AFRICA/NIGERIA - Catholic media practitioners have been called upon to use their profession to bring an end to communal clashes and violence in Nigeria

Friday, 11 April 2014

Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - "I pray you come out with the best approach of using communication in different and diverse cultures to curb the very spate of communal clashes and violence in Nigeria". This call was made by the Imo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Dr. T.O.E. Elechi, in his welcome address to the first Plenary meeting of Diocesan Directors of Communication held at the Assumpta Pastoral Centre, Owerri, Imo State, recently.
According to a note sent to Fides Agency, the theme of the meeting was "Communication at the Service of Authentic Culture of Encounter".
According to the commissioner: "Contacts and encounters are misunderstood and misinterpreted. Relationships are misconstrued, information gathering and disseminations are obliterated and all human dealings are imbued with mistrust and the end result is lack of trust which has snowballed into killings and rumours of killings – Boko Haram in the North, MASSOP in the East, MEND in the South, etc ... ".
"As you congregate and discuss the theme of this gathering, let me remind us that as media men in the largest most organized Church of the world, it behoves on us to use our structured organization to persistently and consistently REACH the people to better the society we find ourselves", he concluded.
The Chairman of the Imo State Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Chief (Sir) Innocent Igwe noted that the theme of the meeting "is ideal as through it, everyone is reminded of the robust impact of communication in transmitting and encountering the authentic Catholic Culture, which rigorous application is needed to heal our society of its multifaceted ills, such as heinous corruption, ritual murders, kidnapping, assassination, baby factory syndrome and general lack of the fear of God" (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 11/04/2014)


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