Ebonyi: NUJ, ALGON agree to strengthen partnership, cooperation

Nigeria Union Of Journalists, (NUJ) Ebonyi State Council and the State Chapter of the Association of Local Government in Nigeria (ALGON) have agreed to strengthen their partnership and cooperation for a more effective dissemination of policies and programmes of the Local Government Administration in the State.

This was the outcome of the courtesy call by the leadership of NUJ to the State Chairman, Prince Chinedu Uburu, at ALGON Secretariat,Abakaliki, on Monday. The State Chairman of NUJ, Comrade Samson Nwafor who led the NUJ delegation to the Courtesy visit, in his remarks, underscored the role of the Media in mobilizing, educating and sensitizing the grassroots on the policies and programmes of government and called for a more synergy between NUJ and ALGON in the State. According to him, with the right message about government policies and programmes communicated to the people and on time, they will be more willing to participate in governance, thereby reducing agitation and unrest in the society.

"Sometimes, people say that we are not doing our jobs as Journalists, that we are now supporting the government, but these people talk out of ignorance, because the stage we are in Journalism practice is more of developmental. "We can advice the government where they are not getting it right, but the issue of attacking the government all the time is no more necessary; journalism is no longer that way, because we are part of the society, and if we set fire on the state, where are we going to run to? "Therefore, we are going to work with the government, support it and offer piece of advice when and where necessary to ensure that Ebonyi progresses. As a state, we have a visionary governor who has taken it upon himself to ensure that every needs of the people are met, it's our job to support him to consolidate on these gains", Nwafor said. The NUJ boss assured that the Council would continue to support ALGON in its drive towards sustainable development in 13 LGAs of Ebonyi State, through effective reportage of their activities. The State Chairman of ALGON, Barrister Chinedu Uburu, who doubles as the Ebonyi Local Government Boss, commended the leadership of the NUJ for ensuring professionalism in journalism practice in the state and assured of their readiness to partner the Union. On the controversy surrounding the ongoing verification of workers across the 13 LGAs of the State, Prince Uburu said it was a witch hunt on the workers but aimed at fishing out ghost workers in the system. "The verification exercise was not targeted at anyone, and workers don't even know that the Council chairmen are trying to help them. Last year, the President signed the minimum wage into law, and if we are to pay, with the current number of staff, we can't even pay salaries. "These are some of the reasons for the verification. Currently, there's no local government Chairman in Ebonyi state that is doing a project of less than 500 million niara, probably, before the month runs out, I will take you out for project inspection. "And I agree with the NUJ chairman that the best way to showcase your work is through the media. People now believe in social media, but I believe that with the help of NUJ, we will be able to show the right information about Ebonyi State to the world," Uburu said.