Elite of Kupe Muanenguba Division in the South West region have been urged to federate forces and create local media organs to ease dissemination of information within communities. The plea was made by the newly appointed Divisional Delegate of Communication, Olive Ejang Tebug épse Ndumea.
Divisional Delegate of Communication for Kupe Muanenguba handing her World Press Freedom Day Speech to SDO
Ejang was speaking during ceremony at the Bangem council hall Tuesday 4 May 2021 to commemorate the first-ever World Press Freedom Day celebration. The celebration brought together journalism club students from GBHS and PCSS Bangem while a journalism club was installed in GTHS. This, she said was due to the absence of journalists and media organs in her area of command.
“After my appointment about two months ago, I did a survey of the Division and realized that we don’t have any media organ in the Division…I am calling on stakeholders of the Division to individually and collectively come and invest in the Division,” she pleaded.
Journalism club students from three colleges massively turned out for celebration of first-ever WPFD
She said with the absence of media organs, she is bound to raise future journalists out of students by building and following them up to become professionals. She promised to also follow up and ensure that a functional media organ is created in K/M.
Ejang disclosed that her joy will be more if by her departure from the Division, there exist a radio station, TV, newspaper, online media. She expressed the wish to ensure all state institutions in K/M have and operate Facebook pages, a website and other online platforms to sell their services to the population.
“I will start with Bangem Council. We used to have Bangem Community Radio. My plan is that we are going to revive and follow up the Mayor to have the community radio reinstated for the benefit of the population. I will also go to Tombel and Nguti councils to ensure that we all have community radio stations in this subdivisions,” the erstwhile communication delegate of Fako Division stated.
She saluted the efforts of the SDO, other administrative and municipal authorities as well as school authorities for making the first-ever World Press Freedom Day a celebration a success in the Division.
She told her hearers that this year’s theme serves as a call to all stakeholders to give value to information, explore strategies of production, distribution and reception of news content to strengthen journalism, and to advance transparency, remind governments on the need to respect their commitment to press freedom. She added that it is also an opportunity for journalists to reflect on issues of professional ethics, and to remember colleagues who died in pursuit of a story.
She used the occasion to school students on the values of the noble profession, announced plans to organize inter-school competitions amongst journalism club students in order to boost their reading and writing skills. She implored K/M school administrators to create an enabling atmosphere to journalism club members to practice on campus in order to improve their skills.
Aware of the prevalence of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ejang, distributed facemasks to the school administrators and students so as to help stamp out the virus in the school milieu in particular, and the Division in general.
The visionary delegate also appointed COVID-19 Ambassadors in all classes in GBHS Bangem with role to constantly sensitize and remind their peers on need to respect safety measures prescribed by government and WHO. She said plans are underway to extend the initiative to other colleges in the Division.
The Representative of journalism club students saluted the initiative of the delegate to celebrate with them aspiring journalists, adding, that the delegates activities have reactivated their zeal to become media professionals.
The students added their voice to that of the delegate and challenged their elite to create radio or TV stations in the Division which will help connect them to the outside world as well as help sharpen their skills. The event unfolded under the watchful eyes of K/M SDO, Bangem DO, Mayor, and school principals and others.
By Doh Bertrand Nua
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