Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi ll has urged journalists to desist from reporting Nigeria negatively saying, it does not speak good of the country to the world.
The Emir spoke in Kano on Friday, at the opening ceremony of a two-day workshop for Media Practitioners organised by Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited, KRPC.
The Emir represented by Turakin Kano and the District Head of Dala, Abdullahi Lamido Sanusi said modern journalism resulted to yellow journalism which is very bad to the development of this country.
He further emphasised that journalist must desist from publishing or reporting anything that will paint the country black globally.
He added, "We must desist from Yellow journalism which is now the trend in the country. Most of our reportage today is about portraying the country negatively instead of positively. We are not doing the country any good.
"We are not supposed to publish everything that will paint our nation bad because whatever we publish is respected by the public. We should try not to cause chaos but peace in the country. We are aware that the government is trying to fix some of the crisis in the country and it’s not easy doing that particularly in the Oil and Gas industry which is the backbone of our nation’s economy.
"We should soften things. What is bothering me is how we are showcasing the country badly which you hardly find in other part of the world. We must learn to report positively; that is the kind of journalism we want to see in this country."
Earlier Adewale Ladenegan, Managing Director KRPC, said the role of the media in the development of this country cannot be over emphasised.
He said: "It is in tandem with this that KRPC resolved to ensure that media practitioners have the required knowledge and capacity to effectively report the oil and gas industry."
KRPC’s Managing Director who was represented by the Executive Director (Services), Abdullahi Idris, said the company has cordial relationship with its host communities saying, in the first half of the year 2017, KRPC produced and delivered to Nigerians 236.48 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
"87 Million Litres of household Kerosene, 197.51 million litres of Automotive Gas Oil and 66.39 million litres of Low Pour Point Fuel Oil(LPFO). The crude Distillation Unit was streamed on 4th December, 2017 and is still in operation. Likewise, the Naptha Hydro Treating Unit which was also re-streamed on the same day.
"The re-streaming of the plant could not have come at a better time considering the recent scarcity of the petroleum products in parts of the country. Within this shot period of operation, KRPC has been able to release 16.1 million litres of PMS which is over 480 trucks and counting) into the market thereby cushioning the effect of the scarcity in especially the northern States and Abuja," he said.
This year’s theme of the workshop which has 27 journalists in attendance was: "Towards Enlightenment Reportage Of The Oil and Gas Industry".
