Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has inaugurated the remodeled Government House Press Centre.
Speaking at the inauguration on Thursday in Lafia, Sule said the Press Centre was upgraded with modern facilities to ease the work of the government house press crew and those who visited the facility.
He said when Ibrahim Addra was appointed as his Press Secretary, he visited the press Centre and discovered that the structure and facilities therein were dilapidated and not befitting of a press Centre.
He said remodeling of the edifice was informed by his desire to provide conducive environment for the government house press crew and others to enhance the execution of their responsibility in the most effective and proficient manner.
“We renovated and furnished the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) complex in appreciation of the contributions of journalists to the development of the state.
“We have also allocated five houses to the State Council of the NUJ in Karu, among other logistics support,” the governor said.
He said journalists had played very significant roles toward dissemination of government policies and programmes for the accelerated development of the state and the country.
“Indeed, your support in the last one year has greatly assisted in the sensitisation of our people, as well as bridging the information gap for public consumption,’’ he said.
He commended journalists for their doggedness and resilience in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.
“This is evident through their daily reportage which has continued to enlighten the populace on the danger of the Coronavirus pandemic, I urge you to sustain the tempo.
“I must say that without the media support, our development aspirations will not have been visible. Indeed, your role has continued to set agenda in our determination to entrench an all-inclusive governance for the benefit of our people.
“Journalism is a noble profession, therefore, practitioners should adhere to the ethics to avoid practice capable of dividing the people,’’ Sule added.
Earlier, Ibrahim Addra, his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), expressed gratitude to the governor for re-modelling the press Centre befitting of the 21 century journalism with modern facilities.
He appealed to the governor to provide Internet facilities to make the Centre complete where journalists would work with ease as well as provide his office with a befitting official vehicle.
Addra commended the governor for his support to journalists in the state and promised to run an open door policy to carry all his colleagues along toward publicising activities of the government.
Edited By: Ifeyinwa Okonkwo and Abdullahi Yusuf (NAN)
