on the 3rd of May every year. In a statement released this morning,
Yakubu Dogara – the Speaker of the House of Representatives, assured
Nigerians that the National Assembly will continue to enact laws that
will create a conducive environment for Journalism to thrive. The
statement read;
Today
is World Press Freedom Day. No society can grow without an active press
to monitor and report its activities, and the National Assembly will
continue to enact laws which will create a conducive environment for
journalism to thrive in Nigeria.
The
role the media plays in the development of a country as watchdog –
especially in a democracy – cannot be overemphasized, and I hereby call
on Nigerian media agencies/practitioners to partner with the present
administration to make its task of fighting corruption a success, not
only by objective reporting but through investigative journalism.
It
is disheartening that the Press Freedom Index ranked Nigeria 122 out of
180 countries examined. The House of Representatives, being aware that
the press must be free to truly be the watchdog of the society, will
continue to support measures to promote press freedom in Nigeria,
especially through laws that facilitate the practice of journalism such
as the Freedom of Information Act, which was passed by the National
Assembly in 2011.
The
media serves as one of the voices of democracy and I believe that beyond
all the roles played by all others, the media is far ahead in that it
keeps the citizens informed about what government is doing and that
enables them to hold public officials accountable, for instance, to the
promises that they made.
I
would like to urge practitioners to strive to ensure that there’s
always timely, accurate and balanced reportage, as opposed to situations
whereby some engage in brinkmanship or politicizing their content, as
such acts tend to endanger democracy, because in that way citizens
aren’t well informed.
360L
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