Saraki wants insurance coverage, improved salary for journalists

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Senate President, Bukola Saraki
Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, today (Friday) called for a comprehensive insurance coverage for journalists in the country.
He also said that it has become imperative for the salaries of media practitioners to be enhanced in order to boost their morale and increase their productivity.
Saraki made these remarks when he Chaired the opening session of the 5th Triennial National Delegates Conference of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Abuja.
The Senate President who was represented at the event by the Senator representing Kaduna Central, Senator Shehu Sani, said that recent events in the national, cross-border and global polity has undoubtedly put a lot of emphasis on the safety, sustainability, value, rights and moral standing of
the average journalist.
He noted that journalists put themselves through difficult, often uncharted channels to ensure that democracy has its highest expression. “It is thus incumbent on us, the custodians of this democracy, to bring to the fore viewpoints that will enhance the productivity and efforts of these professionals. That is why I associate myself with the call for journalists to be provided insurance cover by their employers, be it government or private. I also want to canvass enhanced salaries for the professionals.
“However, this demands that journalists through their associations should strictly enforce adherence to professionalism and code of ethics of their profession. There must also be penalty for those who violate the ethics or behave in a manner unbecoming of a professional,” he said in a statement issued by Sanni Onogu, Chief Press Secretary to the Senate President.
He stated that the indubitable influence of the mass media on diverse issues in the society, and the multi-dimensional nature of that influence
has inevitably led to the call for the role of the media with particular emphasis on democracy to be centred keeping the people informed, …Read More

Source:: PM Newspaper