The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike represents the right role model for good leadership in Nigeria, the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim has said.
Nsirim made the assertion when the South-South leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Port Harcourt, yesterday.
The commissioner, therefore, charged journalists to shun partisanship and channel their energy towards promoting good governance and good leadership for a better Nigeria.
“Here in Rivers State, Governor Nyesom Wike has done so much. Whether you like him or not, his footprints are now all over the place in terms of road infrastructure, healthcare delivery, education, agriculture, housing etc.
“Wike has come to redefine governance here and for us we want the journalists in Nigeria to avoid partisanship and promote good governance and good leadership because anyone who is doing well should be promoted as a good leader irrespective of party affiliation. That way we will begin to raise the right role models for our future generations.
“Time has come when the media in this country should project positive role models who are really engineering governance in a way that things are turning around and Governor Wike stands very tall in this dispensation,” he said.
Nsirim described Wike as a man who is really on top of his game, adding that Rivers people were lucky to have him as their governor in this season.
“I am so proud to be his commissioner for information and communications. I don’t need to do propaganda because the facts speak for themselves”, he said.
He challenged the zonal executive to make the South-South zonal office more visible by articulating a programme of action for professional development and training of journalists.
He charged them to drive professionalism in the ongoing amendment of the union’s Constitution, which he said, must be the foundation upon which journalists would begin to talk about credible and respected profession.
“There are a lot of quacks in the profession. This is a noble profession. It is not an all comers affair, and so, as a professional organisation, we need to stamp our feet to ensure that we mainstream professionalism in the media houses, particularly in the South-South”.
Nsirim also enjoined journalists in the zone to consciously work to change the negative narrative of detractors about the Niger Delta region who labour to paint the region as an abode of crime and criminality.
“A simple logic of what they are doing is to paint the goose that lays the golden eggs in bad light so that nobody will pay attention to the goose. That is what is happening in this country.
“Journalists who belong to the South-South region must come together and say that we will change this narrative about our region. We should not be docile about issues that have to do with our economy and our future”, he said.
He assured the executive of his ministry’s cooperation to enable achieve set goals, urging them to discourage arm chair criticism in the discharge of responsibilities.
The Vice President, South-South,Zone F of the NUJ, Opaka Dokubo, commended the commissioner for working to ensure the return of peace and the successful conduct of the Rivers State Council election.
He lauded Wike for his development strides and promised the support of the NUJ to the state government in its efforts to put the state on the fast lane of development.

By: John Bibor