The Nigerian media will introduce the nine-member board of the National Media Complaints Commission, also known as the National Ombudsman, on Monday in an effort to increase public trust in the media as a reliable gauge of public opinion.
In a statement, the head of the Nigerian Newspaper Proprietors’ Association, Kabiru Yusuf, characterized the development as a significant move taken by the sector to boost public trust in the media by swiftly resolving issues involving potential ethical violations in media content.
The former managing director of Guardian Newspapers, Mr. Emeka Izeze, Mr. A. B. Mahmoud, SAN, the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, and Prof. Chinyere Okunna, the deputy vice chancellor of academics at Paul University in Awka, Anambra State, are the members of the commission who are drawn from the media, the bar, academia, and civil society.
Others include Dr. Hussain Abdu, a Development Specialist and Country Director, Care International (Nigeria); Mr. Lanre Idowu, Editor-in-Chief, Diamond Publications Ltd. and Founder, Diamond Awards For Media Excellence; Mr. Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda, Mrs. Dupe Ajayi-Gbadebo, a journalist, lawyer and arbitrator; Eugenia Abu, broadcaster, author, and columnist, and the Chair, House of Representatives Committee on Information.
“The process is being driven by the Nigeria Press Organisation comprising the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria, the Nigerian Guild of Editors, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, 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,” the statement said.
It added that before February 22, 2023, the announcement of the commission’s composition, each media house had been directed to institute the local Ombudsman at the newspaper level.
The National Ombudsman will serve as an appellate body for the local Ombudsman as well as a court of first instance.