The Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Malam Ali-Muhammad Ali has appealed to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to curb the menace of fake journalists.
The managing director made the call on Friday in Abuja when he received a delegation of the NUJ led by Dr Abimbola Oyetunde, the Deputy President of the union in his office.
The union executives were at the NAN headquarters to inform the MD about the activities lined+up for the 70th anniversary of NUJ slated for June 21.
Ali said that fake journalists were the purveyors of fake news, stressing that the set of journalists were becoming more than the real ones in Nigeria..
He urged the leadership of NUJ to rise-up to the trend and apprehend them.
Ali also called on the NUJ to equip its members with the required knowledge and skills to understand the workings of Artificial intelligence (AI).
He commended the leadership of NUJ for the activities lined up to celebrate the 70 years anniversary.
The MD said the media has always been in the vanguard of the fight for the enthronement of democracy more than any sector or profession.
“The Nigerian journalists have sacrificed more in the pursuit of democracy, justice, and egalitarian society.
“I know the great sacrifices past leaders of the union have made to see that Nigeria is free of military rule, ” Ali said.
He described NAN as natural partner of the NUJ adding that the agency shared in the ideals of other sister unions,
“I mean unions like the Nigerian Guild of Editors and the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), ” he said.
He assured the union that NAN would participate in all the activities lined-up to celebrate the event.
Ali commended Mrs Grace Ike, the Chairperson of the FCT Chapter of the union for her determination to take the chapter to greater heights.
Speaking, Dr Oyetunde informed the MD that they were in the agency to intimate him on the programmes lined up for the 70th anniversary.
The deputy president appealed to NAN to be part of all the programmes.
