NUJ President urges journalists to speak out against insecurity in Nigeria

Mr Chris Isiguzo, the National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), on Saturday urged media practitioners to speak against insecurity facing the country to enable the Federal Government to tackle it decisively.

Isiguzo made the call in Minna, Niger, during the 2021 press week/award ceremony organised by the state council of the union.

“There is the need for us as journalists to speak against all forms of insecurity and criminality we are facing in Nigeria today.

“This will prompt the federal government to tackle the menace decisively,” he said.

Isiguzo advised journalists in the country to communicate in such a way that the security challenges would be surmounted by government instead of worsening the situation.

“We must protect Nigeria because we don’t have any other place to call home.

“You can never be comfortable in a foreign land the way you will be in your own land,” he said.

The NUJ national president assured the people of the country that the media practitioners would continue to work with government for the protection and development of the nation.

“I want to assure you all that we will continue to be the voice of the voiceless and the conscience of the nation,” he said.

He decried the worsening security situation in the country and said that it was threatening national unity.

“The worsening insecurity we are facing is threatening our national life,” he said.

Isiguzo urged the government to do more in protecting the lives and property of the citizens in order to ensure unity and development of the country.

“The primary purpose of any government is to protect the lives and property of its citizens,” he said.

Similarly, Niger state Gov. Abubakar Bello said that the state government was doing everything possible to equip its media organisations to ensure maximum output from journalists operating in the state.

Bello, represented by the Commissioner for Water Resources, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman, enjoined newsmen to always follow the ethics of the profession in carrying out their jobs toward unity and progress of the country.

Earlier, Mr Abdull Idris, the state Chairman of NUJ, appealed to the state government to fulfill its promise of delivering the vehicle it approved for the council.

“We appeal to his Excellency, the executive governor of Niger state, Alhaji Abubakar Bello, to fulfill the promise of delivering the bus he approved for us.

“Sir, we need the bus to carry out our daily operations, especially now that we are planning to establish a school for the NUJ in Niger state,” he said.