Plateau State Governor, Simon Bako Lalong, made history today, as he becomes the first serving Governor of the state, to visit the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Center, while actively serving, as a Governor. The Governor donated N4.5m to families of 9 deceased Journalist who died in the line of duty eleven years ago.
Governor Lalong made the pronouncement during an Interactive session with journalists in Jos to commemorate 19 years of uninterrupted Democracy and 3 years of his administration.
It could be recalled that 9 members of the Plateau NUJ had an accident on their way to the southern zone of Plateau on their way to inspect projects in the zone. They were in a convoy with the then Governor of the state Chief Joshua Dariye, Lalong who was the Speaker and the present Commissioner of Information Yakubu Dati,was also the commissioner of that ministry then. Lalong said, his administration has not forgotten the families of the deceased Journalists and assured of welfare of members of the Pen profession .
The interactive session had members of the state Executive Council, the Head of Service and the Chief of Staff in attendance The Governor also used the visit to brief the press on his journey so far through his three years, which would be marked on Democracy Day, the 29th of May, 2018.
The Governor, while fielding answers to questions from Journalists, said the state is hoping to receive refunds for some Federal Government projects so far completed in the state, to the tune of N22billion. He promised to complete more abandoned projects by past administration in the state, which include the NUJ Press Center Jos, with his administration already undertaking 22 road projects within the 17 Local Government areas in the state
On the Agricultural Sector, the Governor said distribution of the alleged missing tractors which were commissioned by President Buhari, would soon be distributed to farmers in the stat Former Chairman of the council and a present trustee of the NUJ, Mr. K. Gobum, thanked the governor for coming to the NUJ center marking one of the activities to usher in the Democracy Day celebration in the state, He further called on the Governor to direct his aides and other Commissioners, to open their doors to speak to Journalists with respect to government activities and their achievements.
