NBC Tasks Media On Fair Reportage Of Boundary Issues

The National Boundary Commission (NBC) has urged the media to disseminate information that encourages unity in border communities and boundary matters.

The director-general of NBC, Adamu Adaji, made the call during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja.

He said border issues were delicate that stirred emotions from the affected people and must be reported without bias or favoritism.

Adaji said the media was accountable to the general public as it was their responsibility to provide the people with authentic information, stressing that media practitioners should avoid sensational reporting.

 “I appeal to the media to refrain from sensational reporting. I must commend your activities on the reportage of boundary issues. You represent a very important segment of the society; you interact daily with the people; you get information and the public relies on you to disseminate this information.

“Your views and opinions on government policies and programmes are taken very seriously by the public. As a result of that, we are encouraging you to be positive in your reportage and concentrate on issues that would unite the people instead of things that tend to cause division,” he said.

The director-general said the commission had resolved about 43 of the 86 inter-state boundary disputes in Nigeria, adding that the commission would continue in its efforts to emplace pillars for more visibility of the boundary demarcation.

He however revealed that some states have not been cooperative in addressing their border challenges and called on state governments to address issues of community ownership of boundaries by sensitising the residents on the governance of the areas which is part of the focal of the state government.

He said despite the challenges encountered with some states in bringing an end to boundary disagreements, the Commission has been able to record successes in some other states like Kwara/Osun, Lagos/Ogun, Adamawa/Taraba, Katsina/Jigawa, Benue/Cross-river, amongst others.

“I call on the states to kindly establish their State Boundary Committee as well as the Local Government Boundary Committee in their areas. They should be made functional,” he said.