We shall overcome!
On Sunday, 5th April, 2020 we opened the SLAJ-IRN Corona Tok platform to bring to the general public correct information and updates on the three-day lockdown ordered by the Government of Sierra Leone as an early measure to contain the spread of COVID-19.
More than 65 radio stations across Sierra Leone linked to the host station, Radio Democracy 98.1 FM, and provided about 35 hours of broadcast to ensure people in every corner of the country receive information on the lockdown and progress reports on the fight against COVID-19.
I, and a cross section of my Executive, went around during the lockdown granting interviews, checking on media houses and boosting the morale of journalists as they did their work to support the efforts of the authorities.
We closed the program at 10pm yesterday with Muslim and Christian prayers.
As President of SLAJ, I wish to take this opportunity to thank every journalist across the country for conducting themselves responsibly and for their wonderful work during the lockdown.
In crisis periods like the one we are currently in, providing the correct information for the general public is not only crucial to overcoming fake news, mis-information and conspiracy theories but also essential to achieving success in combating COVID-19 in Sierra Leone.
On this note, let me proudly salute the SLAJ Coronavirus Response Committee, SLBC TV, AYV TV, Star TV , FTN , radio stations across the country under the IRN platform, producers, presenters, field reporters, the technical people whose voices and faces you don’t hear and see; the print media who, through the Guild of Editors, dedicated pages of their newspapers to publishing flyers and posters with preventive messages, the SLAJ leadership in the North, South and East, and the many senior colleagues who give us advise from time to time.
But we are not working in isolation; this is a collaborative fight. Therefore, let me also commend the Government of Sierra Leone (and its various agencies) under the leadership of His Excellency the President Dr. Julius Maada Bio, the ministries of Health and Information, our health workers in entirety, our religious leaders and traditional heads, the security forces, the Freetown City Council, Civil Society Organisations, and above all, the people of Sierra Leone for their compliance and solidarity in this difficult period in the history of our country and the world. We are all in this together!
However, we are not there yet. While we prepare for the battle ahead, I kindly urge all of us to uphold such commitment, dedication, sincerity and collaboration, and strengthen our resolve to overcome COVID-19.
In the meantime, we give all the glory to God Almighty!
We shall overcome.
God bless us all.
Long Live SLAJ!
Long live Sierra Leone.
Thank you all very much.
Ahmed Sahid Nasralla
National President
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