By Ike Uchechukwu

CALABAR—Cross River governor, Prof Ben Ayade, has said that the fate of Nigeria in attaining growth and development lies in the hands of journalists as the media cannot be separated from politics.

Governor Ben Ayade

Ayade, yesterday in Calabar,  during the first public lecture organised by Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, with the theme Engendering Issue Based Campaign In An Electioneering Year: Media Perspectives, said: “There should be a search for intellectuals and not empty heads who cannot offer solutions to the challenges facing Nigeria  and only the media can set up a platform for such discuss .Our fate lies in the media to  provide a veritable platform for all views to be heard.”

Ayade, represented by the Commissioner for Information, Mrs. Rosemary Archibong, said that journalists have a pivotal role to play in delivering Nigeria from the shackles holding it back from attaining its rightful position among the committee of nations .