Senator advises journalists to shun selfish politicians
NAN-H-73
Media
By Awayi Kuje
Lafia, July 10, 2017(NAN) Sen. Suleiman Adokwe (PDP-Nasarawa), has urged journalists to shun selfish politicians bent on plunging the nation into confusion.
Adokwe, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Culture and National Orientation, made the call at an interactive session with journalists in Lafia on Monday.
According to him, the media must wary of disgruntled politicians making all manner of utterances in order to promote sectional agenda to the detriment of national interests.
“The media has sacrificed a lot and have faced persecution in the past just to ensure the return to democracy in the country.
“So if the media was one of strong factors that ensured the return to democracy in Nigeria, why would they now allow some selfish politicians to use them against the people?
“If the media is caged then Nigeria democracy is gone; what else anyone can do without the media?”
The senator criticised what he described as stifling of the voice of the opposition in government-owned media in Nasarawa State.
“We are not just prevented from airing our views in the state’s owned media, but even private media was demolished by the government.
“The government has gone to the extent of demolishing private radio station in the state just to ensure that the voice of the opposition is silenced completely,” he added.
He recalled his tenure as Commissioner for Information in the state during which he ensured the opposition had the opportunity to air their views in the state owned radio and television stations.
Adokwe, who is representing Nasarawa South Senatorial District, also urged the people to live in peace for the overall development of the state.
In his contribution, a former Nigeria Ambassador to Poland, Amb. Samuel Gimba, appealed to journalists to play the role of defender of the common good by upholding their professional ethics.
Gimba, who is also a former permanent secretary in the state Ministry of Information, said no society could achieve speedy development without truth and justice for which the media must reflect in its reportage.
“As you are all aware that the media is one institution that there could be no meaningful development without it; the media is the mirror of the society; it is the voice of the voiceless and an important instrument for societal development.
“More than half of Nigerians cannot voice or project their voice; it is the media that voice out the voice of the voiceless.
“So I want to urge you to adhere strictly to the ethics of the profession in the interest of peace and national development,” he said. (NAN)
AKW/OSA/MST
Edited by Shittu Obassa/Muhammad Suleiman Tola