The Director General of Nigerian Maritime Adminstration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside has charged the Lagos Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to ensure balance while reporting national affairs.
According to Dakuku, the role of Journalists in the society is strategic and cannot be ignored.
He explained that Journalism is strategic to the growth and development of any nation.
The DG stated this when he played host to members of the Lagos Council of NUJ led by the Chairman, Mr. Deji Elumoye at the Head Quarters of the Agency in Lagos.
Highlighting the importance of information to the development of nations, Dr. Peterside averred that nations are built and destroyed by the way information is gathered, managed and disseminated.
While assuring the body of NIMASA’s commitment to the repositioning of the maritime industry, the NIMASA DG said:“I want to assure you that NIMASA will collaborate with partners to move the maritime industry forward in Nigeria, we understand that the maritime industry has the capacity to play a critical role in repositioning the economy of our country especially in this time of recession”.
Peterside enjoined them to continue to highlight the efforts of NIMASA in engendering the development of Nigeria’s maritime industry saying “as journalists, you will help enlighten our country men and women on the important role the maritime industry is playing and the potentials in the industry to contribute to the economic growth of our nation”.
Earlier in his address, according to a statement issued by NIMASA’s Head of Corporate Communications, Lami Tumaka, the Chairman of the Lagos State NUJ, Mr. Deji Elumoye congratulated the DG on his appointment.
He lauded the repositioning efforts of the DG and his Management team and assured him of their unalloyed support in taking the maritime industry to greater heights both locally and internationally.
“As journalists, we don’t just give credit, most times we want to criticize but from what we have been able to see and hear, we believe with your appointment and with the activities you have been able to do so far we have a round peg in a round hole. And to some of us it is not surprising because as journalists who have followed your antecedents in the last 12 years, we know what you can offer,” the NUJ Chairman noted.
