Journalists have been urged to be mindful of their reportage so that the country’s unity is not threatened.
The Anambra State coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Mr Kehinde Aremu, made the call when he visited the leadership of the Nigerian Union of journalists (NUJ), Anambra Council, in Awka.
The coordinator lamented the poor reportage of laudable programmes of the scheme stressing that the nation’s unity remained one of its cardinal goals.
“Nigeria is presently at a very critical moment. Except we preach good news of the landmark achievement of the scheme, the unity of the country will remain threatened.
“What we hear reported most often are the killings in parts of the country. What about the developmental projects by corps members, marriages among them and those marrying their children?
“There is something unique about Anambra people; many of them do not look for white collar jobs. They are naturally enterprising and have survivalist spirit.
“We intend to work with the media to imbibe this spirit as many corps members are posted here to serve,” the state coordinator said.
Aremu cited the recent award given to 11 corps members by the state government for their outstanding performance during their service year, noting that such achievements brought joy and fulfillment to NYSC when reported.
“Of all the 11 of the awardees, only one was from the South-East zone. You needed to hear what the rest from other parts of the country were saying about the state, what they did and how they sang the state anthem with passion.
“These things and other developmental projects by corps members and marriages contracted are clearly newsworthy and would gladden our hearts when reported,” he said.
The Ananmbra NUJ Chairman, Mr Emmanuel Ifesinachi, who responded during the visit, described the visit as ‘remarkable’ and assured the coordinator of maximum cooperation from the media.
He called on the Federal Government to ensure the safety of Corp members; “The Federal Government should do the needful by rising to its responsibility of protecting lives and property of the citizenry to ensure unity, development of the country and to sustain the scheme,” he said.
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