Realnews 2nd Anniversary Lecture
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| By Maureen Chigbo |
I AM most delighted to welcome you all to this second anniversary lecture of Realnews Magazine. But I do so with mixed feelings — a feeling of sadness and joy. I am joyful because this day has finally come to pass despite all the challenges which threatened to derail it. I am happy because you are all here to witness one of Realnews’ humble contributions to nation building and deepening democracy in our beloved country Nigeria, as can be testified by today’s lecture entitled: “Nigerian Democracy: Getting it Right in 2015”, an accompanying speech on the “Economic Implications of Getting the Right Leadership” and the unveiling of the book entitled: Paragon of Journalism.
I must state that as at last week my heart was still palpitating because I was not sure Professor Maurice lwu, who is here ably present will come. Professor lwu you are most welcome. I know you had your reservations about delivering the lecture. He told me when I made the request that he should give the lecture, that he doesn’t want any more publicity and would rather focus on his research on Ebola. I had to argue to the moon and back; put out all my marketing skills on display to sell the idea to him and convince him he was best to speak on the topic before he agreed to give it a thought. At a time, he sent a text that I should excuse him from the programme. But instead of letting him go, I merely supplied more information to convince him. As at last week, I could not reach him on the phone. I also did not get any reply to the text messages I sent to his phone. I was worried sick but had confidence when I spoke to my dear colleague Mr. Tobs Agbaegbu, who helped a lot in getting Professor lwu on board and he confirmed to me he was coming. Finally, I was able to talk to him on phone to be sure he was coming.
But I was not taken anything for granted. And so I prayed fervently to God that all the speakers will come and that nothing should happen at the last minute. But something did happen. In the nick of time, I learnt that the Mr. Roberts Orya, managing director of Nigerian Export Import Bank who, personally assured me in his office at Abuja, that he will be here for the lecture, will not make it for inexplicable reasons. But I was assured that he will send a worthy representative who is here now to do justice to the topic assigned to him. You are most welcome sir.
I am also happy because Professor J. C. Ezigbo, whom I have not seen for the past two years until I called him on the phone and booked an appointment to see him in his office in September, is here chairing this occasion. I deeply appreciate your being here sir. I am also elated that Eze Festus Odimegwu who almost pulled out at the last minute is here. The last time I spoke to him before I approached him to give the keynote address was more than 10 years ago when I interviewed him in his office as the Chief executive Officer of Nigerian Breweries Plc. I am happy you are here Eze. I am enthused that you are all here, especially those who came from Abuja, Benin, Onitsha etc. Mr. Benjamin Dikki and Dr. Ngozi Anyaegbunam, I know you sacrificed a lot to be here today. You are highly appreciated.
But my happiness is laced with pain because originally in our programme, I was not supposed to give the welcome address. Late Mr. Mike Akpan, who was the pioneer Editor-in-chief of Realnews Magazine and my boss for the past 16 years, was programmed to give the welcome address while I, as the editor of the Realnews magazine, will give the vote of thanks. But as fate will have it, Mr. Akpan died September 30, 2014, and was buried November 4, 2014. He was one of the pillars of Realnews. We are sorely missing him. May I crave your indulgence to observe a minute silence for him while we all stand up.
May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace in the bosom of the Lord. Amen.
Yes, Mr. Akpan is dead but where ever he is, he will be very happy that we all here for this joyous occasion, being the second anniversary of Realnews magazine. He was highly devoted to Realnews and believed in all that the magazine stands for.
Realnews, a general interest magazine, is an online publication which thrives on investigative journalism. Our objective is to use our investigative skills to ferret out information in the sectors we focus on and produce an unbiased report which will actually influence the government and decision makers to take actions that will make the society better.
We are seasoned journalists who believe strongly in the tenets and ethics of the profession. We sincerely believe that journalism as the fourth Estate of the Realm can contribute its quota towards building a fair and just society where fundamental human rights are respected and citizens have the freedom to pursue their interests anywhere in the world without hindrance. Hence our motto: “For God and Humanity.”
Our vision is to build a reputable and world class media institution whose watchword is professionalism and integrity forms the bedrock of the four cardinal points of our Mission as an online news magazine. The first is to ensure that Realnews becomes the cornerstone of investigative journalism in Nigeria and Africa. The second is to publish a credible and influential magazine that will galvanise the public especially the government and decision makers into taking actions that will change the political, socio-economic landscape and society in general for the better. Third is to focus on oil and gas, environment, vulnerable groups – youth, women and children, and give voice to the silent majority and minority groups. And fourthly is to use Realnews magazine to fight any form of injustice and ensure that no section of the Nigerian society is neglected, discriminated against or left behind in our quest to build a better and just world where basic human rights are well respected and cherished.
There is no gainsaying that in the past two years we have kept faith with our vision and mission statement. Hence, we have investigated, covered and published exclusive stories that cover all the sectors we focus on including politics, oil and gas, business and economy, women and youth etc. We have done our job with all sense of responsibility.
However, in the course of our job, we have had very serious challenges. Barely a year into our existence, we suffered the first set back when our web site was hijacked. This was followed by the illegal detention of one of our reporters who went to investigate the crude oil theft in the Niger Delta and finally death dealt us a devastating blow by claiming one of our directors who happened to be my beloved mother on June 22, 2014, and then our editor-in-chief, Mr. Akpan just when we were working on the book the Paragon of Journalism.
The book reviewer of “Paragon of Journalism” Dr. Ngozi Anyaegbunam, a famous lecturer who taught at the University of Calabar, an author, and Journalist, will tell you more about the book. Suffice it to state that the reason behind the book has so much to do with creating more awareness about our job as online investigative journalists. We are in an age when online journalism is being treated with so much suspicion and something close to fear. Once you tell somebody that you are publishing online, the immediate reaction is, oh this blackmailers, muck rakers, and people who publish without verifying their stories. The more outspoken critics will just tell you that online publishers are plain irresponsible.
It is in a bid to correct this erroneous belief that we decided to publish the book to put paid to all the accusations. It was also because we wanted to fulfil the wishes of our numerous fans who were heart broken when we left Newswatch. When they learnt that we are now publishing online they also craved to have the hard copy of our magazine. We are hoping that when the buy and read “Paragon of Journalism” they will follow us online when they know that we have not lost steam in our reportage and that they can read us free of charge on our website www.realnewsmagazine.net.
On this note, I would also like to invite everyone here to visit our website and subscribe to our e-Newsletter to read very well investigated stories free of charge. You may be wondering if our magazine which we worked so hard to produce is free of charge, how then do we make money to remain in business. This is where I need also to appeal to everybody here today representing both the public and the private sector to please support us. The support can come through advertisement, special supplement and special features about your company which we could write and publish on our website. You can also provide us the information necessary to do our work. We welcome whistleblowers in the world to Realnews magazine. You can always trust us that when you give us sensitive information we will handle it with all sense of responsibility. Please always remember that Realnews magazine is synonymous with investigative, robust and excellent journalism. And that we are your partners and together we will build a strong and virile nation where we will all be happy to live and invest. That is the basis for the Paragon of Journalism. Please don’t forget to get your own copy of the book so you can have a taste of journalism at its best.
Once again, I welcome you all to this grand gathering and lecture.
May I also seize this opportunity to thank our sponsors and advertisers for their support.
I thank you all for listening. God bless you all. God Bless Realnews. God Bless Nigeria.
Welcome Address By Maureen Chigbo, Publisher, Realnews Magazine and Publications Limited, Publishers of Realnews Magazine Online, At the Second Anniversary Lecture of the Magazine Holding on Wednesday, November 19, 2014, At Sheraton Hotel, Lagos.
— Nov. 10, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
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