The Nigerian Press Organization (NPO) has announced the setting up of a nine-man board of the National Media Complaints Commission (NMCC), otherwise known as the National Ombudsman.
The commission, according to a statement by the President of the Newspaper Proprietors’’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Malam Kabiru A. Yusuf, 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.
Kabiru Yusuf who is also the President of the NPO that is made up of NPAN, the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), with Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), said that the process for the setting up of the National Media Complaints Commission was conceived working in tandem with other strategic media players and the civil society, in particular the MacArthur Foundation
The statement said that membership of the commission were drawn from the media, the Bar, the academia, and civil society, giving the names of the members as Emeka Izeze , former Managing Director, Guardian Newspapers as Chairman; A. B Mahmoud, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, and a member of the Body of Benchers; Professor Chinyere Stella Okunna, Deputy Vice Chancellor, (Academic) Paul University, Anambra State; Dr. Hussain Abdu, a Development & Humanitarian Specialist and Country Director, Care International (Nigeria) ; Lanre Idowu, Editor-in-Chief of Diamond Publications Ltd. and Founder, Diamond Awards For Media Excellence (DAME); 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 Managing Partner/CEO, Eugenia Abu Media, and the Chair, House of Representatives Committee on Information
The statement said that 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.
it said that prior to the announcement, 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.
