2023: Protect Govt’s Secrets, Avoid Hate Reportage, Emmanuel Tasks Journalists

Ahead of the 2023 general election, governor of Akwa Ibom State Udom Emmanuel, has cautioned journalists against engaging in adversarial journalism, noting that such unethical practice under the misconception of free speech, could overheat the polity and endanger the polls and the outcome.

Making a case for ” a responsible press that complements governance for the good of the society and humanity at large”, the governor charged the leadership of the union led by Comrade Chris Isiguzo, to impress it on practitioners to live up to the expectations and demands of ethical journalism.

Speaking through his commissioner for information and strategy, Comrade Iniobong Ememobong, at the end of the 2022 Press Week of the Akwa Ibom State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Uyo, the state capital, Emmanuel stressed the need to prioritize the interests of the state by deploying tact and patriotism in the discharge of their duties.

He said, “Government operations, as seen globally, just like a company’s trade secrets, is made to maintain some level of secrecy, is simply for protection of vital information and policies, without intentions of depriving the public of good. Also, that the media tends to see this from a different prism or spectacles does not annul the fact that both entities are working towards public good.

“Those who seek to govern, on the one hand, must have the maturity to understand that while it is their duty to preserve the trade secrets of their governance, it is also a duty to keep the governed adequately informed, while the journalists on the other hand, must also be conscious that government operations is not aimed at short changing the public.”

He, therefore, commended what he described as “the responsible leadership of the NUJ in Akwa Ibom State” led by Amos Etuk, and appreciated the union’s partnership with his administration, even as he sued for maintenance of the cordial and mutually responsible working relationship in the interest of the state.

The chairman at the event and former director general, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr Dakuku Peterside, lauded the ingenuity of journalists in identifying news worthy information, while harping on their duty and responsibilities to “defend democracy by reporting facts and making efforts to hold leaders to account at all times.”

On his part, the state chairman, NUJ, Comrade  Etuk, commended the cordial government-media relationship of the administration, and appreciated the support of well-meaning citizens within and outside the state for the union.