Light Bearer Newspaper Partners Plateau Information Ministry to Promote Peace, Security.

The Lightbearer Newspaper has called for stronger partnership with the Plateau State Ministry of Information to promote peace, deepen grassroots information dissemination and support efforts to address insecurity across the State.

The newspaper made the call on Tuesday when its team, led by the Editor, Mrs. Elizabeth Salami, paid a courtesy visit to the Plateau State Commissioner for Information, Rt. Hon. Joyce Ramnap, at the Ministry of Information, State Secretariat, Jos.

The Editor commended the Plateau State Government for its efforts towards addressing the security challenges confronting the state, noting that more could still be done. She expressed the newspaper’s willingness to work closely with the ministry in order to effectively report government activities, including press releases, interviews and other programmes.

According to her, Lightbearer Newspaper has a strong grassroot and national reach as the paper goes wherever the Church goes making it strategically positioned to help the government communicate its programmes and achievements to people at the grassroots.

She said the newspaper was particularly concerned about the recurring security attacks in Plateau State and appealed for stronger action whenever security alerts were received, noting that while government could not prevent every attack, more proactive measures could help reduce casualties and destruction.

She also called for increased engagement with community elders, traditional rulers and other stakeholders, suggesting that stronger accountability mechanisms could be explored even with threats of sanctions if need be to encourage community leaders and fulani Ardos to take greater responsibility for preventing and responding to emerging security threats within their domain.

She further appealed to the state government to strengthen security around farming communities, particularly during the harvest season, saying farmers needed to have safe access to their farms to harvest their crops without fear of attacks.

Responding, the Commissioner for Information, Rt. Hon. Joyce Ramnap mni, welcomed the Lightbearer Newspaper team to the ministry and commended the newspaper for its contribution to informing and encouraging people across the State. She however appealed to them as opinion moulders to communicate with the aim of creating peace and development.

The Hon. Commissioner noted that although the newspaper is faith-based, its reach extends beyond religious audiences, particularly through its reportage and network.

She described the newspaper’s grassroot outreach as commendable and said the ministry would engage its management to explore possible areas of partnership and support, particularly in ensuring that government information and messages of encouragement reach people at the grassroots.

On the security situation, the Commissioner acknowledged the complexity of the challenges confronting Plateau, explaining that the State government does not have absolute control over all security operations because security agencies operate within their Constitutional mandates.

She, however, said the State government has maintained close relationships with security agencies and continued to support their operations, including the provisions of motorcycles to enhance rapid response in hard-to-reach communities.

She disclosed that the State government had provided 200 motorcycles in the latest batch, following earlier distributions, stressing that the initiative was aimed at improving security response in areas where conventional vehicles might face difficulties accessing communities.

The Commissioner said recent responses had shown some improvement following renewed efforts by the Federal Government and the activities of the Minister of Defence.

She however pointed that the State government would not consider the security challenge fully resolved until the people of Plateau could live and farm safely, saying, “Until the last man of Plateau is safe, we cannot say we have achieved 100 per cent” of the objective of securing our people.

The Commissioner assured the Lightbearer Newspaper team that the concerns raised during the visit would be considered, particularly those relating to partnership, grassroots information dissemination, security alerts and community engagement, as the State government continues its efforts to build a safer and more peaceful Plateau.