Chukwudi Nweje; Lawrence Enyoghasu

The Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, on Friday urged Nigerians to guard the country’s democracy jealously and shun acts that could truncate it. He gave the advice in Lagos while speaking at the 4th Anniversary Lecture of The Niche Newspapers

The theme of the lecture is: “Development Reporting and Hysteria Journalism in Nigeria”. Represented by Sen. Ben Murray-Bruce, Saraki said democracy was the best form of government and urged citizens to preserve it at all costs.  The Senate President pointed out that though the system was yet to be perfect, democracy was still the best way to realise the country’s development aspirations. “We must preserve democracy at all costs. It is the duty of everyone, all the citizens of the country. No matter the problems we are facing, democracy is still the best form of government to guarantee development “, he said.

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Saraki said the media had contributed to the survival of democracy in the country through agenda setting and playing the role of a watchdog. He urged the media not to relent on its efforts at promoting the country’s development and making Nigeria a better place.

The Senate President described Wednesday’s invasion of th  Senate and snatching of the mace by hoodlums as primitive and disgraceful. He said the incident was an assault on the legislature and a threat to democracy and security. Saraki, however, thanked the media for rising to the occasion by reporting the incident in real time, saying the intervention helped to highlight the threat.

The Saraki said media had a big role to play in leadership and urged it to always play its role to improve the Democratic process.  In his speech, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Mr Kingsley Moghalu described the media as an essential component of the country’s development. He, however, expressed the regret that the media had not been sufficiently playing the role of promoting development.