The Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Nkem Okeke, has decried the state of Anambra roads describing it as a bad sight to behold.

He stated this at the opening of a two days media summit and awards of the Anambra State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) held at the Godwin Ezeemo Press Center in Awka, the state capital.

Okeke stressed that the rains have done more harm than good in the state, saying a lot of houses have been swept away by flood while erosion continues to eat deeper into the fabrics of the state.

He said: “I travelled and when I came back, I was surprised at the deplorable state of our roads. Our roads are bad and we cannot have solid roads because of the kind of soil we have here.

“Erosion has devastated a lot of areas in the state. Many homes have been destroyed as a result of erosion. If I should get a picture of erosion damage in the state, you will be amazed.”

While urging journalists to be more ethical in the course of carrying out their job, he enjoined them to avoid taking money for praise singing or feeding the public with the wrong information to please a pay master.

Delivering a lecture on media, democracy and development, a guest speaker, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, charged media practitioners particularly in Nigeria, to be a true watch dog they are called to be and not a lap dog.

He urged practitioners to engage government to engender meaningful development to the populace through objective reporting for the sustainability of the country democracy.

Okonkwo who spoke on the theme, “Media, Legislature and National Development”, described journalists as people with the capacity to make government accountable advised them against reporting only the negative aspect of the society but to influence development through their reports.

The business mogul and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said: “Journalists should engage on trainings and get exposed to modern trends with a view to effectively report happenings and ways forward.

“Integrity is the key. You should be careful when we sit down to write, be careful and write your stories objectively. You should not collect money to tell lies. Posterity will judge you on what we write.”

He insisted that every good leader requires the media to feel the pulse of the people adding that such can only be achieved if the media report truth and not only report what they induced with money to write and bury the truth.

In her speech, the first female professor of Mass Communication in Nigeria and former Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Prof. Stella Okunna, described the media as a veritable tool to shape the world.

She called on practitioners to join in the crusade for Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs insisting that, that is the only way the country can actualise it.

She said: “Avoid financially induced reporting. Hold unto the ethics of the profession and courageously perform your function as watchdogs not attack or lap dogs.”

In his remark, the Chairman of NUJ, Anambra state Council, Comrade Emmanuel Ifesinachi, said the summit which is the third in a row serves as a platform for media executives and journalists to brainstorm and come up with ways for improved governance and professionalism.

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