Nigerian journalists have been urged to use their profession to sustain democracy in Nigeria .

The Kwara State Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mallam Abiodun Abdulkareem gave the urge on Thursday during the inauguration of a new executive for the NUJ Correspondents' chapel in the state.

Abdulkareem advised the members of the pen profession to also discharge their responsibilities in accordance with ethics and professionalism in order to earn the confidence of Nigerians.

The Chairman explained that journalists have a vital role to play in the sustenance of the nation's democracy and ensuring it becomes a well entrenched norm in the nation's polity.

"As journalists, we need to redefine the essence of the profession and preserve our integrity so as to earn more respect from Nigerians and for people to rely on us.

We've a responsibility towards this nation, we have the weapons but we need to deploy the weapons in line with the ethics of the profession he said.

The NUJ chairman also called on government to give more support to journalists and provide them with the enabling environment considering the nature of their job, saying, "We are doing social service and we need the support of government".

He also called on the state government to, as a matter of priority, adequately fund the state-owned media organisations which he said are suffering from dearth of equipment.