Giving publicity to hate speeches could consume the country – Akoh tells Nigerian Journalists

The National Commandant, Peace Corp of Nigeria, Amb. 
(Dr.) Dickson Akoh, has admonished the Nigerian media to eschew giving prime time to the publication of hate speeches, as it has the tendency to consume Nigeria.

Speaking to a cross section of newsmen in Abuja 
Thursday night, Akoh said the publication of hate speeches was only intended at ridiculing the government of the day.

He said, “Some of the pronouncements coming up, apart
 from the tendency to cause division, it is also intended to ridicule the government”.

Speaking further, Akoh charged the journalists to deemphasize the publicity being accorded to hate speech makers, saying, “this thing at the end, will consume all of us,
 if we allow it to scale through. That is why we must deemphasize the kind of publicity we accord them.

“I am mindful of the fact that, there are many journalists that
have been to the battle front and in the process of carrying out
their professional duties, lost their lives. So, we must try as
much as possible not to give any form of recognition to those
who are championing these Course”.

Akoh also used the occasion to speak on the recentlyrecently
 passed Nigerian Peace Corps Bill, which the National Assembly gave a clean bill of health.

He said, “there is nothing wrong with the recently passed
Nigerian Peace Corps Bill. Most of the people that generated
the controversy over the bill have not even read the contents of the bill.

“We are not out to take over the functions of any existing
government establishment.

“If you look at the core mandate, which is to develop, 
empower and provide gainful employment in order to 
facilitate peace, Volunteerism, neighborhood watch and 
nation building and other related matters; there is no other establishment in the country that is carrying out such mandate.

“I am a product of the military and our believe in the 
Peace Corps is that we should appreciate whatever efforts people are making to stem the tide of insecurity in the land.

“If you want to physically assess and analyze the basic reasons why we have insecurity in the land today is the 
youth.

“I would rather prefer that we use ten percent (10%) of what we spend in buying arms to fight insecurity and invest on the
Nigerian youths”.

The Commandant, who was a keynote Speaker at 2017 
Press Week Gala Night, organized by the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), bemoaned the poor state of Nigerian Journalists.

He called on the government and media entrepreneurs
 to take the welfare of Journalists serious, adding that, 
it was when reporters get their salaries regularly that they could contribute meaningfully to the business of nation building.