Lagos State government has described as critical the role played by the nation’s media in nation building , pledging its continued support for the state chapter of Nigerian Union Journalists (NUJ) to enable it to continue to perform such role effectively.
The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mrs. Folasade Jaji, said this when she received the state NUJ team led by its chairman, Dr. Kassim Akinreti, in her office.
The leadership of the Lagos State Information Service was also part of the delegation.
Jaji, who on behalf of the state governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, expressed appreciation for the key role the media practitioners had been playing in assisting the administration to deliver its promises to Lagosians, urged them not to shy away from pointing at whatever they deemed fit that would serve the interest of people of the state.
According to the SSG, this has to be so because both the government and the media are partners in progress, and must stay together to serve the interest of all Lagosians towards realisation of the Sanwo-Olu administration’ goals to take the state to greater heights.
On the issue of delayed pensions for retirees who were information managers in government service, Mrs. Jaji expressed surprise at the development, describing it as unfair and, therefore, the need to address them without further delay.
Earlier, the NUJ chairman, Lagos chapter, Dr. Akinreti, expressed appreciation of support received from the state government on the ongoing construction of the secretariat of the body, for which a sum of N25million was released by the immediate past administration.
Akinreti, who showed the SSG the extent of work done so far on the project through the drawing he brought, noted that as union believed in accountability and transparency.