From Wilson Bako Lafia
The Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, Mr Ibrahim Adara has commended the Nasarawa State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) for uniting members in the state.
The CPS stated this Monday in Lafia during a familiarisation visit to State Executive Council (SEC) members of the NUJ at the Press Centre Lafia.
According to him, the steps taken by NUJ towards uniting the members of the Correspondents’ Chapel is commendable and should be sustained to ensure that journalists are truly united in the interest of the profession.
The CPS sought for partnership with journalists so as to succeed in projecting the activities of the government.
He explained that the reason for the visit was to seek partnership of journalists in providing adequate and objective coverage of the activities of the state government for public consumption
He said his principal has already demonstrated goodwill to work with journalists by appointing some of them into key positions in the administration.
He then assured journalists in the state that he would operate an open door policy where all journalists can have free and direct access to him on any clarification that would help them in doing their job.
Mrs. Adara called on journalists to always adhere to the ethics of the profession by always been objective and ensure they balance their reports in the overall interest of the state.
He said as watchdogs of the society, journalists can criticise the government, but it should be constructive, truthful, and factual with the view of influencing the government to perform better.
Responding, NUJ Chairman in the state Salihu Alkali thanked the CPS for the visit and assured him of the total support of journalists in the state towards projecting the activities of government.
“We believe in partnership for the overall development of the state and we want to assure you and the state government that we will work hard in line with our professional ethics to project the activities of the state government,” Alkali said.
The NUJ Chairman appealed to the CPS to always carry journalists along and support them where necessary to enable them carry out their duties efficiently.
“We have a lot of needs at the Press Centre ranging from welfare issues, lack of electricity, security at the centre, needs for training and retaining of members among others and we want the government to assist,” The Chairman appealed.
