The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has called on the Federal Government to come up with strong policies to protect the rights of under-age girls in the country.

This is contained in a communiqué at the end of its 2016 first quarterly Standing Committee meeting held at the weekend in Abuja.

It said that the call became necessary due to the rising cases of abduction and abuse of minors nationwide.

“Government should adopt very strong policies that would protect the rights of children, and in particular under-age girls, in the light of the rising cases of abductions and abuse of minors across the country,’’ the guild said in a communiqué.

The communiqué is jointly signed by its President, Malam Garba Deen Muhammad and Assistant General Secretary, Mary Atolagbe.

It called for the immediate closure of all JAMB centres that lacked the capacity to ensure seamless conduct of its computer-based examinationss to ensure credibility of the exercise.

“The guild expresses serious disappointment over the poor conduct of the last JAMB computer-based examinations, describing it as a national embarrassment capable of truncating the destinies of future leaders.

“The guild, therefore, implores government to immediately halt the approval of centres that lack the capacity to ensure seamless conduct of such examinations.’’

It expressed concern over the state of the Nigerian media, stressing that the prevailing economic challenges had negatively affected the performance output of the traditional media.

“The guild further notes with concern that the media industry, like most other sectors, is suffocating under the prevailing economic challenges, which poses a threat to the survival of traditional media in particular and credible information dissemination.

“It, therefore, asks the government to review policies that impede the operations of the media in order to sustain democracy and avoid job losses.’’

Reviewing the state of the Nigerian economy, the guild urged government to fast-track the diversification process of the nation’s economy to prioritise on the development of the agriculture and mining sectors.

“The guild notes that the current economic challenges facing the country have made the need to diversify the Nigerian economy more compelling.

“It urges government to quickly evolve very clear and productive policies on mining, as well as make agriculture more attractive through the provision of soft loans and other incentives that would facilitate the development of the agricultural sector,’’ it stressed.

The guild passed a vote of confidence on its President, Garba Deen Muhammad and deferred discussion on the possibility of change in leadership of the guild following his appointment as Group General Manager (Public Affairs) Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

The guild also agreed that it would discuss the matter during the next Standing Committee meeting scheduled for between May and June.

The guild acknowledged the recent changes in the status of its leadership and unanimously agreed on a handover plan that will culminate in a change of baton at its next Standing Committee Meeting.

The meeting was attended by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, in his capacity as the NGE’s former President and Fellow of the guild.

(NAN)