Joseph Bakare
The Nigerian media has moved a step ahead to bring sanity into the profession by creating a National Media Complaints Commission.
The Commission to be known as National Ombudsman scheduled for launch on Monday aims at strengthening public confidence in the media as a credible barometer of public opinion.
The President Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN, Mal. Kabiru A. Yusuf, named members of the Commission drawn from the media, the bar, the academia, and civil society to include, Mr. Emeka Izeze , FNGE, former Managing Director, Guardian Newspapers (Chairman), Mr. A. B Mahmoud, SAN, OON, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Prof Chinyere Stella Okunna, Deputy Vice Chancellor, (Academics) Paul University, Awka, Anambra State.
Others are, Dr. Hussain Abdu, a Development Specialist and Country Director, Care International (Nigeria); Mr. Lanre Idowu, FNGE, Editor-in-Chief, Diamond Publications Ltd. and Founder, Diamond Awards For Media Excellence (DAME); Mr. Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda (MRA).
The rest are, Mrs. Dupe Ajayi-Gbadebo, FNGE, a Journalist, Lawyer and Arbitrator ; Mrs. Eugenia Abu, Broadcaster, Author, and Columnist, and the Chair, House of Representatives Committee on Information.
The Inauguration is a major step by the industry to strengthen public confidence in the media through prompt resolution of issues bordering on ethical breaches in media content.
The process is being driven by the Nigeria Press Organisation (NPO,) comprising the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), and the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), along with other strategic media players and the civil society, in particular the MacArthur Foundation.
The commission will serve as an independent forum for resolving complaints about the press quickly, fairly, and free of charge; maintain high standards of Nigerian Journalism and journalistic ethics; and defend the freedom of the press and the rights of the people to know.
Prior to the February 22, 2023 announcement of the composition of the commission, each media house had been directed to institute at the newspaper level, the local Ombudsman. The National Ombudsman will serve as an appellate body for the local Ombudsman as well as a court of first instance.