Military chief tasks journalists on peace building
EMERGENCY DIGEST – The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, has called on journalists to ensure that their works were geared towards peace building.
Olonisakin made the call at the 2019 Defence Correspondents Seminar, organised by the Directorate of Defence Information on Thursday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the seminar is, “Enhancing National Security and Cohesion through Responsible Media Reportage”.
He said that the main effort of the media in time of crisis should be geared towards peace building and national unity, adding that journalist should imbue self censorship in reporting national security.
Olonisakin called for effective partnership between the military and the media, saying that military operations demanded cordial working relationship with the media for enlightenment.
According to him, it is imperative that we mobilize and sustain support for our operations as well as improve the mutual understanding between the military, media and public.
“I want to use this opportunity to urge the media and all other stakeholders to see themselves as partners with the Armed Forces towards solving the various security challenges facing our nation.
“Let me reiterate that the media serves as veritable tool towards winning the hearts and minds of the citizenry by propagating non-kinetic measures to solve security issues.
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“In this era of increasing proliferation of social media platforms, the media is expected to report issues with a high sense of social responsibility.
“In particular, issues that bother on national defence and security need to be handled professionally with the aim of promoting national security and national interest.
”I am of the opinion that the current efforts of the military and other security agencies at tackling security challenges in the country cannot be fully successful without media support.
“It is therefore pertinent that accurate reportage is prioritized while falsehoods and inflammatory stories are reduced to the barest minimum and whenever possible, avoided,” he said.
Earlier, the Acting Director of Defence Information, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said that the seminar was conceptualised in response to the need to constantly enhance the capacity of defence reporters to discharge their responsibilities more effectively.
Nwachukwu said it was one of Defence Headquarters responsiveness to national security commitments, by positively engaging the media as critical stakeholders and partners, in guaranteeing national security.
He said that the impact of media report on conflict management, including military operations was fundamental to the success or failure of such operations.
“Therefore, the media will continue to be an effective instrument for crisis management and conflict resolution, as well as a veritable tool for socio-political development.
“It is against this background and the need to constantly support and enhance the capacity of media reporters, in understanding the sensitivity and uniqueness of reporting defence and security matters,” he said.
NAN
