The Director, National Orientation Agency, Abia state, Dr Ngozi Okechukwu, has tasked the media practitioners in the state to be sensitive in their reportage and reflect the mood the nation in order not to inflame passions and emotions.
Dr Okechukwu handed the charge, Thursday, during the Advocacy visit of NOA to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abia State Council.
In an address titled: “Towards Effective Sensitization and Implementation of the Provisions of Freedom of Information Act, (FOI Act) 2011, she said Freedom of Press was an irreducible minimum in any democracy that would flourish.
She, however, cautioned that the freedom must be used responsibly, even as she charged journalists in the state that anything that would exacerbate the situation and further inflame passions and emotions should be avoided.
The agency director solicited the cooperation of the union in creating awareness for the promotion of FOI Act, 2011, noting that there was urgent need for increased public awareness and sensitization of the Act in both urban areas and rural communities.
In his welcome address, the NUJ Chairman, Comrade Victor Ndukwe, promised that journalists in the state would work with the agency to project its programmes and activities.
He, however, called on the NOA to organise a workshop for journalists to be adequately tutored on the essence of FOI Act, 2011.
