Kebbi State Ministry of Information and Culture, in collaboration with the State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, has organized a one day workshop for working journalists on role of the media before and after the 2023 general election.
Speaking while declaring the workshop open, Secretary to the government of the state, Babale Umar Yauri, said government was aware of the critical role of the media in ensuring credible and fair elections through well balanced reportage as political activities are gathering momentum.
The Secretary to the government of the state, draw the attention of journalists on being careful in their reports considering the security situation in the country.
He therefore called on journalists at all levels to put all hands on deck to safe guard the interest of the nation and ensure a peaceful transition in 2023.
“At the end of the training, it is expected that, participants apart from understanding the dos and don’ts should be able to appreciate the impact of their journalistic knowhow on reporting development”.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Culture, Garba Hamisu Zuru, said issues of training and retraining of journalists must to be considered to enable practitioners play their role appropriately without conflicting interest.
He appealed to working journalists to report actualities, correctly and in accordance to the laws of the land as 2023 elections approaches.
He appealed to the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to avoid undue intimidation and harassment of journalists carrying out their legitimate duties and to cooperate with the media practitioners to make the job easier in the interest of the nation.
The Zonal Vice President of the NUJ, Zone A’ Comrade Tukur Umar, thanked Kebbi state government for training working journalists in the state on their role in 2023 elections.
He cautioned journalists on the need to conduct their reportage with professionalism during elections and not to be partisan and tribalistic.
Papers were presented by the Department of State Security DSS, Police and the Independent Electoral Commission INEC, on the role of the media during and after elections.
Abdullahi Tukur