By Chukwudi Nweje
Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has asked the Federal Government to remove encumbrances that hinder journalists from discharging their duties as essential service providers critical for national development and unity.
It asked government, at all levels, to see the media as “partners in development and not as competitors or meddlesome interlopers, adding that seeing the media as partners in development will “help erase every form of suspicion and mistrust that have attended the relationship between governments and the media over the years.
The Guild lists the required government intervention to include, but not limited to, removal of tariffs on imported media consumables, including newsprint and broadcasting equipment; to protect jobs and also ensure the continued existence and operation of various media houses, be they print, electronic or new media.
The meeting emphasises the compelling need for government intervention to save the media from total collapse. The Guild specifically demands that government regards media as providing essential services critical for national development and unity, hence deserves to be treated like other essential services on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19.
This is contained in the communique of the Standing Committee meeting of the NGE held at the weekend in Enugu.
The Guild endorsed the position of Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria and Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, both of which have appealed to the Federal Government for financial intervention to ensure the media continue to discharge its constitutional duty, stressing that the survival of the media is essential in sustaining and deepening democracy.
“The media appears to have been excluded in virtually all government interventions, through such agencies as the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Bank of Industry, thus leaving the media industry to trudge on like an orphan,” NGE said.
The communique commended media owners, journalists and medical workers for their sacrifices, especially during the era of COVID-19.
“The standing committee acknowledges the sacrifices being made by media owners and journalists to sustain the survival of media businesses in these dire times; with the operating environment made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. The body of editors thanks medical and media workers, who against all odds and at the risk of their lives, continue to discharge their duties to the public by offering medical services and promoting public enlightenment through information gathering and dissemination.”
It appealed to the government and state actors to always recourse to relevant sections of the constitution which tasks the media with responsibility of holding public officers accountable to the people and charged journalists to always be professional in discharging their duties.
It congratulated the newly appointed Acting Inspector General of Police, Alkali Usman Baba and urged him to ensure the war against crimes and criminality, including terrorism, kidnapping and armed robbery, is not only won but, that the victory is sustained.