As Delta State marks the second anniversary of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s administration, celebrations of progress and development echo through government channels.
Roads are commissioned, policies highlighted, and political allies are applauded.
Yet, conspicuously absent from this orchestra of state progress is a vital democratic instrument: the independent press.
For two years, the Oborevwori administration has systematically sidelined the press in the State.
Even more concerning is the governor’s so-called “State of the State” address, presented to members of the Delta State House of Assembly as a scorecard of his administration.
Instead of holding a second-year press briefing, as was the tradition with his predecessors, facing members of the fourth estate and addressing critical questions, Governor Oborevwori opted to go live on Channels TV and TVC, effectively avoiding direct engagement with the press.
Journalists once seen as partners in governance, have found themselves relegated to the fringes of political discourse.
Critical voices are met not with engagement, but with silence or subtle exclusion.
Journalists who had positioned their equipment at both the entrance and exit of the Assembly Complex, hoping to ask the governor a few questions, were left disappointed as he blatantly ignored them and sped off in his convoy.
This marginalization is not just a professional grievance, it is a democratic failure.
Governance thrives in transparency, and transparency demands a vibrant and empowered press.
It is through the lens of the media that the governed see and understand the actions of the government. When the press is excluded, the people are excluded.
When journalists are left out of strategic conversations, misinformation thrives, and public trust erodes.
Governor Oborevwori must be reminded that a state’s development is not measured solely by infrastructure or budget size.
It is also measured by the strength of its institutions and the health of its democratic culture.
The press is not a nuisance; it is a mirror, and sometimes, a megaphone for the voiceless.
Delta State journalists deserve more than press briefings by Oborevwori’s aides and carefully curated sound bites.
They deserve access, respect, and recognition as stakeholders in the democratic process.
The deliberate neglect of the press by the governor, is an affront not only to journalism but to the citizens whose right to hear directly from the governor is being denied.
As the administration begins its third year, we urge Governor Oborevwori to recalibrate his media strategy, not as a political tool, but as a democratic necessity.
Engage the press. Answer the hard questions. Restore the dialogue between government and the governed.
Democracy dies in silence and so too does accountability.
