Citi FM/TV’s Northern regional correspondent, Mohammed Aminu M. Alabira has been honoured at the Ghana Journalists Association Regional awards ceremony held on Wednesday in Tamale.
He won the Best Rural reporter award in the region.
The ceremony was the 2nd event organised by the Northern regional branch of the GJA to acknowledge and recognise the work of Journalists in the region.
Nine awards were up for grabs during the night.
The categories included water and sanitation, disability, rural reporting, health, education, agriculture, tourism, road safety, peace and conflict resolution.
Mr. Alabira who is based on the North Eastern corridor of the Northern Region always brings issues affecting rural folks in the region to the fore.
One of the reports which won him the best rural reporter award was the report he did at Woribugu, a community of over 5000 people where they struggle on a daily basis to have access to mobile network.
Community members usually have to climb trees at the outskirts of the community to be able to make phone calls.
In the end, Mohammed Fugu of the Daily Graphic won the best regional journalists award.
At the ceremony, the guest of honour was Dr Mohammed Awal, the Minister for Tourism.
Delivering his address, the Minister called on journalists to help promote peace and tourism.
He said without peace, no tourists will visit any area.
“I want to urge journalists to use their platforms to promote peace in the region. There are so many tourist sites in the region and without peace, no tourist will visit your region. Tourism has the potential of creating jobs for people and this is what we intend to do”.
On his part, Buipe Wura who was chairman for the occasion commended journalists for the hard work they’ve been doing and called for a strong collaboration with traditional leaders to promote development in the region.
“I want to commend the journalists for the good work they are doing. They’re doing well and need to be commended. I will want to urge them to collaborate with traditional authorities and politicians to promote development for the people”.
The National President of the Ghana Journalists Association said journalists in their daily duties go through a lot of challenges, which sometimes result in injuries.
He said the Ghana Journalists Association is launching the journalists support fund, which is intended to offer support to journalists who are injured in the line of duty.
“Over the years, many journalists are attacked in the line of duty, sometimes resulting in permanent injuries. Ghana Journalists Association has this year launched journalists support fund. This is to offer support to our members who usually get injured in the line of duty to ensure they get the best care.”
The Northern Regional Minister, Alhassan Saani Sayibu urged journalists to avoid sensationalism in their reports. He said journalists should try to always employ professionalism in their reports.