The National President of the NIGERIA UNION OF JOURNALIST NUJ, Chris Isiguzo, has call on media practitioners to rise up to the challenge of informing and educating Nigerians on understanding the importance of paying taxes in the country.
Chris Isiguzo, said this at the official opening ceremony of National Executive Council Meeting of the Union and Tax Conference in Benin, Edo State.
the nuj national president who extend gratitude to His Excellency, Governor Godwin Obaseki for hosting the NEC meeting and to the Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Alhaji Muhammad Nami for facilitating the Tax Conference, added that, the theme of the Conference, title; Tax:Towards An Inclusive Collection and Administration was deliberately chosen to open up conversation on the Tax Regime in an effort to stimulate awareness in citizens, he said It is also aimed at raising tax awareness among the Society in general and the taxpayers in particular.
isiguzo also said they have made efforts at training and retraining Journalists and the series of trainings they are holding across the country in collaboration with INEC are centered on Conflict -Sensitive Reporting/Peace Journalism and of course on Ethical Journalism for Building Democratic Values.
he advice journalist to ensure quality-conscience journalism by encouraging effective media to help people appreciate the various perspectives in governance and democracy to enable them make rational choices.
on his part,the commissioner for information, Chris Nehikhare, who represented the Edo state governor, said Journalists, as members of the fourth estate of realm, play a critical role in advancing governance and democracy. he said they are the eye and voice of the people in a democracy, set agenda and provide them with information on activities and programmes of the government.
he said, “It is in the recognition of this indispensable role that the media plays in the advancement of a progressive society, that Nigeria, like other democracies, gave constitutional backing to the media in the 1999 Constitution, empowering journalists to hold government accountable to the people”.
Nehikhare advice that media must guard against fake news, hate speech and misinformation, among others.
“the media must verify and fact-check before publishing or sharing any information, particularly during this period of election.” said Nehikhare.
