BY EMMANUEL IKPE, UYO
The minister of Transportation, Rt Hon Rotimi Ameachi have called on Journalists in the country to begin to hold Nigeria’s elites accountable if the country is to be move forward.
Ameachi, one of the leading Presidential aspirants to succeed Muhammadu Buhari gave the charge to Journalists in Akwa Ibom during the celebration of the year 2022 World Press Freedom Day on Tuesday at the NUJ Press centre in Uyo the Akwa Ibom State capital.
Ameachi who was a special guest on the occasion told the Journalist that he is so worried about the survival of Nigeria going by the level of attention people are paying to the problem of the country.
Stating that the problem of the country is the elite class and not the poor man in Uyo or Rivers of Sokoto, the former governor of Rivers State said that the reason some people have been calling for restructuring is because the elites consensus towards sharing appears to be disappearing and there is nothing to share again.
Adding that Nigeria is now broke, the minister recalled that when he was the then chairman of Governors Forum, he had raised concern about the effects of sharing money on the economy and the reality he said is now down on the country well being.
“And I asked when Nigeria had 68b dollars that President Obasanjo handed over, what happened to the money. The issue is that Journalists have refused to ask questions about it and write about it and people are blaming Buhari. When we took over, we took over 2.5 billion dollars and when I begin to talk, they say Ameachi doesn’t like their people. I want to say that until we begin to hold politicians and the elites accountable, this country will not move forward” says Rotimi Ameachi.
Meanwhile, the governor of Akwa Ibom State Mr. Udom Emmanuel had appreciated the Minister of Transportation Rotimi Ameachi for his role to the approval of Ibom Deep Sea Port.
Represented by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Comrade Ini Ememobong, Gov Emmanuel said as the World celebrates Press Freedom Day, the wellness, well-being of Journalists and Journalism should be taken very important as the people who takes the risk to expose the ills in the society and enthroned democracy. He, therefore, stressed the need for all to identify with Journalists in times of need and trail.
On his part, the State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Comrade Amos Etok, the World Press Freedom Day is very epochal in the life of the union and members, as it afforded practitioners opportunity to appraise their performance, well being and reflect on the society realities I order to improve upon.
While presenting him a souvenier, the NUJ chairman appealed to the minister to always remember Journalists in his workings as a platform which has brought him to limelight.
The theme of this year’s World Press Freedom Day was ” Journalism under Surveillance.