Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, says the media industry in the country believes in the ability of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to steer the nation towards lasting progress.
The Minister gave the assurance on Friday at the State House, Abuja, where President Tinubu hosted the leadership of the Nigerian media, including members of the Nigeria Press Organisation (NPO), the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), among others.
Idris noted that the Tinubu administration recognises the critical role of the media in sustaining democracy and advancing national development.
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He also disclosed that the Federal Government has commenced engagements with major global technology companies, including Meta and Google, regarding their impact on Nigeria’s media industry.
“All the regulatory agencies are already engaging the big tech, Meta and Google. The President will not allow anybody to come here, reap from our economy and go away”, the Minister said.
Idris also assured media leaders that the administration remains firmly committed to press freedom.
“At no time has the President ever called me to say go and do this or go and do that to the press. He is himself a product of press freedom”, he said.
He further noted that government initiatives such as the student loan scheme, improved foreign reserves and stabilising economic indicators demonstrate progress under the current administration and require sustained public understanding and engagement.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation charged media practitioners to continue to discharge their constitutional role with responsibility while holding the government at all levels accountable to the people.
Also speaking at the event, the Grand Patron of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Aremo Olusegun Osoba, commended President Tinubu for the bold steps his administration has taken, introducing transformative policies geared towards transforming the nation’s economy.
Chief Osoba lauded the establishment of the Nigeria Revenue Service and the National Single Window policy, both of which are capable of increasing the nation’s revenue profile.
He commended the President for further tasking the governors on resource utilisation, commending him for ensuring that the resources they receive through the monthly federal allocation are used to improve the lives of citizens at the grassroots.
President of the Nigeria Press Organisation and Publisher of BusinessDay newspapers,Mr Frank Aigbogun, commended President Tinubu for maintaining his longstanding cordial relationship with the media and sought President Tinubu’s intervention on newsprint and broadcast equipment import tariffs
“We appeal for your gracious intervention to ensure exemptions for tariffs on newsprint, ink and other materials essential to our operations,” he said.
Mr Aigbogun also called on the Federal Government to intervene to protect the jobs of journalists in Nigeria and the industry as a whole from big tech companies that use editorial content sourced from Nigerian media without compensation.
“AI firms are able to generate summaries of content from our websites, meaning the work produced by journalists ends up bringing little value back to the organisations that created it,” Aigbogun said.