Kano state Governor, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso has said that Kano Journalism Development Institute was established to build the capacities of pressmen so that they can efficiently serve the society.
Disclosing this on Tuesday during the official commissioning of the Institute at its permanent site at Abubakar Rimi Television building in Kano, the governor added that the school is also aimed at making the state a center for inculcating best practices in journalism.
The governor explained that to achieve this, the Institute was affiliated to Northwest University which is a fastest growing universities in Nigeria, pointing out that the ultimate goal is to transform it into the department of Mass Communication of the institution.
“Only a trained person can drive change so we resolved to establish this institute, alongside 25 other institutes to train and exploit the potentials of our young people for rapid development”, the governor stated.
He maintained that good teaching and learning environment as well as the needed facilities coupled with the best lecturers have been provided at the institute. He, therefore, charged the 85 pioneer students undergoing Certificate and Advanced Certificate courses to concentrate seriously so as to graduate with best result.
The Special guest of Honour during the occasion and one-time Minister of Information and Culture, Prince Tony Momoh who dwelt on the interplay between democracy, the media and human development stressed the need for journalists in Nigeria to monitor governance on behalf of the entire citizenry.
He charged the students of journalism to focus on what Nigeria needs to develop, adding that no nation would succeed without positive contributions of journalists.
Gov. Kwankwaso used the occasion to appeal to wealthy people in the state to invest in the sector of education so that youths from the state can have better opportunities to earn a living and contribute more proactively to nation building.
Prince Momoh thanked the governor Kwankwaso for establishing the Journalism Institute and for providing the people of Kano with what he termed “expectations of democracy”, that is welfare, freedom and security, emphasizing that he is confident that the electorate are satisfied with Kwankwasiyya administration’s policies and programmes.
In their respective speeches, the acting Vice Chancellor, Northwest University, Kano, Prof. Danjuma Maiwada, the state Commissioner of Information, Hajya Ladidi Ibrahim Garko and the Director of the Institute, Abubakar Shehu Minjibir thanked the governor for initiating the Institute as well as affiliating it to the university to ensure that its courses are structured, well taught and certificated.
