Top media practitioners in the country under the aegis of the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE) and various security agencies have agreed to work together to tackle insecurity in the country.
This was the fallout of discussions at the opening ceremony of the 17th All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) held in Abuja.
The theme of the conference is “Media in times of crises: resolving conflicts, achieving consensus.”
In his opening address, President of the Guild, Mustapha Isah, decried that insecurity is one of the major challenges facing Nigeria today, with every part of the country facing one form of crisis or the other.
“Every day, front pages of newspapers are replete with headlines bordering on insurgency, banditry, kidnappings on the highways and schools, farmers/herders clashes, as well as the activities of known and unknown gunmen. Lives are being lost, the economy is bleeding, and scarce resources, which ordinarily should have been used to address the nation’s infrastructure deficit, are being deployed to tackle the security challenges. The nation can’t continue like this.”
He said the media cannot afford to be aloof but must be part of the solution, adding that terrorists and bandits need publicity to sustain their nefarious activities and denying them that much needed oxygen will be beneficial to Nigeria.
Isah, therefore, challenged editors to rise from the conference with a resolve to be part of the solution, adding that the Nigerian media has a rich history of rising up in times of national challenges.
He also called on the relevant security agencies to urgently find Vanguard Newspapers’ National Assembly Correspondent, Tordue Henry Salem, who has been missing for over one week.
“We are worried and his family is traumatised. No effort should be spared in locating his whereabouts,” Isah added.
Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali and the Director General, State Services, Yusuf Magaji Bichi who were represented at the event, sought for more synergy with the media.
The IGP who was represented by Force Public Relations Officer FPRO, CP Frank Mba, appealed to the media to continue to help not just in reporting the crises but also diagnosing and making critical suggestions on how the crises can be dealt with.
The DGSS who was represented by spokesman of the Service, Dr Peter Afunanya charged the media to address unknown gunmen by their names.
“Call them by their names because like one of the speakers had earlier said, terrorism thrives on publicity,” he added.
In his address, Director General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency NIA, Amb. Ahmed Rufai Abubakar who was represented by Mr Emma Anzaku pointed out that security is the problem of all and all hands must be on deck to find solutions.
