All is set for the take off of a National Ombudsman for the Media in Nigeria, the National Media Complaints Commission (NMCC).
A nine-man Board for the Commission will be inaugurated Monday, according to a statement by the President of the Nigerian Press Organisation, NPO,Mallam Kabiru Yusuf, released on Friday.
Yusuf, who is also President of Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN, explained that the birth of the Commission follows the need to strengthen public confidence in the media as a credible barometer of public opinion.
He said members of the Commission are drawn from the media, the bar, the academia, and civil society with Mr. Emeka Izeze , FNGE, former Managing Director, Guardian Newspapers as Chairman.
Other members include 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; 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).
Others are Mr. Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Mrs. Dupe Ajayi-Gbadebo, FNGE, a Journalist, Lawyer and Arbitrator; Mrs. Eugenia Abu, Broadcaster, Author, and Columnist, and Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Information.
Yusuf described the up-coming inauguration as a major step by the Media industry to strengthen public confidence in the media through prompt resolution of issues bordering on ethical breaches in media content.
“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”, the statement explained.
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), 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.
