By NewsCritic Reporters
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt Hon Benjamin Kalu has said that President Bola Tinubu is trying to rebuild the nation in the midst of plethora of problems created by the past administration which was printing the Naira without any corresponding revenue element. He also said that guns will not restore peace in the South East region.
He said that Nigeria was living a lie for so long, adding that President Tinubu in trying to correct the lie and shore up revenue now looks like a wicked person in the eyes of many Nigerians.
Rt Hon Ben Kalu declared that it is true that times are hard, pointing out that the hardship in fairness was not created by the present administration, which is working hard to rescue the economy from collapse.
The Deputy Speaker also charged journalists especially the Online Media Practitioners not to be purveyors of negative reports, but to work closely with the government at all levels to help build the South East zone and the nation at large.
The Deputy Speaker stated this while interacting with the members of Online Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria, OMPAN, Abia State, who paid him a courtesy visit in Umuahia weekend.
He urged journalists to help put the political leaders on their toes by engaging them constructively to ensure accountability and transparency through investigative journalism, and well-researched information gathering, advising that they should avoid making hasty conclusions in churning out information to the public which is capable of destroying not only South East zone but Nigeria in general.
Ben Kalu asked for the help of the media practitioners in restoring peace in the South East region, saying that prosperity has no place in an atmosphere of violence and chaos.
He maintained that the Peace In South East Project, PISE-P, is out to achieve that which the guns could not do. He said guns can’t heal our broken hearts and wounds or fix the infrastructure decay in the region, “so we want to use a simple approach.
He charged the journalists as nation builders to see themselves as partners in the Nigeria project, and to use their pen to build and not to destroy.
“So, I urge you to learn how to use your job appropriately, criticize constructively and use it for nation building. Put some efforts in what you are doing.
“My desire is to work closely with you so that we can sale the South East positively and Nigeria to the world. Stop looking for bad news to get traffic, the more you publish the bad news, the more you scare away the investors.
“We need your help when it comes to Peace in the South East. The entire South East has for the first time came together because people are in pursuit of peace, security, unity and prosperity and you have a role to play to ensure that peace.
“We want to embark on various interventions to heal the wounded hearts in the South East and we started by lobbying for the South East Development Bill, in which we will use the Federal Government fund to rebuild the South East and the damage caused by the war. So once the bill is passed, no longer will the South East cry of marginalization, says Ben Kalu.
Earlier, the Chairman of OMPAN and leader of the delegation, Chief Promise Uzoma Okoro, in his address congratulated the deputy speaker for his elevation, and for his numerous achievements so far in his constituency.
