Nnewi — JOURNALISTS from far and near at the weekend assembled in Nnewi industrial community for the official commissioning ceremony of the Nnewi Catholic Diocese Media House which was performed by the Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, who was also among the very few dignitaries given award at the event for his remarkable achievements in the states.

Others recipients are Senator Ikechukwu Obiora, Hon C.I.D Maduabum, Hon J.C Okeke, Chief Dr.Alexander Okafor, Dame Felicia Ngozi Okoli, Chief Innocent Chukwuma, Prince Emeka Ayabazu and Rev. Fr. Izunwa Maurice were all given awards of recognition at the event.

In an address presented by the communications directorate under the able leadership of Very Rev. Fr. Hyginus Aghaulo traced the genesis of catholic communications which it was leant was among the earliest diocesan structure instituted in 2002 by His Lordship, Bishop Hilary Odili Okeke who they most sincerely commended for distinguishing himself as a proactive, visionary, progressive, dynamic and achievement-hungry prelate and shepherd.

The directorate further commended the untiring efforts and contributions of some priests towards ensuring that the dream of Nnewi catholic diocese come true, adding that catholic communications would not have been where it is today if not for the way and manner that the pioneer workers handled what it described as the milk-teeth stage of the project.

The office under Fr. Aghaulo also expressed its profound gratitude to the flagstaff of the earliest organs, the Nnewi catholic diocesan communities (NCDC) in diospora which according to it is the power house and vehicle of development in the diocese, as it was through the instrumentality of NCDC Port Harcourt that the said project became a reality in less than nine months of its establishment.

According to the directorate, it considered the second stage of the project as the era of consolidation and veritable revolution which the management acknowledged has witnessed remarkable achievements, courtesy of Fr Aghaulo who it was learnt took over as the director of catholic communications in 2004, describing him as a man of literacy accomplishments who according to the address threw all he had to ensure that the objectives of establishing the project is realized.

It further stated that Very Rev. Fr Aghaulo's vast experience in ICT turned around catholic communications not just as an excellent centre of communications, but also as a hub for the print and electronic media east of the Niger.

The led Aghaulo administration noted that the said project which started in a one-room apartment can as of today boast of a computer school, a state -of -the-art printing section with sophisticated kord machines, a modern library, an up -to - date video and photographic department, a bookshop as well as diocesan newspaper, The Christian Outlook which celebrated its seven years of existence at the events ,stressing that it was as a result of the overhaul in the administrative structure of catholic communication that ushered in the idea of publishing the paper every fortnight, with Mr Hector Osondu as the editor.

It also gathered that the catholic communication produces a weekly diocesan bulletin of not less than 23,000 copies for the diocese alone, and as well a minimum of 25,000 copies of Christian Outlook newspapers which it confirmed has a very wide circulation and has won awards twice as the best Christian Newspaper in Nigeria. The directorate according to its address said it has over 65 permanent staff in its payroll, including 15 part time staff, 5 casual staff as well as a continuous stream of industrial training (IT) students from different higher institution in the state. According to statistics, it has also trained over 3000 students in computer appreciation, own a VSAT and pays for a weekly 30 minutes airtime broadcast in Anambra broadcasting service to propagate the good news of salvation.

"Because the young diocese of Nnewi is in the avant-garde of charitable works, helping needy and less endowed diocese, involved in aggressive grassroots evangelization and the apostolate of teaching and learning, a lot of money is still required to realize this vision. We would not want the diocese to borrow in order to finance the projects which we have lined up. These include the construction of a N10 million radio- TV studio, purchase of a N5 million kord machine, an N8 million digital separation machine, a N10 million coaster bus and a N3million editorial staff car among others" The directorate however used the forum to solicite for funds to enable it realize the projects lined up, stressing that no amount is too small, as it strongly believes in that adage which says block by block Rome was built, appealing to friendly neighbors and trusted allies in the Lords vine yard, philanthropists, well wishers and men of goodwill to enable them realize the projects.

Presenting his speech, governor Obi who made a cash donation of N250,000 to the catholic communications, and another additional cash donation of N550 to some other groups, totaling N800,000 also said the gesture was not to influence journalists working for the media house in his favour but to encourage them keep up the good work in the course of performing their civic obligations. He however charged them to abstain from biased reporting so as to ensure that the truth is communicated always for the sake of posterity. Governor Obi further appealed to Nigerians to shun greed and selfishness to ensure the socio- economic development of the country.

He said to achieve this, that all hands must be on deck for speedy transformation of the Nigerian economy that is capable of securing the future, regretting that virtually every politician wants to own houses at the expense of the poor masses in every state of the federation. He recounted that Anambra remains one of the states that is financially stable, a situation he said has continues to attract positive comments from his colleagues notwithstanding that the state according to him is among the very few states with the least allocation from the federal government.