The Director-General of National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Olusegun Runsewe; National President, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Christopher Isiguzo; renowned lawyer, Kayode Ajulo; and other stakeholders have advocated for the growth and sustenance of Nigeria’s democracy in order to achieve economic growth.
Runsewe, who spoke alongside others at the National Waves Newspaper & Magazine’s 15th Anniversary and Honours Ceremony, on Thursday in Abuja, stressed the need for the country to explore its tourism potential for economic growth.
The DG NCAC said Nigeria must do its best to grow the tourism sector which contributes a great deal to the nation’s development.
On his part, Isiguzo said though it is the duty of the media to hold the government accountable, as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, journalists must practice the profession responsibly.
In the same vein, Ajulo, who noted that the judiciary has a major role to play in sustaining Nigeria’s democracy, maintained that this arm of government would achieve the role better without unnecessary criticisms in the media, especially the social media.
Earlier, the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of National Waves Newspaper and Magazine, Jimmy Enyeh, said despite the harsh economic conditions, there was a glimmer of hope in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to put Nigeria’s economy on the right footing.
According to Enyah, “The 15th Annual Lectures of National Waves comes at a time of great national reawakening, cataclysmic changes in our political developments, which among other features have witnessed political transition of governance from one set of political actors to another.
“It’s also a period of social and economic pressures on the marginalized, voiceless, and economically dis-empowered majority of Nigerians as a result of economic meltdown.
“In spite of the seeming gloam over the harsh economic conditions, and highly contested elections which have in the past months, widened the geopolitical fault lines, security challenges and sundry national setbacks, there’s a glimmer of hope in the current administration to do the right thing, put the economy on the right footing, heal the wounds engendered by the election fallouts, and restore hope.”
Highpoint of the event was the presentation of awards to individuals and organisations from different fields of endeavour in recognition of their contributions towards the promotion of democracy and encouragement of the tourism sector.
