Dele Momodu, others tell critics, why Rufai Oseni is more friend than enemy

*By your hate for Rufai you lost another opportunity to get your election right – Media practitioner

By KEMI KASUMU

Media practitioners including the renowned journalist, Mr. Dele Momodu, has waded into issues of criticisms against ARISE TV’s This Morning programme co-anchor, Rufai Oseni.

The firebrand broadcasting journalist recently came under strong criticisms by ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)’s supporters over his style of holding leaders accountable and probity of politicians who seek “either election or selection” to rule the people, which particularly the PBATists wing of APC’s supporters club, who view Rufai’s style as anti-government posture.

But in the posts on their respectively verifiable Facebook pages on Friday and Monday, Publisher of Ovation Magazine, Mr. Dele Momodu, and Publisher of The DEFENDER Newspaper, Prince Bashir Adefaka, reacted to some of the criticisms which some of the critics did to the extent of boosting to generate more traffics for their maligning of the ever standing Oseni.

Remain brilliant and focused

In his own post, Momodu said there was nothing wrong with the the journalism style of Rufai, describing it as unique. He added that he made his post to encourage him to do more.

“I have read a lot of articles, essays, comments and commentaries about Rufai Oseni’s style of interviewing guests on ARISE NEWS TELEVISION… Majority of them have been quite venomous and downright acerbic… Does he deserve to be criticised? Why not? All of us who criticise others should expect people to get angry every now and then, but I don’t expect them to get so abusive.

“Anyway. I’m a big fan of @rufaioseni , warts and all. And the reason is simple. It is about his intellectual prowess. He is sound and confident. His style is unique to him and it fascinates or irritates his critics and admirers differently.

“I’m writing this to encourage him. He should remain brilliant and focused ????. GOD bless him mightily…” Dele Momodu wrote.

What a critic said

Attracted to the need for intervention by a critic’s anti-Rufai Oseni post on Monday, Prince Adefaka took his time to explain why the ARISE TV broadcasting journalist is more a friend than enemy.

The critic he simply called “a friend of mine” had written: “I think his Company sure knows who they invite for interview. His Company dare not invite werey to come for interview. As in werey ti o n gba lori e gan…and not just that, i mean someone who truly knows his job with a full sagacious and sagacity. And this bros on this picture act his usual way while the interview is going on?!

“Walai, na that day those behind the Camera go quickly call for a rare Break In Transmission, then opt for emergency 911. Anyway, he is a big time role model to some well known folks with PhDs sha,” he concluded.

Probing political leaders not anti-govt

But Prince Bashir Adefaka took advantage of the antagonistic post to explain some salient points people either know but are orienting not to know or do not know but he felt that they should know about the need for the journalism style of Rufai Oseni.

Replying he started by being flexible, “Lols. Brother, at this point, you and I need to get further closer than mere Facebook talk and comment. I see that you are posing some intellectual property materials more a time that mean you are fascinating enough to be engaged in discussion.”

Adefaka then got to business asking, “Do you think any werey (‘mad’ politician) will come to television station and create a scene? He will be doomed. Take that from me. You guys can say anything you like about Rufai Oseni but any sane Nigerian should not be abusive when people are doing their job about probity.

“Your hate for Rufai dates back to when he began to probe Tinubu’s source of wealth. Any sensible populace would queue behind him and ask that more politicians be brought on board for such media scrutiny of sources of their wealths.

“But, as usual, you all lost the yet another opportunity of making politicians who seek – either election or selection – to rule you be subjected to the court of the public where the journalists are the justices. This simply because of ethnicity or religion. That is why people will stay much longer in this hardship.

“Do you know how many things our political leaders have said publicly or through proxies in the last eight months to do or negative things which they have denied responsibility for but which turned out to be that when they tell us something in the open, they mean different thing entirely? It is the result of failure of Rufai’s critics. No how, people must earn and face the consequences of their actions.

“It should interest you that Rufai Oseni was alive on Arise TV for the eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari. Why did he not have issue with Buhari? I mean, why was it that questions he was positing to his men wete not aggravating your anger? The only Arise TV person that was trying to deride Buhari was Dr. Reuben Abati. But you all saw what became of Oga’s post-visit journalism practice after he entered Aso Rock, interviewed President Buhari directly and came out.

“Were you not aware that Tinubu allegedly spent N1 trillion for 2023 election? So, for asking for what Tinubu did to earn his money is the offence of Omo Ijebu, Rufai Oseni? Well, not because I am son-in-law of Ijebu but I must tell you that asking people not to be unfair to others is no longer a duty under a must,” he said.

Titus Ijoho also posted on Facebook,  “I may not like what Rufai Oseni does on his Arise Tv show but I like what he has done in his village.”