The Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has assured journalists in the state that his administration will continue partnering with them in the task of moving the state forward.
This is just as the Malami Ubandoma of Ilorin, Sheikh Abdulkadir Solagberu urged journalists in the country to focus on reportage that would promote value system and re-orientation amongst youths.
The governor and Solagberu spoke at the grand finale of the 2024 Press Week of the Correspondents Chapel of the Kwara State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, held in Ilorin.
Represented by the Senior Special/Counselor, Alh Saadu Salahu, Governor AbdulRazaq recalled the various interventions of his administration which ultimately returned the three state-owned media outfits to sound footing.
He recalled that The Herald Newspaper, Radio Kwara and Kwara Television Service which were in the state of coma prior to his emergence as governor in 2019 were brought back to life immediately he assumed office.
AbdulRazaq said the situation was the same with the basic education sector where the immediate past administration did not meet its obligation of paying the UBEC counterpart funding, resulting in the blacklist of the state by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
“We did not only clear the backlogs of the UBEC counterpart funding, we have also rehabilitated and constructed over 600 schools across the state. We also cleared the promotion arrears of our teachers and introduced KwaraLEARN to improve teaching and learning in schools across the state,” the governor said.
He said the government has also and still executing infrastructural projects across the three senatorial districts of the state, expressing delight about the turning around of Ilorin, the state capital into a model city.
While acknowledging the support his administration had received from journalists in the state, AbdulRazaq said,” My administration will continue to partner with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the correspondents and every other journalists in the state.”
For his part, Sheikh Solagberu, said it is very important for more attention to be given to youth re-orientation and value system promotion by the media.
He described journalists as veritable elements in the actualisation of positive change that Nigeria desires to promote value system amongst the youths.
Solagberu who is an educationist and schools proprietor also harped on the importance of education in molding future leaders.