Media houses and their practitioners from different parts of the country have been advised to devoid stories that would cause instability, rancor, loggerhead among people of different ethnic and religious colouration.
They say media, been the fourth realm have a key role to play in maintaining peace development in the country, and also believed that if the media is not bias, nowhere crisis would be found in the country
This was according to various speakers in Kaduna at the 10th Annual Ramadan lecture put together by the Muslim Media Publishers Association of Nigeria (MMPAN), themed “Peace and Human Development in Nigeria, the role of Media Practitioners in Nigeria”.
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Garba Abdulkarim Kumo, an administrator at the Ahmadu Bello University, also a one-time journalist noted that the long-time problem the country is been faced is as a result of some of the non-professionalism found in the media today.
“It is your responsibility as a media man, media house to kill a story that will create a problem. If you don’t do that, that story can go to the extent of causing Chaos in the country. We are sorry that media has gone to that stage that media house is taking a side in sentimental reportage.”
Kumo lamented most of the negative stories which come into the public causes more damage and disunity in the society, said media must always be neutral not minding their religion or ethnic colouration
Also, General overseer, Christ Evangelist, and life intervention ministry, pastor Yohanna Buru who was a speaker at the event also tasked the Muslim journalist not to detest in passing across the message of love, peace through the media
Pastor Buru appreciated the effort of the media as an agent of peace.
Meanwhile, at the occasion, there was clamour for publishing of newspaper in the northern region, as it is begging for more newspaper
A veteran Journalist, who was the chairman at the Occasion, Mr. Tajudeen Ajibade reiterated that “Problems should not be created for the country or one’s area, but what we are saying is that the north lacks newspaper in Nigeria, and we needed our people to come out to quench the publish taste.
“Let them published and be dammed, why must paper in the north die. The establishment of newspaper dies, the citizen dies”, he stressed
They have all urged both the southern and the northern media house to deploy professionalism in their reportage as that is the one way to finding lasting peace in the country.
