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For The Records: GOCOP has come of age as a change-agent – Chigbo!
Being s Welcome Address by Maureen Chigbo, President of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, at its 8th Annual Conference on October 3, 2024, at the Reverton Hotel, Lokoja, Kogi State.
Protocols.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I warmly welcome you all to this 8th Annual Conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP). The first we are having hosted by the government of any state in the country. We are indeed happy that His Excellency, Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo of Kogi State, provided a comfortable ambiance at this Reverton Hotel in Lokoja, the confluence State where the historic and iconic event of River Benue and River Niger joined. I thank you and your officials who worked tirelessly to ensure we the two-day meeting of GOCOP has been going on peacefully. May God grant you and your team of cabinet members and media and information manager both online and mainstream the wisdom, good health of mind and body and strength to continue to lift Kogi State to greater heights.
Ladies, gentlemen, and distinguished guests, please permit me to lavishly welcome our erudite and gentleman, Minister of Information, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, who has been very supportive of GOCOP since he assumed office last year. Thank you for honouring our invitation and look forward to continuing partnering with you to factually disseminate information about real government activities.
I also welcome our erudite resource persons beginning with the Chairman of the Occasion, His Excellency Mallam Yusuf Mammam, former Nigerian Ambassador to Spain. Thank you Sir devoting time to the cause of GOCOP. We are encouraged by your sacrifice to be here today with us. Also, I warmly welcome the Keynoter, His Excellency, Senator Liyel Imoke, former governor of Cross River State who is to titillate our brains on the apt and timely topic: “Nigeria: Tackling Insecurity, Power Deficit, and Transitioning to Digital Economy”. I do not doubt that you will do justice to this topic. I also welcome Lt. General Tukur Buratai, former chief of Army Staff and Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). I know you will add colour to our understanding of the dynamics of technology in promoting security and the digital economy for the well-being of our people and humanity in general.
Permit also to graciously welcome Professor Rotimi Ajayi of the Department of Political Science, Federal University, Lokoja, and the only Lady who has the privilege to be amongst men in this year’s GOCOP Conference. Apart from being an ace broadcaster who has produced award-winning documentaries on topical issues affecting Nigeria, she was my national coordinator of the West African Media Network (WAMNET) formed in the prelude to the 1995 Women’s Conference in Beijing, China, and probably wondering about the gender imbalance on this side of the divide. My big Sister, we tried to create balance but those we contacted at press time were already engaged and I promise that we will do better in the future. Suffice it to state, we have come a long way and I learnt a lot under your leadership of WAMNET as I was then beginning my journalism career.
Your Excellencies, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, please permit me to duly acknowledge the presence of my predecessors – President Emeritus Mojeed Muskilu and President Emeritus Dotun Oladipo, Publisher of Eagle Online. Mr. Muskilu is the no-nonsense chairman of the screening committee while Mr. Oladipo is the chairman of the GOCOP Ombudsman/Disciplinary Committee. Both have continued to serve GOCOP very well even after the expiration of the tenure. You are warmly welcome.
I welcome all GOCOP aspiring members who will be inducted here today. I can only enjoin you that being a member of GOCOP comes with a lot of responsibility as the small and businesses enterprises of the online community and in our bid to sanitise online publishing and keep it free from fakenews as we look for positive ways to sustain our businesses. Please note that GOCOP is a peer-review body that can help build your capacity to run your small-scale online publishing business well. It is not an advert canvassing entity for publishers. But we provide the link between you and those in a position to advertise and the rest is left for you to follow. As I look at the galaxy of our speakers this morning, they belong to the group of people who can support our businesses positively. And I need not tell you what next to do to get their support.
Your Excellency, may I let you and our August guests here today and the entire Kogi people that our new members went through a very rigorous selection process in their journey to become GOCOP members. Many applied but only a few – 16 applicants out of more than 50 applicants, were chosen. As you are inducted today as GOCOP members, I felicitate and wish you the very best as members. In addition, please note that there will be a debriefing immediately after your induction with Exco members to guide you properly in GOCOP traditions and expectations of you and also answer any question that bugs your mind.
Your excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, this conference would not have been possible without the tireless effort of the 18-member planning committee led by Chairman Danlami Nmodu, mni who is the Deputy President of GOCOP and Secretary Olumide Iyanda (Olumighty), also the assistant general secretary of GOCOP. My special thanks go to Our President Emeritus, Mr. Dotun Oladipo, who brokered the hosting deal as well as all the Kogi State information managers and government officials who worked day and night to ensure the success of today’s event. In no particular order – Mrs. Yemi Kolapo, Commissioner of Information, Fanwo, and the special media adviser Online, thank you very much.
I also thank all the special guests here and representatives of NUJ, NIPR, the Chairman, the Board of Trustees of GOCOP, and all GOCOP members who are now working in the corporate and public institutions who supported this conference, especially those who have used their good offices to give our businesses succor. Chief Femi Soneye of the NNPCL, Horatius Equa thank you. My deep appreciation also goes to all State Governments – Delta, Lagos, Osun, and the companies and organisations who have supported us in hosting this conference. I thank and welcome you all. God bless your various businesses so you can support us more in the future.
On this note, May I once again, welcome you all to this conference in the confluence state that like a river will wash away all the stress of the last year and energise us to forge ahead with our businesses successfully until we meet again in October 2025.
Thank you for your listening. God bless you all God bless GOCOP. God bless Nigeria.
Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party (LP), in the 2023 presidential election, on Tuesday, scoffed at the 45 million vote figure he supposedly scored during the primaries of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), dismissing it as fake.
Obi, sole candidate of the party for the presidential primaries in the 2027 election, attributed the development to the handiwork of forces pushing for the validation of fraud, an obvious shade at the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which on Monday announced President Bola Tinubu as its candidate, with a whopping 11 million votes.
