President Bola Tinubu’s government says it is committed to ensuring freedom of media practice in Nigeria, warning journalists against taking liberty for granted.

Information minister Mohammed Idris said this at a dinner organised by the International Press Institute (IPI) to celebrate the re-election of Raheem Adedoyin as a Director of World IPI on Thursday in Abuja.

Mr Idris said Mr Tinubu’s administration has accorded a special priority to the entrenchment of responsible media journalism.

“We believe in media freedom. We believe in responsible journalism,” he said. “But you can’t carry out freedom itself and leave responsibilities. They have to go together for media freedom to be entrenched.”

The minister added, “We shouldn’t take it for granted. We shouldn’t think because we are media practitioners we automatically have the freedom to do what we desire.”

Mr Idris also said that press freedom was a collective responsibility that required all hands to be on deck to continue to fight for it.

The minister, however, described the re-election of Mr Adedoyin as director representing Africa on the IPI board as deserving and a source of pride for Nigeria.

“Raheem, you made IPI Nigeria like a 50-year-old organisation. Your contribution to journalism can not be quantified,” he said.

Presidential media aide Bayo Onanuga reminded journalists of their task. He added that there were rules and laws guiding journalism practice that must be observed whenever journalists discharge their duties.

“Let’s not write stories because of traffic or advertisements. Let’s be conscious of our writings,” said Mr Onanuga.

(NAN)