ASOPADEC Boss Tasks Journalists On Peace

Chairman of Abia State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ASOPADEC), Chief Sam Wogu, says journalists have a responsibility of ensuring that their reports were geared towards sustainable peace and development of the Niger Delta region.

Wogu made the observation at a one-day seminar on “Reporting Niger Delta Issues for Sustainable Peace and Development,” held in Umuahia recently.

The seminar was organised for practicing journalists by the Office of the Vice President Zone C of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

Declaring the workshop open, Wogu urged journalists to “employ their information expertise and development journalism in their news coverage in a manner that should compliment government’s efforts at enshrining lasting development and eradicating the volatile tendency of the region.”

The ASOPADEC boss lamented that the region was bearing the brunt of oil exploration and exploitation and yet had little to show for its huge contribution’s to the nation’s economy.

“Perhaps, it is regrettable to point out that Niger Delta region has witnessed low standard of living, infrastructural decay, environmental degradation as a result of the activities of oil companies; destruction of agricultural lands and aquatic life, human disempowerment which are, no doubt, the root causes of continuous youth restiveness and unrest in the communities,” Wogu said.

He, however, contended that if measures evolved by Federal Government to address these problem in the region, including the current amnesty programme for repentant militants, creation of Niger Delta Ministry and establishment of the Niger Delta Development Commission, were given genuine attention, the region would be a better place. He  thus called on journalists as frontline nationalists to do all within their power to ensure sustainable peace in the region so that real development could be attained.

In his remarks, Facilitator of the workshop and Vice President Zone C of the NUJ, Sir Ambrose Nwachukwu, said the goal of the seminar was aimed at brainstorming and evolving ways through which Journalists could help in consolidating the existing peace in the  Niger Delta region.

“The role of the media is expedient in the challenge of maintaining peace in the Niger Delta, which has continued to be the base of economic and political activities in Nigeria,”Nwachukwu said.

He called on President Goodluck Jonathan to make development of the region a priority, urging him not indulge in excuses like his predecessors.

Also speaking, chairman of Abia State Council of NUJ, Comrade Hyacinth Okoli, appealed to the Federal Government to properly accommodate Abia and Imo States in the on-going amnesty programmes.

Okoli stated that since both were oil producing states, there should be no discrimination against them for any reason.

He enjoined other groups to work with media workers to bring about lasting peace in the Niger Delta region. He advised journalists to focus more on efforts being made by government to attend to the developmental needs of oil-producing communities.

Papers presented at the workshop include “Reporting Niger Delta Issues For Sustainable Peace and Development,” and “Conflict Resolution Mechanism: The Post Amnesty Challenges in the Niger Delta.”

Journalists from Abia, Imo and Rivers States participated in the seminar.