Policy Alert, a non-governmental organization championing good governance and accountability, has expressed sadness that Akwa Ibom has continue to lose by not signing on to the Open Government Partnership(OGP).
Open Governance Partnership (OGP) is a mulitateral initiation that aims to secure concrete commitments from national and subnational governments to promote open government, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.
But co-founder of the of the organization, Mr. Tijah Akpan said in paper on the “Role of the Media in Budget Tracking and Coverage”, presented yesterday during the ongoing retreat of the Correspondents’ Chapel of NUJ, Akwa Ibom State Council in Abuja that the state remained among the 13 yet to sign on to the instrument.
Akpan said that despite commendable steps taken by the state government in the area of budget reforms Akwa Ibom was yet to gain from the benefits of OGP urging the state government to make haste to sign on to the partnership.
Meanwhile Group Managing Director of Daar Communication PLC Mr Tony Akiotu has commended Nigeria journalists for their gallant efforts in restoration of Nigeria’s democracy after many years of military dictatorship.
Presenting a keynote address titled The Tragetory of Nigeria media: Past, Present and Future at the Correspondents Chapel Retreat in Abuja Akiotu who was represented by Adebayo Bodurin said modern day journalists and their newspapers too have lived above board.
” They stood resolutely against military rule and became the heroes of Nigeria`s hard earned democratic freedom established on May 29, 1999. A similar effort facilitated the second Republic in 1979 and the aborted Third Republic in the early 1990s.It has been globally acknowledged that the Nigerian media stood firm in the struggle to restore democracy.” He said.
For his part , a security expert, CSP Vandefan Tersugh (Rtd.) who spoke on the safety and security of the media in a volatile environment , decried the difficulties faced by journalists in carrying out their duty and called for good comprehensive insurance of journalists to safeguard them.
Tersugh called on the NUJ to unite her members, as according to him, only a strong union and united press could withstand negative influence from the government.
Besides , he called for constant training of journalists to keep them abreast of development and be able to keep secret source of information.
