Chris Mbunwe
22 February 2008
Northwest Governor, Abakar Ahamat, has said he is not expecting a ministerial post from President Paul Biya.
The Governor was speaking to the executives of the Cameroon Association of English-speaking Journalists, CAMASEJ, Northwest Chapter, recently in Bamenda.
Abakar said he was appointed to the post of Governor because the Head of State knows his worth and the trust he has so far demonstrated as a senior civil administrator. As such, he needs no praises from any quarters or blackmail to be appointed Minister.
The Governor appealed to journalists to investigate their stories well and not to be taken hostage by selfish and destructive elite or politicians. "Your profession is an enviable one, but if you choose to excel in blackmail and scandals, you cannot be respected," said Abakar.
He said it is rather unfortunate that some journalists have become street beggars and permanent pests to the people especially well to do and influential authorities or elite.
As someone who admires the press, Abakar said he would not pick holes with journalist who presents news the way it is supposed to.
"You are the mirror of the society and we are prepared to be mirrored and I will not query a true picture as portrayed by this or that journalist. I will only have to adjust, if you write that I am dirty. If I don't see how to get myself or give myself a thorough bath, then the blame shall be on me, not you as my mirror," he told the journalists.
In response to problems journalists face daily as preferences given to public media against their colleagues of the private media, the shabby treatment being dumped with drivers at receptions and illegal arrests, the Governor told CAMASEJ Northwest Chapter President, Choves Loh, that he is aware of communication problems in the Northwest and promised that they would be solved progressively.
"I am going to create a communication adviser and CAMASEJ should help me facilitate the move," said Abakar.He said journalists should be considered as collaborators rather than enemies by the administration.
The Governor said he had not come to the Northwest to create anything new but to see how he can contribute towards development and peaceful co-existence of all and sundry.
The Northwest Provincial Delegate of Communication, Mrs. Mary Maimo Mah, who accompanied CAMASEJ, assured the Governor of full collaboration. She said though quacks have invaded the profession, there are still good journalists around.
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