Kano State Government says it will initiate palliative measures for media practitioners to enable them discharge their duties in the event of lockdown occasioned by Coronavirus pandemic.

The Commissioner for Information, Muhammad Garba, stated this at a one-day training exercise for Journalist organised by the Kano State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, on Monday in Kano.

He said: “I discussed with the governor on the need to consider the critical roles the journalists play in times of disaster.

“The state government is very much aware of the challenges journalists face in critical and disasters such as  COVID-19 pandemic. The government will do its best to guarantee their safety during the trying time of the pandemic.

“There is the need for government to see how it can support the media in this time of COVID-19 pandemic, whatever support that is going to be given to other sectors, the media will surely be considered.

“We will work together with the media and see how we can overcome this pandemic which has caused serious harm to the entire world”.

Mr Garba described journalists as professionals whose services are critical in emergencies, and tasked them to live above board in the disseminating of information on COVID-19 pandemic.

He stressed the need for journalists to be guided by the code of ethics of the profession in the discharge of their duties.

The commissioner further described the workshop as timely and charged participants to use what they would learn in the promotion of precautionary measures against the pandemic.

News Agency of Nigeria reports that the exercise was attended by media practitioners operating in the state.

NAN