A groundswell of Nigerians had expressed amazement the huge figure, dismissing it as not only outrageously improbable but outrightly false and a gambit to skew the narrative early enough for a more sinister political gameplan ahead of the presidential election.
Obi, whose reaction came through his media office, while toeing the same line on Tuesday, urged Nigerians to disregard the figures being attributed to him, saying the NDC was yet to hold its primaries to determine his votes.
The statement, read: “The attention of the Peter Obi Media Office has been drawn to certain 45m primary vote figures currently circulating on social media and various news platforms, purporting to be the breakdown of official results from an imaginary primary by the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC ascribed to Mr Peter Obi.
“We wish to state categorically that these figures are entirely false, fabricated, as such, the primary never took place and no figure was generated from any process. We urge the general public, party supporters, and members of the press and the public to completely disregard these misleading statistics.
“Official and accurate information regarding Mr Peter Obi’s engagements and political processes will always be communicated through our verified and authorised channels and appropriately signed. Those behind this fraudulent figure attribution to Peter Obi are looking for partners in their fraud but they should look elsewhere not with Peter Obi.”
For President Bola Tinubu, it was another occasion of chest-beating, as he claimed to have ended Nigeria’s painful journey through the dark tunnel of economic trials, promising that in no long time, citizens would begin to experience the benefits of their long suffering in the last three years.
The President, who for the umpteenth time implored Nigerians not to despair, conveyed his message of hope and inspiration came by way of his 2026 Eid-El-Kabir salute to the Muslim faithful whom he referred as “our brothers and sisters across Nigeria and worldwide.”
Hear him: “As a nation, we are on a journey of reconstruction and renewal. The reforms we have undertaken are challenging but necessary to build a stronger and more prosperous Nigeria for future generations.
“Just as sacrifice brings reward, I am happy that the sacrifices and efforts we have made over the past three years have yielded a more stable economy, making our country a preferred investment destination that will drive job creation and economic growth. The walk through the dark tunnel is over, and the light is here.
“I am confident that, by the Grace of God, the reforms we have diligently pursued will continue to yield improved security and greater opportunities for all.
“I am aware that, despite the best efforts of our security and intelligence agencies—including the recent elimination of a wanted ISIS leader—heartless terrorists and bandits still attack some communities. I assure you: you are neither abandoned nor forgotten. We will ultimately defeat all the forces of evil.
“One central lesson of Eid-el-Kabir is the call to show mercy and compassion, regardless of race, ethnicity, or creed. There is no greater example of duty and devotion than Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to offer his only son, Ismail, as a sacrifice to Allah.
“Let us also reach out to the less privileged, share with our neighbours, and strengthen the bonds of brotherhood that unite us as one people. My administration remains committed to building a Nigeria where all citizens can live in peace, worship freely, and pursue their dreams without fear.”
Urging the faithful to use this sacred occasion to pray for Nigeria for peace in our communities, and for wisdom for those in leadership, he added: “Let us pray that those who commit crimes among us may rethink and abandon their evil ways or face the full weight of the law.
“On behalf of the government, I wish you all a peaceful, joyous, and blessed Eid al-Kabir. May Allah accept our sacrifices and prayers, and may He continue to bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Option A4, occupies a central place in Nigeria’s democratic development. That unique election model developed and introduced in the Nigerian electoral process by Humphrey Nwosu, the late Professor of Political Science, has become a symbol mounted on a standard and raised high above the sky.
It is Nigeria’s mimic of that biblical golden serpent to which both the nation and its citizens look up at and derive instant succour – much like a balm to their heavily-lacerated democratic soul – a wonder device, that once mesmerised the world.
Yes! Anytime Nigerians want to serenade their democratic spirit with the allure of sweetness, they take a recourse to that unique event that happened more than three decades ago, on June 12, 1993. They reminisce on the purity of the process and beauty of the outcome.
Like the saying that precious things come in simple packages, Option A4, was not only as simple as simplicity itself, but was as powerful as the most impactive dynamite – simple enough to break all barriers of ignorance and powerful enough to destroy all electoral bad behaviours defacing the beautiful perspective of democracy.
Here is the process. Voters converge on a location at approved time, get accredited, queue behind preferred candidates, get counted and the votes recorded in approved result sheets. Finish! No ballot-snatching, no ballot-stuffing, no quarrel, no thuggery, no blood on the floor.
Even the issue of proper voting that lead to void votes is eradicated by the process. The electorates need no education on how to vote properly. The issue of thumb-printing in the wrong space or double-voting is taken care of.
Today, in Nigeria, June 12 is designated as Democracy Day, based on the outcome of that election. It was so seamless and produced such a perfect result that the product – Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola was never challenged on the inviolability, but on the other ideas the military government in power then had.
But did you see the same Option A4 put to test under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu? Did you watch the primaries of the All Progressive Congress (APC), at various stages, including the one that produced the President as candidate of the party in the 2027 presidential election? If you did, you would understand where your country is currently and where it is headed.
How could anyone have the mindset to deface such a beauty, let alone design a mechanism to destroy it, given its centrality as the bastion of Nigerian democratic commemorations? How could anyone be so wicked as to destroy the most beautiful Nigerian democratic ornament?
It is like pulling the original of Monalisa or the best of Bini Bronze from their protective encasements and smashing them on the floor. It takes a mindset that has scant regard for beauty – a destructive spirit to do so.
But see how easily they did it! See how simple it was for them. It was as easy as jumping from 10 to 1,000 in a simple counting process a primary school child could do.
Did you see the smiles on their faces to indicate how much fun they had supervising the putrid, outlandish and parlous construct – like the lurid expression of a rapist seeking to satiate his lust? