The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers State Council, has called on the government to urgently renovate the NUJ Complex and revamp government-owned media stations to boost effective journalism in the state.
The appeal was made by the NUJ Rivers Chairman, Comrade Paul Bazia-Nsaneh, during a courtesy visit with executive members to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications, Dr. Honour Sirawoo.
Bazia-Nsaneh praised the state government for appointing a seasoned journalist, Sirawoo, as Permanent Secretary, urging him to implement key policies that will strengthen strategic journalism in Rivers State.
Highlighting Sirawoo’s extensive experience, Bazia said, “You have grown through the ranks from a cub reporter to become a press secretary to the deputy governor, and covered various beats.
“You have vast experience in the field as a journalist, and you are in deployment to the Ministry of Information and Communications at this time.”
Under Bazia’s leadership, the NUJ is focused on reshaping the state’s media narrative, leveraging state-owned media houses to highlight the state’s strengths and investment opportunities.
He urged the government to revitalize these media outlets to fulfill their roles effectively.
According to the chairman, “We are going to showcase the areas where the state has strength and where there are investment opportunities.”
In response, Sirawoo revealed that the Ministry has secured government approval to fence the premises of the Rivers State Newspaper Corporation, publisher of The Tide newspaper.
He also announced plans to train about 100 information officers and revive the ministry’s long-dormant website to launch an online publication.
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He said, “We are going to start an online publication. We feel that this ministry can generate revenue just like the media houses because the only difference between them and us is that we have a full administrative structure, and if we expect them to generate revenue, we should also generate revenue.”
Sirawoo emphasized the importance of staff punctuality and regular attendance in the ministry and its parastatals, warning that absenteeism would not be tolerated under his watch. He also highlighted the need for local government information officers to actively report events to keep the public well-informed.
The Permanent Secretary called for strong collaboration between the NUJ and the ministry, urging, “We must work together to enlighten the public on appropriate matters. While the union serves the government, critique must always be fact-based.
“So we must work together to see that we enlighten the people on what is appropriate and what is not appropriate.
“I also want to put that as a union, we serve the government of the day, even if you have to critique the government, you must get your facts right,” he said.
Addressing the dilapidated state of the NUJ Secretariat, Dr. Sirawoo blamed previous union leadership and proposed that the union explore revenue-generation strategies, such as hiring facility managers to maintain the secretariat properly.
Finally, he congratulated the union on the peaceful conduct of its recent elections and encouraged teamwork among the leadership to achieve their goals.
