Nyesom Wike does not attend interviews — he attends coronations. Every time he appears on Channels TV’s Politics Today, the FCT Minister storms in like a conqueror, drowns the anchor with noise, overrides every attempt at questioning, and turns the entire program into his pulpit. He does not come to be interrogated; he comes to dominate.
And disturbingly, he always gets away with it.
Seun Okinbaloye, the anchor, has failed — repeatedly — to rein in Wike’s combative outbursts. Instead of pressing him with hard questions, Seun folds. Instead of redirecting him, Seun surrenders. What should be a program of accountability becomes a one-man show: Wike shouting, Wike mocking, Wike pontificating, Wike unchecked.
This is not journalism. This is capitulation.
It now begs the question: Why does Wike enjoy such free rein on Politics Today? Is this a case of intimidation — or has money changed hands? Nigerians cannot ignore the pattern: other guests are grilled, interrupted, and challenged, but Wike is allowed to ride roughshod over the anchor and the platform.
Channels TV owes Nigerians an explanation, because credibility is at stake. Journalism is supposed to question power, not bow before it. If the media becomes an extension of a politician’s ego, then it has betrayed its core duty to the people.
If Seun cannot handle Wike, then Wike should no longer be invited. Period. To keep offering him airtime without accountability is to launder his arrogance at the expense of the truth.
Channels TV must choose: will Politics Today remain a stage for truth, or will it become Wike’s rented megaphone? Because Nigerians are watching, and history has no pity for journalists who sold out.
WHEN JOURNALISM BOWS TO WIKE
BY DARE ADELEKAN
