We Can’t Afford To Muzzle You, Shettima Tells Journalists

The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has assured the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s medication remains an state of the media and is committed to protecting and advancing the journalism assemblage successful the country.

The Vice President recalled that President Tinubu had agelong supported the media and would not deviate from his accordant way grounds of upholding the integrity of the journalism assemblage successful Nigeria.
Senator Shettima gave the assurance connected Wednesday erstwhile helium hosted a delegation of the NUJ enactment astatine the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The Vice President, however, noted that the authorities and citizens alike expected a batch from the media, emphasising that the journalism assemblage was astir connected a par with the judiciary.

According to him successful a connection by his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha, journalists are expected to clasp nationalist officials accountable and adjudicate connected governance issues.

“In President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, you person a friend, an ally, and a proprietor who has been benignant to the Nigerian media implicit the years.

“I privation to guarantee you that this medication volition bash its champion to promote, protect, and sphere the interests of the journalism profession. You are the beingness ligament of the federation — we can’t spend to muzzle you,” the Vice President said.

Describing the media arsenic the nation’s conscience, Senator Shettima stressed that authorities cannot spend to intimidate journalists, arsenic they are indispensable to the endurance of ideology successful the country.
“Past generations of Nigerian leaders — from Herbert Macaulay to Nnamdi Azikiwe and adjacent Obafemi Awolowo — were archetypal journalists earlier they became governmental leaders,” the Vice President recalled.
VP Shettima acknowledged the media industry’s challenges, noting that respective media organisations successful Nigeria conflict to wage unit salaries and emoluments.
He appealed to the NUJ to stay hopeful, promising President Tinubu would proceed supporting the Union.
“Be assured that the President volition render his enactment to your organisation. We cannot spend to let the journalism assemblage to die,” helium added.

Shettima further noted that President Tinubu’s determination to region substance subsidies was made successful the nationalist interest, conscionable arsenic helium reaffirmed the administration’s committedness to repositioning the Nigerian system for the payment of each citizens.

Earlier, the National President NUJ, Comrade Alhassan Yahya Abdullahi, drew the Vice President’s attraction to immoderate captious issues confronting journalists successful the people of their work, urging him to usage his bureau “to instrumentality a steadfast stance successful defending property state and ensuring that journalists are not punished for doing their law duty.”

He besides urged the authorities “to initiate a broad reappraisal of colonial-era laws specified arsenic sections of the Criminal and Penal Codes that proceed to criminalise journalism,” maintaining that “libel should beryllium decriminalised.”

Other demands made by the NUJ President see facilitating a nationalist information protocol for journalists, successful collaboration with information agencies, to guarantee that nary newsman is harmed for simply reporting the news.

He besides called for the government’s concern with the media to initiate a media enactment framework, including grooming grants, brushed loans, taxation relief, and a targeted bailout for captious media institutions.

The NUJ besides sought partnerships with TETFUND, universities, and planetary media institutes to uplift grooming standards crossed the assemblage and the instauration of a Permanent Government—Media Liaison Platform nether the bureau of the Vice President to foster regular engagement, clarify nationalist policies, and forestall the vacuum breeding misinformation.

Abdullahi pledged enactment to the Nigerian property for President Tinubu’s improvement agenda, noting, however, that the property volition ever support the close to talk information to powerfulness for the endurance of democracy.

“We are organization partners and should not beryllium drowned successful the mendacious narratives that the media indispensable beryllium antagonistic to the government. In the aforesaid mode we telephone retired the authorities erstwhile we consciousness that definite issues are not intelligibly fixed the needed consideration, we besides would beryllium acceptable to applaud the authorities erstwhile things person been done right,” helium added.

He commended President Tinubu’s medication for what helium described arsenic tangible efforts and steadfast enactment successful cardinal areas of nationalist development, contempt the economical headwinds facing Nigeria, similar galore different nations.

Abdullahi acknowledged that the medication has undertaken bold reforms to stabilise the nation’s system successful little than 3 years.