Tuesday, 05 March 2013 00:00

Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio, has congratulated the newly-elected President of the Nigeria Guild of Editors, Mr Femi Adeshina, on his election and urged him to use his position to strengthen democracy in our country.

Governor Akpabio, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Pastor Anietie Ukpe, described Mr Adeshina as a fine writer and a journalist with a distinguished and enviable career, and urged him to uphold the tenets of fine journalism practice.

He described Mr Adeshina, who is the Deputy Managing Director of Sun Newspapers, as someone with the qualities to redeem the profession of journalism and make it a pillar of support for democracy in Nigeria.

Governor Akpabio noted that Nigerian independence was obtained through crusading journalism embarked upon by the founding fathers of our nation, and that all major efforts towards the attainment of democracy by Nigerians were spearheaded by journalists.

He urged that such a noble pedigree should not be forgotten and the newly elected President of the Guild should do everything to cement the place of journalism not only as the midwife but also a defender of our democracy.

He urged journalists to be fair in their reporting and to maintain a policy of strict neutrality, maintaining that when breaking news could break the society, caution should be exercised in line with the principle of social responsibility.

He expressed faith in the new leadership of the Guild and urged them to right everything wrong with journalism practice in Nigeria.