The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), its affiliates, key media and civil society organisations, at its 3rd National Media Conference held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with the theme ‘The Media, Insecurity and National Unity ‘which took place from June 6 to 8, 2021, adopted the following resolutions as a panacea to the myriad of security, political and ethno religious crises facing the country.
1. Taking into cognisance that the primary responsibility of government is to protect lives and property of citizens, against the backdrop of prevailing situations that Government is overwhelmed and unable to effectively carry out this onerous responsibility, the conference urges citizens to assist in community mobilisation as a way of addressing insecurity and notes that it will be disastrous to allow citizens to lose confidence in the ability of Government to deal with the situation.
2. The conference also did a retrospect on the role of journalists with regard to their core mandate of informing, educating and holding government and leaders accountable. Conference notes that the media has played an active role in their propagation and proliferation by promoting their different names and titles and serving as a vehicle for their messages.
3. It also notes that more is required of practitioners as watch dogs of the society particularly, at this trying period in which a balanced reportage is more than ever before desired.