Nnamdi Duru
6 September 2008
Lagos — Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) yesterday said it would lobby members of the National Assembly to ensure that the Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill before them is passed into law without unnecessary delays.
The guild also called for a mutually beneficial partnership between the media and operators in the finance sector of the economy, including banks and insurance companies.
President of the Guild, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye made this call while delivering a keynote address at the maiden media training for insurance correspondents organised by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) and Continental Reinsurance Plc in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.
The theme of the programme was "The Role of The Media in Post Consolidation Insurance."
Fielding questions on what the guild is doing to ensure smooth passage of the FoI Bill, Adefaye said this is one of the priorities of his guild.
He added that the organisation would promptly comply with the directive of Senate President David Mark asking it to appear before relevant committees of the National Assembly.
According to him, the organisation would engage "the people who can talk to them" to lobby them into passing the bill into law without delay.
He added that accomplished journalists including former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Abia State, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, and former Minister of Information, Prince Tony Momoh would be approached to do this job on behalf of the guild.
He also confirmed that the guild is determined to flush out bad eggs from the industry by setting up an ethics committee which would be charged with investigating cases of malpractice allegedly perpetrated by members of the fourth estate.
Reflecting on the nature of partnership that the guild would want to have with operators in the country's finance industry, Adefuye said "my presence here amongst the cream of corporate leaders of your caliber provides a veritable opportunity for me to advocate for synergy between the media and the financial service sector including insurance industry". "Insurance business is confidence business. It is about trust. The media owe it a duty to promote confidence in insurance industry by reporting truthfully, honestly and in the most informed manner, activities in the insurance industry. Prompt payment of claims should be reported. New products should be spotlighted. Individual and corporate achievements should be celebrated; the same way greed and avarice must be exposed to give insurance practice a clean slate.
"I am not very happy about the fact that only 25 correspondents are officially covering the insurance sector. That, I guess is also a function of the profitability of that sector to the media owners who would cherish more business support from the industry to justify the deployment of more hands to the beat", he said.
The President of the Guild also confirmed that the organisation would soon set up an ethics committee peopled by veteran and reputable Journalist who have excelled in life to review all cases of alleged malpractices brought up against men of the pen profession in the country and recommend disciplinary actions against erring members.
While acknowledging that bad eggs exists in the midst of Journalist, Adefuye encouraged operators in the corporate world to report all forms of blackmail by Journalism while uphold ethical practices in their respective chosen fields.
"While journalists get more creative, I must admit that a few bad eggs reportedly put a tar brush to our integrity through extortion and blackmail. They plead poor pay by their employers because of poor trading position of their companies. My response to such persons and their victims is typical: call their bluff. But in doing that, do not get caught on the side of poor corporate governance, fraud and corruption. Be open. Be
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