Journalists have been charged to continue to contribute their quota to national development through balanced reportage of events and promotion of fair hearing to all parties especially as 2019 general election approaches so as to sustain peaceful and harmonious relationship among different tribes that make up the nation.
Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, gave the charge at the 6th Annual Ramadan Lecture of the State Chapter of the Correspondents’ Chapel, Nigeria Union of Journalists held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta.
Amosun represented by the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Dayo Adeneye said that the media through its functions largely determined issues and ideas for the public, advising them to be fair and just in their reportage towards entrenching good governance.
He described the chapel as a worthy partner, who is always ready to give due publicity to the lofty programmes of the present administration in the State, stressing that government expects more suggestions and constructive criticisms when necessary from the chapel.
The Governor added that the present administration remained committed to providing democratic dividends to the teeming populace as espoused under the mission to rebuild the State.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the occasion, who is also the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Suraju Ishola Adekunbi encouraged journalists to continue to exhibit high sense of responsibility by being objective and fair in the discharge of their duties so as to ensure sustenance of good governance in the State and nation at large.
Adekunbi underscored the need for them as custodians of information to continue to uphold the tenets and ethical canons of their noble profession, describing them as the watchdogs of the society.
“Adequate and fair reportage of government activities and programmes targeted at bringing governance to the citizenry must always follow the principles of journalism practice”, he remarked.
In his lecture, the guest speaker, Prof. Abdul-Taofeek Abdul-Azeez, posited that journalists as members of the fourth estate of the realm that set agenda for the public, should ensure accountability and transparency in the society with a charge to them to shun unethical practices that could truncate good governance.
He tasked them to be committed to the promotion of truth and justice and always serve as a mediator between the government and the people.
Packaged by Hazeez Ayansola
