Bauchi Govt to rebuild NUJ secretariat

The Bauchi State government has said it will rebuild the state secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to enable journalists carry out their assignments and discharge their responsibilities efficiently.

This was disclosed by the State Deputy Governor, Senator Baba Tela, while declaring open the State Council of NUJ’s 2020 press week/lecture, which was held at the Development Exchange Center in Bauchi on Tuesday.

Tela, who was the special guest of honour, said that the state government and the journalists have enjoyed harmonious working relationship since the inception of the present administration, pointing out that journalists in the state are partners in progress.

The deputy governor also urged journalists to be objective, accurate and balanced in their reportage in order to protect the integrity of their profession.

In his words, “I’d like to remind you of the need to uphold objectivity, fairness, balance and accuracy and the hallmark of the journalism profession in order to maintain the credibility of the profession and to safeguard the country from the menace of fake news, social media speeches that are gradually becoming the order of the day.

“And I think this is where we have a lot of work before us. This fake news, social media and many others have become so uncontrollable.

“Some governments across the world, including that of Nigeria, have introduced legislation to limit social media, fake news into the society, but unfortunately, it is not enforceable. Somehow, we have not been able to enforce it.”