A former President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Malam Garba Shehu, has advised Nigerians to support democracy, saying as a system of government it has no alternative.
The former Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, said this in Lagos.
Shehu, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, spoke on the sideline of the PUNCH Nigeria Limited 50th Anniversary Lecture, titled: “Recovering the Narrative,” at Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
“Nigerians should continue to support democracy in the country because there is no alternative to it,” Shehu said.
Commending PUNCH on its 50th anniversary, he said the private media had done a lot for the good of the country.
He said: “The important thing about this ceremony is that it marks the point at which newspaper publishing became diversified in the country.
“At the time PUNCH came, we had a predominance of the government press.
“Get me right, the private press was the first in the country, but it died.
“PUNCH came back and reinvented the private press and today we are living, and around, to celebrate the 50th anniversary.
“Our wish and prayer is that the organisation will continue to live on and on, and the private press will continue to thrive.”
Shehu urged Nigerian journalists to equip themselves and acquire skills to cope with the current challenges in the profession and in the country.
He added: “This will help journalists any day.
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“You don’t just confine yourself to the desk as a reporter, learn how to edit, learn how to do photography, learn how to do videos and a lot more.
“With this, in one person, we will have all the skills required for professional journalism.
“In this case, you are employable, you are useful and even if your organisation has a problem, you can find yourself useful elsewhere.”
