The federal government has reiterated commitment to protecting the rights of journalists and ensuring their safety and security.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who stated this in Abuja at the Press Freedom and Good Governance Awards 2024 organised by the Nigeria Union of Journalists, said the government would continue to provide an atmosphere of a free press and security for practising journalists across the country.
The information minister who was the chairman of the occasion, urged journalists to uphold the profession’s ethics, bearing in mind the theme of the 2024 World Press Freedom Day, “A Press for the Planet: Journalism in the Face of the Environmental Crisis."
In the face of the environmental crisis, the minister charged journalists to act as guardians of truth and champions of accountability, stressing that they illuminate environmental injustices, expose wrongdoing, and amplify the voices of those most affected by environmental degradation.
According to the minister, the theme of this year’s celebration “resonates deeply with President Bola Tinubu’s priority areas, which include restoring trust, reorienting national values, and creating an enabling environment for the media.”
He called on media practitioners in the country to guard their profession from the antics of fake news peddlers bent on tarnishing their image.
The minister said with the power to inform, educate, and inspire, the media has the unparalleled ability to ignite movements, elevate voices, and effectuate behavioural change toward the environment.
In his keynote address, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, pledged the readiness of the parliament to review laws and practices inhibiting the practice of journalism in the country.
Represented by the House spokesman, Akin Rotimi, the Speaker, who spoke on the theme, “The nexus between press freedom and good governance,” noted that as a recognition of the integral role the media plays in the sustenance of democracy, the 10th House prioritised press freedom in its legislative agenda.