JOE EFFIONG, UYO,
Media organizations in Nigeria have been challenged to take the responsibility of training and retraining of the workforce, especially the editorial staff, more seriously instead of the prevailing practice of abandoning such staff at the mercy of NGOs to update their professional knowledge.
They have also been enjoined to regularly publish their annual returns,as other responsible organizations do. in order to ensure administrative transparency and openness which they always advocate.
The Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of JournalistsThe (NUJ) Akwa Ibom State Council which said these in the communiques issued at the end of their 4-day Retreat, held From Sunday, 11th–Wednesday, 14th September, 2022, at Roses Regency Hotel and Suites, Wuye, Abuja, with the theme; In search of A Better Nigeria Through Responsible Journalism, observed that “lack of transparency, compliance with laws/regulations, threat of media channels, discrimination and lack of efforts, and, bullying and harassment at workplace constitute serious threat to the media.”
“The refusal or delay in regular payment of media worker’s entitlements does not only amount to abuse and harassment of the workers, but is also a deliberate act to subject such workers to economic insecurity which could engender unethical practice. Media organizations should provide adequate and appropriate security equipment and insurance to their staff covering violent conflict environments.”
The chapel advised state governments to stop taking more non concessionary loans using unrealistic windfall as collateral as such a practice has already mortgaged future generations of some states to perpetual and expensive loan servicing.
Signed by Dr Joe Effiong, Chairman, Communique Committee and Idongesit Ashameri, Chairpel Chairman, among others, the communique advised the Central Bank of Nigeria to always make available adequate and timely communication on monetary policy available to the media in order for such to be appropriately distilled to the public.
“The media should guard against alarmist or inflammatory headlining of stories on monetary and economic policies of the nation so as not to cause panicky activities in the economy, which could lead to avoidable rise in inflation.” The Chapel said.
It expressed concern at the absence of media representation in Akwa Ibom Public Procurement Committee, contrary to Akwa Ibom State Public Procurement Law 2013, as well as the inclusion of the controversial section, 32 (2) in the Akwa Ibom State Audit Commission Law 2021, contrary to Section 125 (6) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
While commending Akwa Ibom State government for latching on to the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS), which enables her to be one of the beneficiaries from the World Bank’s incentive scheme; the Chapel however said “it is disturbing that Akwa Ibom is not one of the 19 states that have so far signed on to the Open Government (OG) Partnership, which would have further strengthened reforms, reduced corruption, improved service delivery, built confidence with donors, and attracted alternative sources of development funding, especially now that revenue is really lean.”
Some of the papers presented at the Retreat were; The Place of the Media in Shaping Monetary Policies for Better Economy, by Prof. Uche Uwaleke, Chairman, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria; The Role of the Media in Budget Tracking, by Tijah Akpan, CEO, Policy Alert and Safety and Security of the Media in a Volatile Environment by CSP Vanderfan James Tersugh (retd). ENDS