delta Development Commission scandal; the National Assembly budget padding scandal; the Malabu Oil money laundering scandal; and the most recent Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs money transfer scandal.

In all these, the media was unable to provide accurate, investigative and contextualised reporting. Prof. Ibraheem’s refrain, “Game over. End of history. We move on,” after each revelation, is chilling and graphic evidence of the complicity of the Fourth Estate of the Realm with the political class and its failure to discharge its constitutional responsibility to the people of Nigeria.

Prof. Ibraheem concludes, “The convergence of Casino Journalism and End of History… has profound implications for how the public understands history and current events,” arguing that, whereas Casino Journalism “contributes to shallow understanding of history, by concentrating on sensational stories,… the “End of History” mindset… discourages critical reflection on the past and its lessons on the present.”

This treatise serves as a wake-up call to media owners, editors and journalists to rethink the practice of their profession and the discharge of the grave responsibility assigned to them by Section 22 of Nigeria’s Constitution.

The Constitution provides, “The press, radio, television and other agencies of the media shall, at all times, be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in… (Chapter II of the Constitution) and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people.”

The revelation of the odoriferous underbelly of the journalism profession in Nigeria by Prof. Ibraheem should elicit positive changes and not the cynical attitude of those who may regard it as a putdown in the Kemi Badenochsque order of Nigeria bashing.