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Journalists: Endangered professionals in a sick nation – clerics

Yusuf Bakare, Ilorin

Religions leaders of the Christian faith and Islamic faiths in Kwara state have expressed unanimous opinion on the state of the nation profiling the need for deliverance because they said “Nigeria is sick.”

These views was expressed to all stakeholders on the urgency of the need to put heads together in tackling the current security challenges in the country which recently sparked off protests of a nationwide dimension.

The Clerics who spoke in their separate sermons during interfaith prayer session to commence 2020 Press Week of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Kwara state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Friday, the clerics enjoined Nigerians to intensify prayers against the ugly occurrence in the nation.

A prayer session which took place at the Chapel Secretariat in Ilorin, Pastor Adesina Adegbite of the Living Faith Church, aka Winners chapel, Gaa Imam, Ilorin and Alfa Adebayo Abdulkarim of the Markaz, Oke Agodi, Ilorin expressed this views and were unanimous in their submissions.

Pastor Adegbite in his admonition expressed that Nigerians are individually contribution  the nation’s problems, whether knowingly and unknowingly, especially in the way leaders are elected.

“Nigeria is sick. Whether we like it or not, that’s the truth. The nation needs prayers. With our prayers, God will heal the land, deliver it and protect the people. However, we are also part of Nigeria’s problems, knowingly or knowingly. We should be mindful of how we choose our leaders and the leaders we choose to lead us”, he said.

Pastor Adegbite, who is also academic staff in the Department of Performing Arts, University of Ilorin, enjoined Nigeria journalists to help the nation against violence, saying that media practitioners should be mindful of national interest and uphold the ethics of the profession in the way they report issues.

“Journalism profession is risky and is one of the most abused professions. That’s the truth. It’s just like the teaching profession in the country. There you have Irregular salary, non payment at times, no money to take care of your medical bills. This should change.

“Journalism profession is endangered and the need for practitioners to be careful and seek God’s guidance at all times. God has told us that if we are humble, He will forgive our sins and heal the land. We should seek forgiveness among ourselves as individuals and our leaders.

Also speaking, Mallam Adebayo Abdulkarim, who corroborated the fact that Nigeria is sick, added that Nigeria youth needs right education from home and schools.

The Islamic cleric also said that the nation needs responsible journalism to lead people in the right direction.

“Nigerians have right to protest. It’s even allowed in the Quran. If you’re being cheated or dissatisfied, you can protest, but one should not do it with hatred in mind.

“Nigerians have right to protest against police brutality but it should not tend towards disruption of societal peace or destruction of public properties, killing police of Policemen, burning police station etc turning demonstration to a mini war.

Our children were given wrong education on the how to go about staging a protest”, he said.

The press week celebration, an annual programme of the NUJ Correspondents chapel will also feature a lecture to be delivered by a legal icon, Mallam Yusuf Olaolu Ali SAN, titled, Effectiveness of party supremacy in strengthening democratic principles and promoting national development.

Also, another key note Speaker, the chairman, Federal Character Commission, Abuja, Alhaja Muyiba Farida Dankaka, would be speaking on the topic, Enhancing National Unity Through Fedaral Character Principle

Other programmes in the celebration include health talk by members of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in the state.

According to the committee, the health talk would afford the media practitioners steps to take to manage stress associated with the profession or live stress-free life.

End.

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