Buhari charges media to avoid inciting citizens against government

 

President Muhammadu Buhari has asked journalists to be responsible, saying the media must be sensitive to Nigeria’s current situation.

This was contained in a statement issued on Sunday, May 2, via the presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, who reiterated his administration’s commitment to freedom of the press.

“The media must be sensitive to what we are going through as a country, and anything that would exacerbate the situation, and further inflame passions and emotions, should be avoided,” President Buhari said ahead of the World Press Freedom day on May 3.

“The media needs to ensure that while informing, educating, entertaining and setting agenda for public discourse, it does not encourage incendiary words and actions that could further hurt our unity in diversity.”

President Buhari also pledged greater cooperation with the media to discharge its duties, in line with the theme of this year’s World Press Freedom Day, ‘Information as a Public Good.’

He noted that freedom of the press is an irreducible minimum in a democracy that would flourish, adding that freedom must, however, be used responsibly.

Buhari added, “Licentious freedom, the President says, is different from freedom with responsibility, and charges the Nigerian media to embrace the latter, rather than the former.

“He charges those who manage information for government to do everything in the public interest, while also encouraging the media to use the Freedom of Information Act available to make its jobs easier.

“The President submits that it is very vital to have access to reliable information in an era of misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech, all to cause discord in society.”

Meanwhile, the Kaduna State University (KASU) Chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has rejected the proposed 500 per cent increase in tuition fees by the government.

According to them, if a monumental school fees increase was allowed to stand, it would force about 75 per cent of the university’s students to drop out of school, causing massive youth unemployment and restiveness.

This stance was contained in a statement issued by the ASUU Branch Chairman, Dr Peter Adamu, who decried that the consequences of the upward review of the school fees would be unquantifiable.

The ASUU official urged the state government to rescind the decision, stressing that it was not the best time to increase tuition fees due to the present economic instability in the country.

Adamu also argued that public education should not be for revenue generation; and likewise asked the government to look for other better ways of funding the system without unleashing untold hardship on the students and their parents.