Editors under the aegis of All Nigeria Guild of Editors and other stakeholders in the media industry have vowed to resist the ongoing assault on press freedom in the country.
They spoke yesterday at the 18th All Nigerian Editors’ Conference (ANEC) in Owerri, the capital of Imo State. The president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mustapha Isa, charged the participants to shun divisive rhetoric and challenge any attempt to trample on press freedom.
According to him, editors were in the forefront of the passage of Freedom of Information (FoI) Law by the National Assembly to ensure accurate dissemination of information for the good of the country.
He assured Nigerians that the media would interrogate candidates for elective offices in 2023 general election and their manifestos on service delivery.
Isa called on politicians not to heat up the polity and to refrain from their current campaigns which are full of acrimonies to issue-based electioneering.
The NGE president maintained that editors play critical roles in the sustenance of democracy in the country, adding that there must be a free and fair election.
Isah said Imo is the first state in the South East zone to host the conference in the country and expressed gratitude to Governor Hope Uzodimma for the gesture.
He charged Nigerians to shun politicians who seek to divide the country, adding that editors were better positioned to interrogate the contestants.
The chairman of the event, Prof Stella Okunna, described the media as powerful, saying only the media has the capacity to gather, package and disseminate information to the people.
She said anywhere there was absence of the media, democracy would collapse.
She said, “Remove the media and democracy will die. The media are agenda setters.”
While noting that media practice is risky, Okunna appealed to the journalists to continue to be courageous to hold the leaders accountable.
The state governor, Hope Uzodimma in welcoming the editors declared Imo as a safe place even as he maintained that the state has turned to destination for major events in the country.
Uzodimma described editors as genuine stakeholders and appealed to them to rise up to the responsibility of their duties, which include the sustenance of democracy saying they should resist attempts aimed at heating up the polity.
The governor said the role of editors were very critical against the backdrop of current political headlines and commentaries which panders towards divisiveness, threat to national security and sectional interests, few months to the conduct of the general election.
He cited cases of negative and unverified reports against the state, especially in development initiatives and social cohesion of Nigerians.
According to him, “This is the time to uphold ethical conduct and industry sanctions against professional misconduct.”
