Oyo State Commissioner For Lands, Housing, Survey, and Urban Development, Honourable Williams Akin-Funmilayo has charged media professionals across the country to be genuine and constructive in their criticism of government.
Honourable Akin-Funmilayo stated this on Friday while playing host to members of the Ibadan Mega Voice who paid him a courtesy visit as part of the activities lined up for their second anniversary.
Ibadan Mega Voice is an assemblage of media professionals who are indigines of the ancient brown-roof city with over 500 members home and abroad cutting across print, electronics, public relations, advertising, media marketing, online publishing, theatre and media lecturing among others.
The Commissioner, who hosted Ibadan Mega Voice in his office at the Oyo State Ministry of Lands, Housing, Survey, and Urban Development, Secretariat, Ibadan, said the relationship between media and government is symbiotic in such that both need each other to make the society a better place.
“You are always referred to as the members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm for a reason. You are the link between the government and the governed, between the leaders and the led, and that’s why you should be professional in your duties.
“If we are in government and we ignore what we are supposed to do, we are just deceiving ourselves because we cannot be in power forever.
“So whatever we can achieve within the government for the betterment of the society should be prioritised because whatever we do today will become history tomorrow” The Commissioner stated.
Responding, the IMV President, Ààrẹ Kolawole Olomide appreciated the Commissioner for his time, humility and commitment to his assigned duties in the ministry and the state at large.
Ààrẹ Olomide assured the Commissioner of the IMV members’ professionalism and due diligence in their reportage and other lines of duty.
IMV president, who described Ibadan as one family compound with many windows, stressed that IMV members will not bring issues that are supposed to be discussed at a roundtable to the pages of newspapers, on radio or on television.
He further shared some of the IMV’s visions with the Commissioner who in turned assured the association of his supports.
Some of the other activities lined up for IMV’s second anniversary include the following:
Courtesy Visit to Chief Shaheed Oladele (Baameko), Sunday, 10th November 2024.
Medical Outreach at Gbagi Market,
Tuesday, 12th November 2024, at 8 AM.
Courtesy visit to NDLEA Office, Tuesday, 12th November 2024, at 12 noon.