By Hassana Yakubu
Kaduna – Mr Samuel Aruwan, the Kaduna state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs has urged journalists to protect the integrity of the media through credible reporting.
Aruwan made the appeal on Friday at a Monthly Media Forum on Peace Journalism organized by Kaduna Interfaith Mediation Center.
He stressed the need for practitioners to protect their intergity and ensure decorum by understanding the issue so as to avoid being bias in their reporting.
“Credibility and intergrity is very important for a journalist and it’s not transferable.”
The Commissioner, who presented a paper on Networking with Journalists to enhance and promote peace in Kaduna statea, appealed to Journalists to avoid judgemental representations and should report on reality not exaggerations.
He said that the intergity and credibility of the media depends largely on how neutral is the media report.
He said journalism is justifiable in service to humanity giving out balance and unbias information by creating a stream of conciousness in the minds of the people to understand what is good and bad.
Alhaji Ahmed Munir, Director-General,Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASA) urged the media to always speak freely: “a society where journalists remain silent will breed a government of vultures.”
Munir said the government of Malam Nasiru El-Rufai is giving full support to ensure there is a proper understanding and working relationship that is based on neutrality between the government and the media.
Mr Bitrus Dangiwa, Director Training , Interfaith Mediation Centre called on the media to always report on peaceful coexistence.
Dangiwa said the two major religions, Islam and Christianity have always preached peace and unity.
Meanwhile, Malam Abdullahi Sufi, Director, Training and documentation of the centre who spoke on the scriptural reflections, encauraged people to always embrace peace .
Sufi said: “peace is a nature of the universe we should try and see that we cooporate with one another inrespective of religious or ethnic difference.”
News Agency of NIgeria (NAN) reports that the IMC presented certificates of recognition to 11 journalists for their various contributions on promoting peace journalism in Kaduna state.
(NAN)