The director-general of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Balarabe Ilelah, has reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to sanitising the nation’s media industry.

Mr Ilelah said this on Monday in Umuahia while declaring open a two-day training programme for media practitioners, noting that the peculiarity associated with the changing world, especially in the area of information dissemination, made it necessary for the commission to ensure that quality media content is constantly disseminated to Nigerians.

He, therefore, charged media practitioners to take responsibility for the contents being aired on their medium, urging them to be cautious about false news and the negative effects such materials could have on the people.

“We must understand that we are all gatekeepers and watchdogs for society, and if we fail to curb this cancerous threat, there won’t be any society to call our own, let alone a place to live and do our job,” warned the NBC chief. “Broadcast regulation is essential to ensure that broadcasting plays a pivotal role in the cultural, scientific, technological, economic and political lives of the people of Nigeria.”

Mr Ilelah added, “On its part, the commission has over the years done a lot in ensuring that there is the enthronement of social responsibility in broadcasting.”

He appealed to media practitioners to align with the commission’s agenda to promote peace, growth and national development through information dissemination.

(NAN)