Freedom of speech carries great responsibility, Minister says, assures govt’s commitment to free press

The Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, has declared that freedom of speech carries great responsibility, lamenting the unpatriotic language Nigerians use online.

The Minister, while also declaring that the Federal Government has no plan to gag the press, insisted that President Bola Tinubu wa committed to press freedom.

Idris made the declarations while speaking with State House Correspondents shortly after briefing President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday.

“That is a very delicate line to toe. While the government, Mr President and all of us in that sector are committed to ensuring press freedom. That freedom comes with responsibility…there is no attempt by the government to gag the press.”

Speaking on the plan by the Nigerian Press Council to register journalists as a way to sanitise the profession, the minister said: “Well, that is being looked into; you know that Mr President believes in press freedom; he believes in the freedom of expression, and he’s not going to gag the press in any way, shape or form.

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“He’s going to work assiduously to ensure that the Nigerian press that has been free is even freer. But this freedom also comes with enormous responsibility.

“You can’t just say what is not right because you’re enjoying press freedom. There will be freedom, responsible freedom.”

The minister also revealed plans by the Federal Government to deploy officers of the National Orientation Agency across all 774 local government areas nationwide, adding that most of the information outposts in the country were unmanned, necessitating the move to restore consciousness of nationhood.

“The national orientation agency has offices in the 774 LGAs…not all the people that will man these local government offices are there, but we are rebuilding that. We are going to put officers of the NOA around all the 774 LGAs,” he said.

Speaking further, Idris, who observed that “the belief in the concept of nationhood and patriotism has broken down in this country”, said: We’re trying to rebuild that, to reconstruct that.

“Mr. President has given me a marching order to see that Nigerians believe in this country once again. We’re coming up with a national discourse on orientation or reorientation. So that Nigerians can believe in their country.

“People don’t even believe in leaders that they themselves have elected. Flags are not flying anymore. You go to government offices, you don’t even see the symbol of our collective existence, flying even in public buildings.

“We’re bringing back this concept of discipline that Nigerians should have. Patriotism. Belief in the nationhood that our founding fathers have given us. National orientation is going to be at the center of it.”

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