Monarch advocates special salary structure for media

Media owners and governments have been called upon to review upward the salary of media practitioners in their various media organisations in the country to enhance their performance.

Olu of Lisa kingdom, Oba Oladele Odugbemi, made the call in his message after receiving the prestigious award of Grand Patron of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Southwest at the union’s Secretariat in Iyanganku, Ibadan, Oyo State.

Oba Odugbemi said that for media practitioners to carry out their responsibilities effectively, they must be paid well as the Fourth Estate of the Realm since they are crucial in the socio-economic development of a nation.

The monarch urged other stakeholders in the media industry to ensure that developmental journalism should be upheld in their daily reportage for the harmony and peaceful coexistence of the country.

Oba Odugbemi, the Grand Patron of NUJ South West, assured that he would continue to contribute his quota to the growth and development of journalism in the South-West and Nigeria in general.

The Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, who bagged the ‘Best Governor in infrastructural Development in the South-West,’ thanked the leadership of the union for the honour, expressing his commitment to providing good road network across the state.

Governor Abiodun stressed that in less than three years he assumed the mantle of leadership in the state, he had been able to construct, reconstruct and rehabilitate over 600km of roads across the state, assuring that he would not to develop any district to the detriment or exclusion of others.

While thanking the leadership for the award for noticing and appreciating the good works of his administration in the state, Governor Abiodun promised the provision of more developmental projects that would be of immense benefits to the people of the state, calling on development partners and well meaning Nigerians to continue to support his administration.

The Deputy Vice Chancellor ( DVC) Administration, Federal University of Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State, Prof. Shola Omotola, in his lecture titled, “2023 general elections and general issues in Nigeria: The media perspective,” said the media must set the agenda, provide adequate information and platform for all candidates to reach the people and also track the campaign promises of various candidates to bring out salient points in their manifestoes so as to guide electorate when making their choice.

Prof Omotola while speaking on the role of the media to guarantee success of the 2023 general elections, pointed out that the media must be careful in the way they analyse and report news stories to avoid promoting hate speeches and fake news as the nation moves into a crucial moment to avoid heating up the polity.

Speaking earlier, the Vice President, NUJ B zone, Comrade Ronke Samo, said the media owed the society the duty to properly educate, enlighten and orientate them, stressing that this would help the people to be able to make informed decision, especially on the forthcoming 2023 general elections.