ASABA/Nigeria: The Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor of Delta State, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, said he will work in collaboration with the Delta State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, to weed the journalism profession of quacks, fakes and professionally incompetent practitioners.
He made this statement on Wednesday 21st August, 2019, while paying homage to the Council Executive at the NUJ Temporary Press Centre, DDPA, and Asaba.
Ifeajika, who frowned at the conduct of mostly the new breed journalists in town, insisted that he would work with the council’s template to fight quackery from the profession with a view to bringing back the glory of the past.
He however harped on the need for training and retraining, adding that body and soul he would synergize with the union to reduce quackery to the barest minimum while at the same time initiate training programmes for the actual practitioners.
Meanwhile, the CPS gave a nod to the council’s demand to review the building proposal for NUJ Secretariat with a view to speeding up the completion.
He also acceded to the call for a conducive media friendly environment for journalists in the state to practice, adding that it was the duty of government to encourage press freedom right and safety of practitioners as they carry out their statutory functions to society.
He affirmed that as honest and practical Governor Ifeanyi Okowa had always exemplified, he would be more than ever ready to ensure that.
“I have come to pay homage to the fathers of journalism in the State. The whole essence of this visit is to engage the Union in interaction with a view to finding a common ground to work together.
“We are all practitioners who can hold our heads high up like other professionals; we can’t afford to make ourselves inferior as journalists. However, it’s a sad commentary that NUJ is taking the back stage from the front roll which it was known to have occupied in the scheme of things.
“Talking about our Secretariat, I assure you it won’t be an abandoned project, because it will be a glory that the man who started it should complete it,” the CPS submitted.
Earlier in his address of welcome to the visiting CPS, the NUJ Chairman, Comrade Michael Ikeogwu gave a rundown of what had transpired in NUJ since he took over the mantle of leadership in June 2017.
He nonetheless, pledged for a cordial synergy and partnership with CPS in order to leave a legacy of achievement in NUJ Delta State Council.
Ikeogwu therefore, appealed to Ifeajika as a grounded practitioner to assist the council in pushing through most of the proposals before the media friendly governor, adding that it was imperative for the media to take its pride of place in the state as the Fourth Estate of the Realm.
