A renowned politician in Rivers State and former Executive Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA (ONELGA), Hon Austin Doctor Ahiamadu is calling on the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to ensure that its members adhere strictly to the ethics of the journalism practice.
Hon Austin Ahiamadu gave the charge in a felicitations message to the NUJ to mark 2022 World Press Freedom Day celebration today.
The APC chieftain in a statement by his media team, expressed dismay over the misinformation (fake news) emanating from some sessions of the media, which, he said is capable of causing crisis in the nation, advising the leadership of NUJ to tackle the scourge by reprimanding erring members to serve as deterrent to others.
The statement urged the NUJ to prevail on media houses to ensure regular training and retraining of their staff to achieve international best practices.
The political leader, who noted that the role of the media in enthroning democracy in the country could not be over emphasized, charged practitioners to engage more in writing about issues that would promote nation building rather than those that would divide the nation.
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The former ONELGA council boss enjoined Journalists to use their profession and talents to hold government officials and other public servants to account.
Austin Ahiamadu pleaded with the media to support, promote and project the Presidential aspiration of the Transportation Minister, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, following his credentials and impressive achievements as a former governor and now best performing Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Austin Ahiamadu tasked media practitioners in the country to shun ethnic, political and socio-religious sentiment in the discharge of their duty but uphold the principles of objectivity and fairness at all times.
Similarly, the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, is calling for support for the Press to enable them to effectively discharge their constitutional duties as the watchdog of the society.
It observed that Nigerian journalists fought very hard to achieve the nation’s democratic status and deserve a better deal, unlike the current situation where many of them struggle with poor conditions of service, censorship, harassment, intimidation, and in some cases, assassinations.
