In the bid to strengthen public confidence in the media as a credible barometer of public opinion, the Nigerian media has concluded plans to inaugurate the nine-member board of the National Media Complaints Commission, otherwise known as the National Ombudsman.
This development was contained in a statement on Friday, which informed that the body will be inaugurated on Monday.
According to the statement, members of the commission are drawn from the media, bar, academia and civil society.
They are Emeka Izeze, a Fellow of the Nigeria Guild of Editors and former Managing Director, Guardian Newspapers, as Chairman; A. B. Mahmoud (SAN), 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); and Lanre Idowu, an a FNGE and Editor-in-Chief, Diamond Publications Limited and Founder, Diamond Awards For Media Excellence.
Others are Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda; Dupe Ajayi-Gbadebo, a FNGE, Journalist, Lawyer and Arbitrator; Eugenia Abu, Broadcaster, Author and Columnist; and the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Information.
The statement added: “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, made up of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, Nigerian Guild of Editors, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria and 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.
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 Guild of Corporate Online Publishers through its President, Maureen Chigbo, and other members of its Executive Committee had put in place an Ombudsman.
A former President of the Guild, Dotun Oladipo, is at the head of the team.
It has resolved a number of cases since its inauguration.