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Member representing the South East on the Governing Board of the North East Development Commission (NEDC), Rep. Sam Onuigbo has stated that the greatness of a country’s future can be shaped through responsible reportage.
Onuigbo made this known in a statement released in Umuahia on Monday, 5th August, 2024, shortly after the unveiling of the secretariat of the Online Media Practitioners of Nigeria (OMPAN), Abia State chapter by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Benjamin Okezie Kalu.
Describing the media as key to shaping people’s thoughts and actions, the two-time Member of the House of Representatives, said that with the current dominance of online media, OMPAN now bears the weight of using responsible reportage as a brick in building patriotism, perseverance, honesty, integrity, and dedication, in Nigerians.
He stated that this can only be done when media practitioners focus on factual reportage arrived at by interrogating every aspect of a story before publication.
Rep. Onuigbo thus charged OMPAN and other media practitioners to be aware of their important role in history and leverage on it to support the building of a strong, virile, and prosperous Nigeria.
He commended the Deputy Speaker for making out time from his very busy schedule to honour OMPAN.
Earlier in his speech, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and Special Guest of Honour at the occasion, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, urged OMPAN to be agents of positive change, entrenching the cardinal values of “fairness and integrity in their reportage”.
The Deputy Speaker further urged them to tell both sides of every story by showcasing government’s achievements as a way of showing the people the efforts the government is making to address their concerns.
Some of the other dignitaries at the event included Rt. Hon. Martins Azubuike, and Rt. Hon. Stanley Ohajuruka, both former Speakers of the Abia State House of Assembly. Other dignitaries in attendance were Chief Daniel Akwari, Special Adviser on Political Affairs to the Deputy Speaker, and Hon. Trump, National Commissioner on National Population Commission.
The highlight of the event was the unveiling of the new secretariat by Rt. Hon. Kalu.
