ENUGU- Igbos have been urged to increase media establishment, support and involvement in Nigeria.
They were reminded that Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was the first Nigerian to own a media outlet. He established newspapers which he effectively used to fight colonialism.
That was one of the take always from the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ Colloquium which held in Enugu, last week.
The participants deliberated on issues of media ownership among the Igbos and role of media in National integration.
The importance of media was much dissected that Dr. Obiora Okonwkwo of Dome Entrainment Limited stated that people prefer their issues taking centre stage in the media than in the courts.
Former Deputy Editor of Daily Times, Hon. Emeka Nwosu while delivering his lecture, traced numerous media ownership by Ndigbo to include The New Outlook by Dr. Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo, Satellite Newspaper by Chief Jim Nwobodo, The Eagle by late Chief KO Mbadiwe,Trumpet by Dr. Alex Ekwueme and Chief Christian Onoh, Champion Newspaper by Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu,
The New Globe magazine by the late Biafran leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and the Platform magazine by the former Senate President, Dr. ChubaOkadigbo.
There was also the Minaj Group in Obosi by Senator Mike Ajaegbo which pioneered independent private broadcasting in the East.
Nwosu said that the several efforts made in the past to establish media firms in the (Igbo) south east was to give voice to the people, but regrettably suffered failures. He recalled that the Zik of Africa, as Dr. Azikiwe was fondly called, as the leader of the nationalist movement fought for the independence of Nigeria from British colonial domination using the power of media.
Zik set up The Nigerian Pilot in 1937 shortly after his return from the United States and Ghana (then Gold Coast) where he was the Editor of the famous Accra Morning Post. He later founded the Zik Group of newspapers which comprised Eastern Nigeria Guardian (Port Harcourt, 1940), Nigerian Spokesman (Onitsha, 1943), Southern Nigeria Defender (Warri, 1943), The Daily Comet(Lagos/Kano, 1944), Eastern Sentinel (Enugu, 1955), and Nigerian Monitor (Uyo, 1960) and deployed them as veritable instruments in the campaign against colonial rule. The Pilot operated from Lagos.
“Ernest Ikoli, on the other hand was the first indigenous Nigerian to serve as the Editor of the Daily Times which was established in 1926 by the Colonial authorities,” Nwosu further recalled.
Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/07/igbo-when-first-becomes-last-in-media-ownership-in-nigeria/
Igbodefer Comment
This call is commendable, as the Igbo need affirmative action to tackle their marginalization.
But apart from that, Igbo need to give maximum support to already established Igbo media like Igbodefender.com. Organizations like these are your voices.
You need to build them up and give them every encouragement since they speak for you.
So share Igbodefender.com posts on social media, so that you can make our voice louder.
