NHRC: Nigerian Press Deserves Better Deal

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has said the press was a critical agent for the protection of democracy and development and must be supported to enable them to effectively discharge their constitutional duties as the watchdog of the society.

It observed that Nigerian journalists fought very hard for the country to achieve her current democratic status and therefore deserved a better deal unlike the current situation, where many of them struggle with poor conditions of service amidst other challenges, including censorship, harassment, intimidation and in some cases, assassinations.

Executive Secretary of the Commission, Chief Tony Ojukwu, who stated this at the eve of the celebration of  the 2022 World Press Freedom Day, noted that the society should see journalists as, “The oxygen of democracy and agents of change and development”, saying their constitutional duty, which as enshrined in Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, is “to  hold the goverment accountable to the people”, distinguishes them as those who perform essential duty to the nation.