**Condoles with ThisDay MD
Former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, has warned that Nigeria must never allow itself to relapse into the dark days of history where media freedom, one of the most important features of democracy is gagged or threatened.
Obi, spoke in Lagos, against the backdrop of last week’s withdrawal of the operating licence of DAAR Communications, the parent body of the African Independent Television (AIT) and Raypower FM, Nigeria’s first privately owned broadcast outfits.
Engaging with reporters at the domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, in Lagos, Obi, who was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the February 23 election, strongly condemned the suspension by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
The former governor said that it was anachronistic to hear such news in this time and age, described the development as “an affront on the freedom of the press and speech as enshrined in our constitution.”
He stressed that more than 20 years of uninterrupted democracy in the country was worth celebrating, but that “the news of affront on any type of freedom, rather than offer reasons to celebrate democracy reminds Nigerians about the better-forgotten years of military dictatorship and brutality.”
He hailed the court judgment suspending the NBC action, noting that communication media seen as an enemy by the authorities often turn out to be the ones to be appreciated when history finally gives its verdict.
In another development, Obi condoled with the Managing Director of ThisDay newspaper, Mr. Eniola Bello, on the death of his wife, Mrs. Helen Eniola-Bello. He prayed for the repose of her soul and for God to grant her loved ones, especially her husband, the strength to bear the loss with equanimity.
