The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has assured the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration stays an ally of the media and is dedicated to defending and advancing the journalism career within the nation.
The Vice President recalled that President Tinubu had lengthy supported the media and wouldn’t deviate from his constant monitor file of upholding the integrity of the journalism career in Nigeria.
Senator Shettima gave the reassurance on Wednesday when he hosted a delegation of the NUJ management on the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Vice President, nonetheless, famous that the federal government and residents alike anticipated rather a lot from the media, emphasising that the journalism career was virtually on a par with the judiciary.
In keeping with him in a press release by his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha, journalists are anticipated to carry public officers accountable and adjudicate on governance points.
“In President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, you’ve a pal, an ally, and a proprietor who has been sort to the Nigerian media through the years.
“I wish to guarantee you that this administration will do its greatest to advertise, shield, and protect the pursuits of the journalism career. You’re the life wire of the nation — we are able to’t afford to muzzle you,” the Vice President stated.
Describing the media because the nation’s conscience, Senator Shettima pressured that authorities can’t afford to intimidate journalists, as they’re indispensable to the survival of democracy within the nation.
“Previous generations of Nigerian leaders — from Herbert Macaulay to Nnamdi Azikiwe and even Obafemi Awolowo — have been first journalists earlier than they grew to become political leaders,” the Vice President recalled.
VP Shettima acknowledged the media business’s challenges, noting that a number of media organisations in Nigeria wrestle to pay employees salaries and emoluments.
He appealed to the NUJ to stay hopeful, promising President Tinubu would proceed supporting the Union.
“Be assured that the President will render his assist to your organisation. We can’t afford to permit the journalism career to die,” he added.
Shettima additional famous that President Tinubu’s resolution to take away gasoline subsidies was made within the nationwide curiosity, simply as he reaffirmed the administration’s dedication to repositioning the Nigerian financial system for the good thing about all residents.
Earlier, the Nationwide President NUJ, Comrade Alhassan Yahya Abdullahi, drew the Vice President’s consideration to some crucial points confronting journalists in the midst of their work, urging him to make use of his workplace “to take a agency stance in defending press freedom and making certain that journalists will not be punished for doing their constitutional obligation.”
He additionally urged the federal government “to provoke a complete assessment of colonial-era legal guidelines resembling sections of the Felony and Penal Codes that proceed to criminalise journalism,” sustaining that “libel ought to be decriminalised.”
Different calls for made by the NUJ President embrace facilitating a nationwide security protocol for journalists, in collaboration with safety companies, to make sure that no reporter is harmed for merely reporting the information.
He additionally referred to as for the federal government’s partnership with the media to provoke a media assist framework, together with coaching grants, gentle loans, tax aid, and a focused bailout for crucial media establishments.
The NUJ additionally sought partnerships with TETFUND, universities, and worldwide media institutes to uplift coaching requirements throughout the career and the creation of a Everlasting Authorities—Media Liaison Platform beneath the workplace of the Vice President to foster common engagement, make clear nationwide insurance policies, and stop the vacuum breeding misinformation.
Abdullahi pledged assist to the Nigerian press for President Tinubu’s growth agenda, noting, nonetheless, that the press will all the time keep the best to talk fact to energy for the survival of democracy.
“We’re institutional companions and shouldn’t be drowned within the false narratives that the media have to be antagonistic to the federal government. In the identical means we name out the federal government once we really feel that sure points will not be clearly given the wanted consideration, we additionally can be able to applaud the federal government when issues have been completed proper,” he added.
He recommended President Tinubu’s administration for what he described as tangible efforts and agency assist in key areas of nationwide growth, regardless of the {economic} headwinds dealing with Nigeria, like many different nations.
Abdullahi acknowledged that the administration has undertaken daring reforms to stabilise the nation’s financial system in lower than three years.
