Over 400 editors of Nigerian media converged on Thursday on Asaba, the Delta capital for the 14th All Nigerian Editors’ Conference.
The conference has its theme as: “Credible Election, Sustainable Democracy and The Nigerian Media”.
Declaring open the three-day conference, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State described the role of the media as crucial to the survival of democracy.
Okowa said the media must continue to display professionalism in the discharge of their responsibilities to the people and government at all levels.
He said the media should continue to report the truth no matter whose ox was gored, while calling for improved working conditions for journalists to enable them to perform effectively.
The governor also called on the social media to show high degree of responsibility so as not to overheat the polity.
He commended the guild for its continued contributions to the development of the country and the organisers for organising the occasion well.
Earlier in an address, the President of the NGE, Mrs Funke Egbemode, said that 2018 had been an eventful year and one in which the guild had been able to achieve all of its set goals.
“This is the year we laid the foundation of editors’ complex in Abuja, but for bureaucratic bottlenecks, our target was to have finished with first floor by September.”
She said that the guild was part of the process of reviewing the media code for election coverage in Nigeria.
Egbemode said that the training and re-training promised were also being delivered and commended media professionals for unquantifiable support she and her executive had received from them.
She also commended the Delta Government for accepting to host this year’s annual conference of the guild and promised that the media would support development strides.
On the coice of the theme of the conference, she said “chosing a leader and our leader is a collective responsibility. It is a work for all, not for a few kingmakers.”
