Blueprint Award: Media to ensure accountability, responsive governance – Publisher

The Chairman of the Blueprint Newspaper, Alhaji Mohammed Idris has said it’s only through fair, balanced and just reporting that accountability as well as responsibilities are magnified for public figures.

The publisher also said that it is imperative that the media recognizes its role, not just in reporting but in objective criticisms and celebration of achievements.

Alhaji Idris, speaking in Abuja on Tuesday at Rockview Hotel during the ‘Blueprint Impact Series/Impact Awards’ with theme: ‘Tolerance, Unity and Security: Building a Legacy for National Development’ said: “We are not innocent by-standers in the grand scheme of Nation building.

“We are very much part of the labor, mortar and bricks; when we criticize, it must be based on our core believe that the courses of actions are not aligned with the public interest.

“WE have a duty therefore, to hold public figures accountable for their actions; a flip side of this is our responsibility to also celebrate achievements and successes”, he noted.

The award which has Mallam Ismaila Isa Funtua as Chairman of the occasion, The Etsu Nupe Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, Royal Father of the day and mallam Zubairu Jibril Maigwari II, Emire of Gwari, Kaduna State as the key speaker also has the awardees including: Dr. Ibrahim Hassan Dankwanbo, Governor Gombe State;

Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, Yobe State, Alhaji Bello Masari, Katsina State; Simon Bako Lalung, Plateau State; Alhaji Umar Ganduje, Kano State and Senator Shehu Sani. Others are; Godwin Emefiele, Governor Central Bank of Nigeria; Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, Chief of Army Staff; Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transport;

Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, CG Security and Civil Defense Corp; Former Governor of Kogi State, Capt. Idris Ichalla Wada; Abdullahi Muktar Mohammed, CEO National Hajj Commission of Nigeria; Alhaji Najeem Usman Yasin, National Union of Road Transport workers; Prof. Francis O. Otunta, VC Michael Okpara University of Agric. Umudike and Joseph Ntung Ari, CE ITF.

The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Joseph Hayab a discussant at the occasion said that the nation cannot talk about tolerance, security, unity and development when the youths are not gainfully employed saying the challenge is that, “the youths have to get themselves engaged by circulating inciting messages, hate speeches since they have no job to do.

The needs of the youths should be addressed by providing jobs so that they will not find job in circulating hate messages”.

He also talked about State Police asking if the present police force is not strengthened enough to serve the country saying; “but I see agencies using a large chunk of our police which they have no reason for.

“The banks and other agencies in Nigeria almost have two policemen in the morning, two policemen in the afternoon and two other in the night and if you calculate the number of banks we have in Nigeria, you will understand that Nigeria has almost ten thousand banks.

“If you want to look at those numbers, you will notice that we have forty thousand police just guarding banks. Why should the banks not recruit her securities?

Send them over to the police for basic training on how to secure banks and how to relate information to the police so that they can concentrate on their primary assignment for the Federal Republic of Nigeria by protecting lives and properties of its citizen”, he said.