Benue NUJ Urges Govt, Others To Engage Professional Journalists As Media Aides

George Kajo, Makurdi

The Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists, Benue State Council, Comrade Vincent Nyinongu has advised the management of Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and other organizations in the state to always engage the services professional media practitioners who know how to report issues objectively without casting aspersions on people.

Comrade Nyinongu gave the advice when he led members of the State Working Committee of the union on a familiarization visit to the Executive Secretary of the Agency, Dr Emmanuel Shior in Makurdi on Tuesday, noted that the high level of quackery in the system was worrisome.

He said only professional journalists has the expertise and acumen to handle sensitive issues at critical times such that can help build the image of government agencies and organizations rather than destroy it.

Comrade Nyinongu assured of his determination to get rid of quacks in the journalism profession in the state in order to pave way for objective reportage of events to enable members of the public have a true picture of what SEMA was doing to sustain Internally Displaced Persons in the state over the years.

He commended Dr Shior for continuous briefing the media on the activities of the agency under his control, promising to mobilise media professionals to do more; noting that taking care of about 2 million IDPs by the state Government and other humanitarian organizations was not easy.

Responding, the Executive Secretary, Dr Emmanuel Shior, commended NUJ under the leadership of Comrade Nyinongu, noting that his display of intelligence had justified his emergence as the chairman of the union in the state.

While soliciting for media partnership to project activities of the agency to the outside world, Dr Shior, urge journalists to always verify information before going to press to avoid over heating the polity but rather ensure peace in the state as partners in progress.

He called on the Federal Government to intervene in the humanitarian crisis in Benue state which he lamented was beyond the control of Benue state Government.

Meanwhile, SEMA has distributed food and non food items to various IDPs camps across the state for the month of August, calling on president Muhammadu Buhari to take steps towards returning the displaced persons to their ancestral homes.

The Agency’s Executive Secretary, Dr Emmanuel Shior while monitoring the distribution last week, said the state government has over stretched it financial muzzles and stressed the need for federal government to act with sincerity to end herdsmen attacks on various Benue communities.

He commended the corporate bodies, NGOs, international partners for assisting in the up keep of the IDPs are in camps since 2018 and call for sustenance.