The Supervising Minister of Information, Chief Edem Duke has solicited for the cooperation and support of the media to promote national unity and inter-ethnic and religious harmony in the country. He made the call in Abuja at his maiden meeting with the Press Corps of the Federal Ministry of Information.
Chief Duke said as molders of public opinions and moderators of national discourse, the media had a sacred duty to engender national cohesion and peaceful co-existence in Nigeria.
He stated that in view of the contending interests for political offices in the forthcoming general elections, the media should be sensitive to public utterances and interpret the body language of the contestants to guard against promoting discord and disharmony in the country.
“I come to this assignment with great enthusiasm and determination because today especially with the exciting times around us, especially with the situation of the elections around the corner and the great expectations from our fellow Nigerians, it is important for each and every one of us to apply a sense of decorum, patriotism and commitment that in whatever we do, especially at this critical time of our nation’s development, we must be guided strictly by the tenets of our profession and the love for our country.
“We must continue vigorously to pursue the most important agenda of our country today, which is the agenda of sustaining national unity, inter-ethnic and inter-religious harmony and ensuring that we continue to maintain our country in a positive light within the comity of nations,” he stated.
He remarked that despite individual differences and interests, the media must live above board by being guided by the tenets of the profession, which were anchored on truth, fairness, balance and objectivity.
The Supervising Minister expressed delight working for President Jonathan, whom he described as a democrat, who believed in the superiority of qualitative argument and had provided leadership with integrity in the last three years, which translated into development in the various sectors of the economy.
“I have in the last three years, been proud to serve a president who is a man of great intellect, a cerebral president, a president with solid academic qualification, a president who is not eccentric and is not a tribalist, a president who is not temperamental, a president who is benevolent,” he said.
He described Dr. Jonathan as the president of the future because of the policies and programmes he introduced into the system, which were now bearing tangible results in all sectors of the economy.
The Information Minister decried the high level of propaganda going on ahead of the elections, especially on the Social Media platforms created by the political opposition and urged Nigerians to disregard such misinformation and support President Jonathan to consolidate his agenda for the development of the country.
He remarked that the achievements being recorded by the Jonathan administration were practical and verifiable and not products of mere propaganda, hence the need for Nigerians to align with his administration, which guaranteed prosperity and sustainable development.
Chief Duke mentioned some of the unprecedented achievements of President Jonathan to include establishment of fourteen universities, construction of over one hundred and twenty Almajiri schools, revival of the railways to provide alternative and affordable means of transportation for Nigerians, revolution in agriculture to make the country self-sufficient in food production among others.
He promised to operate an open-door policy in order to facilitate efficient and timely dissemination of information on government programmes.
