The Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, has said that the growth and sustainability of democracy relies on efforts of men of the pen profession, just as he lauded the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) for being at the forefront in promoting unity and nationhood of Nigeria.

Governor Ahmed made this known on Wednesday in his address at the opening ceremony of a 3-day National Programme Planning Conference organised by FRCN held at Royal Shekinah Suite, Offa Garage Road, Ilorin.

Ahmed who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media, Dr Muhideen Akorede, on the occasion, called on members of the fourth estate of the realm to always carry out objective and balanced reports that will be of benefit to Nigeria's nascent democracy.

Commenting on the theme of the conference, "Century of Amalgamation: The Role of Radio Nigeria in the Vision and Mission of the country," Governor Ahmed said the programme could not have come at a better time than now when Nigeria is preparing for her 100th year of being together.

"Democracy cannot strive without the participation of a vibrant media because our people need to know what government has done, what government is doing and more importantly what government is going to do tomorrow.

"I will like to at this point commend the FRCN, NTA as well as the print media for their valuable and critical contributions to the development of our democracy.

"I have no hesitation in stating here that one of the few media organs that has been at the fore front of promoting our nation hood and unity as a nation is the FRCN," the governor added.

He urged Nigerian Journalists to continue to innovate and come up with new ways of informing, entertaining and educating the people of Nigeria.

Earlier in his keynote address, the Director-General of FRCN, Dr Shamson Shuaib, said the idea of the conference was conceived by the FRCN to serve as clinic where they will post-mortem the previous year, and strategise for the future.

"We owe it not only to ourselves, but to future generations to create through our offering an atmosphere of hope, peace, stability, prosperity, tolerance and development" Shuaib said.

He said the conference was in part preparation for the 100 years of Nigeria as a country which is coming up in the next seven months, adding that FRCN is working round the clock to promote unity and brotherhood among Nigerians

The DG charged the men of pen profession to as a matter of urgency create nation-building programmes, suggesting that they may consider one with the title WAZOBIA that will promote the teaching of English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.

"My vision for the programme Directorate is to become a platform that integrates rural development with national aspirations to truly uplift the people and unite the nation," he said.