The Federal Capital Territory Administration has harped on the role of effective media participation in the democratic process in order to pave way for good governance, especially at the grassroots level.
This, the FCTA said could be realised through critical reporting of activities of the six Area Councils in the territory.
The Mandate Secretary of the FCT Area Council Services Secretariat, Ibrahim Dantsoho, said the media plays a complementary role in governance and therefore must not relent in discharging its constitutional role as the fourth estate of the realm.
Dantsoho, stated this while presenting a paper tagged the Role of FCT Administration, Residents and the Media in Holding the Area Council Chairmen Accountable to Service Provision and Infrastructure Delivery, at the 2022 FCT Minister’s Press Corps Retreat, held recently in Bauchi State.
Represented by the director, ACSS Chieftaincy Matters, Awwal Manu Dogon-Daji, the secretary said “democracy requires that people should have right to know the activities of government, especially the decision of government that affects their life, liberty and property.
“Information is important for people to make choices regarding their participation in the state. Sufficient information helps people to decide rationally and take the right course of action beneficial to them. Media-both print and electronic, thus help to know what is happening around.
“Citizens and civil society engagement, to demand and promote good governance can improve by and large the viability of good governance and anti-corruption programme because the success of democracy is impossible without participation of the people”.
According to him, the residents need to continually engage the area council administrations for inclusiveness and demand explanation when needed. This, he said will spur the elected chairmen to leave up to their responsibilities.
Similarly, the Senior Special Assistant to FCT Minister on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement, Comrade Ikharo Attah, who also presented a paper at the retreat, urged media practitioners to always be aware of the enormous power they possess, and use it for the good of the society.
According to him, there are several factors that affect the ability of the media professionals to adequately engage in grassroot reporting, some of which include the mindset and ideology of practitioners, media policies/house styles, time/space, workload, funding etc.
He urged also journalists to also engage in budget tracking, to ensure efficiency in governance, urging them to always be guard dogs rather being bark dogs.
Also speaking, representative of the Bauchi State Governor, his Special Adviser on Media, Comrade Muktar Gidado, noted that the media and government are strategic partners in the development of the society.
He also charged the Journalists to always be above board in utterances and conducts, in order to keep ensuring efficiency and accountability in the grassroots governance process.
Earlier, in his opening remarks, Chairman, FCT Minister’s Press Corps, Alh. Hudu Yakubu, reiterated the commitment of media practitioners especially those covering activities of the FCT and environs, commended the FCTA for making the retreat a consistent trend since 2016.
