//ONYEKA-AJUMOBI ONOCHIE//SHARE THIS
An independent complaints forum known as The National Ombudsman to interface between practitioners and the public has been created by media owners.
Revealing this in Lagos, Monday, at the inauguration of the Nigerian Media Complaints Commission (NMCC), aka The National Ombudsman, President, Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Malam Kabir Yussuf, said the media took this step on account of practitioners being wary of government regulation.
“We are happy to submit to peer-regulation, by collaborating with civil society organisations, business and the professions, because politicians tend to have short-term goals,” he noted, adding that the coming of The Ombudsman is the first of its kind in an industry which the government had tried unsuccessfully, over the years, to regulate through the Nigerian Press Council (NPC).
It is the brainchild of the Nigerian Press Organisations (NPO) comprising NPAN, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) and Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON).
Yussuf added: “The nine-member NMCC is chaired by former Editor of The Guardian, Mr Emeka Izeze. The members are Malam A.B. Mahmoud, former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) president; Prof Stella Okunna, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Paul University in Awka, Anambra State; Dr Hussaini Abdu, Country Director, Care International and Mr. Lanre Idowu, Editor-in-Chief, Diamond Publications.
“Others are Mrs. Eugenia Abu, veteran broadcaster and author; Mr. Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda and Mrs. Dupe Ajayi-Gbadebo, former Editor of Sunday Times and now a lawyer, and chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Information.”
He further said, “the NPO was taking the responsibility of regulating its work and conduct after some trial-and-error,” noting that “we have opted for a mechanism of co-regulation, with the help of other actors in civil society, especially the bar and non-media NGOs.
“This national body will be watching the watchdog. We gave it two names, for emphasis, the NMCC and The Ombudsman. Time will tell which one will catch on with the public.”
He recalled that all governments had made and still continue to make efforts to control media output by stealth or openly, even as “Radio and Television are already regulated, some will say over-regulated.
“But print, which is the oldest and online, which is the newest, have escaped such control, the former warned by the lessons of history, and the latter, by the amplitude of technology.”
Yussuf said it was the duty of the press to guard freedom and liberties, noting that such “exertions merely annoy, rather than hinder the powers that be.”
Going further, he explained that he was not, in any way, sanctifying the press as “we have our own faults enough. Some journalists seem all out to prove that their pen is, indeed, a sword, for slaying real or imaginary enemies!”
The Ombudsman, he said, would call such people to order. “To appreciate that, the power of the press should be used for good, not for self-aggrandisement; to be effective, the physician has to heal himself before he can apply the cure to others.”
Yussuf promised that The Ombudsman would resolve complaints about the press quickly, fairly and free of charge; maintain high standards of Nigerian journalism and journalists’ ethics and defend the freedom of the press and the right of the people to know.
Also speaking, Mr. Emeka Izeze said The Ombudsman’s duty was not to gag the press, rather it is to ensure that “we do our job well and as professionals.”
With the coming of The Ombudsman, the public is assured that whatever complaints they have against the press would be promptly addressed, he assured.
“There is nothing to fear about The Ombudsman. As journalists, we want freedom to do our work. This is why the NPC has not been effective. It is widely believed in the media that it was created to stifle media practice. Many of us on the committtee are professionals with many years of experience and we know what it is and what it takes to practice journslism unfettered,” Izeze added.
The committee went into a closed-door session immediately after its inauguration by Vanguard Publisher, Mr. Sam Amuka, popularly aka Uncle Sam./SHARE THIS
- Tags: Kabir Yussuf, Emeka Izeze, Sam Amuka, The Ombudsman
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