{"id":3091,"date":"2023-10-10T19:54:39","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T19:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=3091"},"modified":"2023-10-10T19:54:39","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T19:54:39","slug":"information-minister-pledges-collaboration-with-nuj-assures-press-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2023\/10\/10\/information-minister-pledges-collaboration-with-nuj-assures-press-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Information Minister Pledges Collaboration With NUJ, Assures Press Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, says the\u00a0 Federal Government is committed to press freedom and will collaborate with the NUJ to provide conducive environment for journalists to operate.<\/div>\n
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The minister said this was necessary to ensure the transformation of Nigeria in line with the vision of President Bola Tinubu administration.<\/div>\n
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Idris stated this when the National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Dr Chris Iziguzo, visited him on Tuesday in Abuja.<\/div>\n
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According to him, the NUJ has in its 55 years history as a professional organisation, demonstrated competence and patriotism for the sake of Nigeria.<\/div>\n
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He added that the union was one of the most important stakeholders contributing to the sustenance of democracy in the country.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe Ministry of Information and National Orientation is the regulatory body of all those within the media industry in the country.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI assure you that the ministry will continue to perform that oversight function for the benefit of all, because we are in this journey together.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe administration of President Bola Tinubu will provide the most conducive environment for journalists to practice their profession.<\/div>\n
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\u201cTinubu is against the censorship of media outlets in this country,\u201d Idris said.<\/div>\n
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The minister urged media practitioners in the country to be patriotic in the discharge of their responsibilities.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWith freedom also comes responsibility. It is important that practitioners also check and check again for whatever they put out there for the Nigerian public to consume.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt is not helpful when some media outlets put out information that is not factual or that is intended to disparage or to create disharmony among the Nigerian people.<\/div>\n
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\u201cMuch as the Federal Government is interested and in fact committed to ensuring press freedom, it is also important that practitioners know that, that freedom comes with responsibility.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThere will be no room for censorship in this administration. The Nigerian press would not be gagged,\u201d Idris said.<\/div>\n
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The minister urged the NUJ to support the Federal Government in its attempt at repositioning the country and reorienting Nigerians to always put the nation first.<\/div>\n
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According to him, the collaboration is necessary for the\u00a0development, peace, progress, unity and transformation of the country.<\/div>\n
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The minister assured the NUJ that the challenge of non remittance of check-off dues of its members would be looked into and addressed.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI am here to ensure that all practicing journalists in this country have a level playing ground and a good environment to operate.<\/div>\n
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\u201cMy tenure here will be unsuccessful if at the end of the day, journalists don\u2019t feel safe to practice their profession,\u201d Idris said.<\/div>\n
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Earlier, Iziguzo said Idris\u2019\u00a0extensive experience in the media landscape should guide him to remain committed to the principles that underpin the journalism profession.<\/div>\n
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The NUJ National President urged the minister to address the challenges confronting the media industry in Nigeria.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt is a landscape fraught with complexities, where the ideals of press freedom, access to information, and the safety and security of journalists often find themselves at the crossroads.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe economic burden imposed by the high cost of production of newspapers by operators is an added layer of difficulty.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThis is in addition to the persistent harassment and interference from regulatory bodies, including the National Broadcasting Commission.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThese are challenges that demand our collective attention,\u201d Iziguzo said.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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He said the NUJ believed that Idris\u2019 tenure was a unique opportunity to address the challenges head-on, and usher in an era of collaboration between the Ministry and the Union.<\/div>\n
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Iziguzo said the NUJ envisioned a partnership that transcends the conventional boundaries of cooperation.<\/div>\n
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\u201cA partnership founded on a shared commitment to safeguarding the principles that define the essence of journalism in our country.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe pursuit of press freedom, safety and security of Journalists, and addressing the economic impediments faced by media operators are aspirations that bind us together in this common cause,\u201d Iziguzo added.<\/div>\n
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He also appealed to the minister to help in addressing the challenge of non remittance of check-off dues to the union.<\/div>\n
Iziguzo was accompanied by the President of National Association of Women Journalists, Mrs Ladi Bala and Executive members of NUJ FCT Council<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, says the\u00a0 Federal Government is committed to press freedom and will collaborate with the NUJ to provide conducive environment for journalists to operate. The minister said this was necessary to ensure the transformation of Nigeria in line with the vision of President Bola Tinubu administration. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":3092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-3091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3091"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3093,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3091\/revisions\/3093"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}