‘Professionalism Is Paramount In Your Duties’, Says Uduaghan To Journalists At Warri NUJ Press/Awards Week
The Oasis Reporters
March 23, 2022
By Aloysius Okerieke, Warri
… As Nigeria presses towards elections in 2023, Uduaghan urges journalism devoid of undue sensationalism
..urges government to pay attention to media outlets outside Asaba
Former governor of Delta state, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan has charged Journalists in the state to be more professional in their job as the 2023 general elections draw near.
He gave this charge during the NUJ Warri Press Week and Award ceremony held today in Warri, Delta state.
Speaking on the topic, 2023 Elections and The Role Of The Media, Dr. Uduaghan used the occasion to call on the state government to pay attention to the media outlets outside the state capital, Asaba, noting that the correspondents who ply their trade in other cities like Oleh, Ughelli, Sapele etc go through a lot of challenges and are very vital to the government in Asaba, thus deserving of equal attention.
Furthermore, Uduaghan advised that journalists should avoid sensationalism in their profession. He however frowned at the poor remuneration given to journalists and appealed to media houses to pay their workers better wages.
He also noted that it is more expensive to retract a story to say it is a lie after being published and tasks journalists and media houses to move round the state during the forthcoming 2023 general elections to report facts and strive to publish the truth at all times.
” Journalists should not wait for stories written or published by their colleagues as such stories can be rewritten to suit the interest of that journalist. I appeal to the media to try as much as possible to write true stories so that their stories will not be trashed at the end. They should try to balance their stories before going to press”.
He used the occasion to hail the electoral act in the area of electronic voting which would go a long way to produce credible elections, come 2023.
Other speakers at the event were former Federal Permanent Secretary and former Nigerian Ambassador to Sweden, Denmark and Norway, Ambassador Godknows Boladei Igali who chaired the occasion.
Equally there was the former minister of state for education, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, who spoke on the topic 2023 Elections and Security Challenges, and a host of others.
The union also gave awards to deserving members of the society who have distinguished themselves in their various fields of endeavour.
