Nigeria Not A Country Of Corrupt People, Says Ike Nwachukwu

Three-time Foreign Affairs Minister, Major General Ike Nwachukwu, retd, yesterday said that it is wrong to view Nigeria as a country of corrupt people saying that though there are few corrupt individuals, Nigerians are honest and hard working.

Major Gen Nwachukwu stated this at the 1st National Conference & Awards Night of the Photojournalists Association of Nigeria held at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, Lagos.

Nwachukwu who declared that photojournalism cannot be gagged, said in spite of the threat by social and multimedia, photography remains more powerful than words can describe emphasizing the need for photojournalists to uphold their responsibility as very important professionals and tell our stories and break the existing stereotypes.

His words “There is a threat today to media freedom and it is the responsibility of photojournalists to help fight for freedom of expression and media, to tell our stories which must be the truth all the time. As it’s often said, publish the truth and be dammed. Let people know what is right and wrong in the country.”

Describing the Conference as a very important platform that will further the course of the association, he advised the organisers not to trivialize it but rather,

“You must find a way to improve on the profession. Tell the world that we are not sub-human but intellectually sound people who are far better than those who view us as sub-human.”

Nwachukwu who frowned at the way politics is played in the country, noted that “The way we play politics in Nigeria, there must be no space for ethnic politics in Nigeria, rather, there should be concerted efforts to develop industries, and every other sector so as to move Nigeria forward”

In attendance at the Conference, were the former President of LCCI, Chief Mrs Nike Akande, veteran photojournalist, Sunmi Smart Cole who was the Keynote Speaker, various representatives of corporate organisations and other eminent Nigerians.