Gov. Umaru Bago of Niger has urged journalists to show more interest in reporting issues of climate change disasters affecting the welfare and living condition of the people.
The governor made the call at the House of Representatives Press Corps 2023 retreat with the theme,” The Role of the Media in Mainstreaming Climate Change Policies on Friday in Minna.’’
Bago, represented by his Deputy, Mr Yakubu Garba, described climate change as one of the major issues confronting the nation and a matter of concern to government at all levels.
“We have problems of flood, desertification and environmental pollution; despite efforts being made, the devastating effects of climate change are recorded yearly.
“The media plays a dual role in oversight and reporting to the public; I therefore, call on you to show more interest in issues of climate change,’’ he said.
According to him, the media should not concentrate on reporting politics alone but also report issues on climate change that affects human welfare and condition of living
The governor said part of insecurity bedeviling the country was due to climate change while calling on the media to educate and enlighten the society on the implications of climate change.
Bago said his administration was prioritizing climate change to mitigate natural and man-made disasters and pledged to collaborate with the media to put climate change issues on the front burner.
Earlier, Ms Grace Ike, Chairman, House of Representatives Press Corps, appreciated Bago for being the first to host the press corps training workshop, adding that the workshop is first of its kind.
She commended the governor for being a transformative leader who had keyed into the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Tinubu administration and his plan to host the Green Economy Summit.
Ike said that as parliamentary reporters, they would continue to communicate government policies to the public and people’s feedback to government for government and people to be on the same page on various climate change policies.
In their separate remarks, Alhaji Yakubu Kolo and Hajiya Binta Mamman, the state Commissioners for Environment and Climate Change and Commissioner for Information, urged participants to focus more on reporting climate change in order to get information to the grassroots.
