In a recent statement, Dr. Akindele Adekunle, Special Adviser to the Osun State Governor on Public Health, vehemently refuted claims made by TVC correspondent Mr. Rafiu Hammed regarding the operational status of health centers in Osun State. The report aired last night suggested that health facilities were closed, a claim Dr. Adekunle described as “junk journalism” and a blatant distortion of the truth.
Dr. Adekunle expressed his dismay at the irresponsible journalism exhibited by Mr. Hammed, which he argued prioritizes political agendas over factual reporting. “At no time has any health center in Osun State been shut down, as falsely portrayed by Mr. Hammed. His inability to provide any evidence to support his claims raises serious questions about the integrity of his report,” he stated.
The Special Adviser emphasized that health centers are critical institutions that should not be politicized, especially during a time when the public relies on them for essential healthcare services. He pointed out that Governor Ademola Adeleke recently toured various health centers, an event that received extensive media coverage, further contradicting Mr. Hammed’s assertions.
Dr. Adekunle urged the management of TVC to address the inaccuracies in Mr. Hammed’s reporting, underscoring the importance of journalistic ethics in ensuring the public is accurately informed. He warned that misleading information could have dire consequences, particularly for vulnerable populations such as pregnant women who depend on these health services.
In conclusion, Dr. Adekunle reiterated that Osun health centers are fully operational and continue to serve the community’s healthcare needs. He called on Mr. Hammed to retract his statements to restore public trust and ensure that residents are not deterred from seeking necessary medical care.
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PRESS RELEASE
TVC OSUN CORRESPONDENCE LIED, OSUN HEALTH CENTRES UP AND RUNNING
••• THIS IS JUNK JOURNALISM
My attention has been drawn to an outright false reportage on the operational status of health centres in Osun state, which was aired on TVC last night. The report is not only a figment of the imagination of the reporter but conveyed the political sentiment of the TVC’s reporter in Osun state, Mr Rafiu Hammed, which is against every known ethics of journalism.
It is quite disheartening that a journalist would sacrifice the ethics of his work, which emphasises truthful reportage, to pursue a political agenda by exploiting the TVC platform to deliberately push out false narrative to the public. It bears stressing that at no time was any centre in Osun state shutdown as falsely portrayed by Mr Hameed in his report. This may be why Mr Hammed could not provide a single video of a single health centre not operational during working hours in his false reportage.
Videos of the court-sacked YES or NO officials who are illegally occupying councils in Osun state visiting PHCs as they have no job to do, abounds on the internet, and we wonder how Mr Hameed missed any of these or could it be he pretended not to be aware to sell his false narrative. Only recently, Governor Ademola Adeleke toured some health centres in Osun state, which was widely covered by the media in the state, further puncturing the lies peddled by Mr Hameed in his report.
It is worth stating that health is a very sensitive sector, which should not be politicised as Mr Hammed intends to do with his false reportage. It is our considered view that the Management of the TVC to rein him in so as not to project the media outlet wrongly to the public because the essence of journalism is to truthfully inform people not misinform them.
Even in times of war, health centres are not closed, and so, Mr Hammed’s allusion that health centres in Osun state are closed can only be the echo of the opposition campaign of falsehood in the state in a bid to misrepresent situation to the public, especially those who are not in the state at the moment. That is dangerous and clearly against the ethics of journalism.
We are afraid that Mr Hammed’s attempt to politicise health may endanger the lives of the people, especially pregnant women who access the healthcare system free-of-charge in those centres, due to his false reportage. This is very unprofessional and capable of causing unnecessary apprehension for the public, which negates the essence of journalism.
While we don’t have any issue with Mr Hammed political choice, we expected him to abide by the ethics of his work by reporting true events and not manufactured lies just to portray the PDP-led government wrongly to the public. It is for this reason that we ask the public to discountenance the report of Mr Hammed on TVC as it is false and doesn’t represent the true situation of things on ground in Osun state.
Osun health centres are open and continues to serve the health needs of the public at the grassroot. In fact, the Osun State Government is currently implementing the rehabilitation of the remaining PHCs in the state to add to the 200 PHCs fully rehabilitated and equipped last year. So, there is no truth whatsoever in the claim that health centres in Osun state are closed. The lie is the invention of enemies of the state, but the public are rest assured that they will not succeed.
Signed:
Dr. Akindele Adekunle,
Special Adviser to the Osun State Governor on Public Health
23/03/2025
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