In the bid to strengthen public confidence in the media as a credible barometer of public opinion, the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO) will on Monday inaugurate the nine-member board of the National Media Complaints Commission (NMCC), otherwise known as the National Ombudsman.
According to a press statement signed by Mal. Kabiru A. Yusuf, President of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and NPO, and made available on Friday, members of the commission will be inaugurated on Monday April 3, 2023.
Members of the commission, drawn from the media, the bar, the academia, and civil society, are Mr. Emeka Izeze, former Managing Director, Guardian Newspapers (Chairman); Mr. A. B. Mahmoud (SAN), former President, Nigerian Bar Association; Prof Chinyere Stella Okunna, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics), Paul University, Awka, Anambra State; and Dr. Hussain Abdu, a development specialist and Country Director, Care International (Nigeria);
Other members are Mr. Lanre Idowu, Editor-in-Chief, Diamond Publications Ltd. and Founder, Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME); Mr. Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda (MRA); Mrs. Dupe Ajayi-Gbadebo, a journalist, lawyer and arbitrator; Mrs. Eugenia Abu, broadcaster, author, and columnist; and the Chair, House of Representatives Committee on Information.
Mal. Yusuf stated that 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 statement added.
The statement further added that the national Ombudsman will serve as an independent forum for resolving complaints about the press quickly, fairly, and free of charge; maintaining high standards of Nigerian journalism and journalistic ethics; and defending the freedom of the press and the rights of the people to know, adding that each media house had been directed to institute at the newspaper level the local Ombudsman.
“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 said.
