By EDEM DARLINGTON, Calabar
The Deputy Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ivara Esu on Friday cut the tape to commission a state of the art Secretariat of the Association of Cross River Online Journalists (ACROJ) in Calabar.
Prof. Esu was accompanied during the visit by the secretary to the government, Barr. Tina Agbor.
Performing the function, he said he was excited to see the progress and commitment online journaists have made in enlightening the public, especially Cross River Watch, an online news medium in the state published by Mr. Agba Jalingo.
The deputy governor particularly congratulated the publishers of Cross River Watch for a job well done. He however advise online practitioners to not only criticise but also praise government where they have performed well.
Earlier, the chairman, board of trustees of ACROJ, Mr. Agba Jalingo, expressed delight at the achievement of the association.
He said it was in their bid to bridge the gap between the people and government that necessitated the creation of the association. He pointed out that ACROJ is not at war with the Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ) in the state, but to ensure news gets to the people at the grassroot easily.
He assured that the association will further help to ensure that the state is the adequately publicised.
Meanwhile, at the sidelines of the commissioning ceremony, the deputy governor, when asked when the state will conduct local government elections, he said ” I may not be able to tell you exactly when, but what I can say is that the state will conduct elections”
Local government elections has been delayed since the end of e last local administration in December 2016.
