.Woos journalists
By Priscilla Campbell
The Niger State government has called for continued Family Planning (FP) and Child Spacing (CS) campaigns to ensure better quality of life for Nigerians.
The Executive Director of the state Primary Health Care Development Agency (PHCDA), under the state Ministry of Health, Baba Ndako Ndanusa, made the appeal at an interactive session with the media to mark the World Population Day (WPD) in Minna.
He state, “The government is passionate and committed to enhanced quality life for all but, the needful must be done in that direction. Child Spacing is normal even our religions advocated for it.”
Ndanusa also noted the need for a genuine and sizeable population in the country for meaningful development and economic growth to be achieved.
The programme, sponsored by Pathfinder International was organized by the Child Spacing and Advocacy Working Group in partnership with the Ministry of Health, he said, was designed to help the media understand the need for family planning and child spacing in the society.
He also urged stakeholders particularly, the media practitioners in Niger State, to be ambassadors of Family Planning (FP) and Child Spacing (CS) advocating and preaching the programme for the betterment of the society.
Meanwhile, the Niger State government has pledged to partner with journalists for adequate coverage of government programmes.
Mrs Mary Berje, the chief press secretary (CPS) to Niger governor, Alhaji Abubakar Bello, made the pledge during a courtesy visit by the executive of the Correspondent Chapel to her office in Government House, Minna.
She urged journalists in the state to exhibit professionalism by embarking on only objective and balanced reports.
Berje said, “My colleagues, you can call on me any time of the day to verify whatever you need to verify before going to press.
“I will operate an open door policy to enable us give adequate coverage to government activities.
“Whatever I cannot speak on I will take you to the appropriate authority to give you the details.”
Earlier, Mr Ojo Aidoloje, the chairman of the Correspondent Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state told the CPS that the association would partner with her office to cover government activities.
Aidoloje appealed to the CPS to ensure that the newsmen get advertisement from government, while decrying a situation where government sidelines reporters on ground to send advertisement to their headquarters.
The new CPS until her appointment, was a staff of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Minna.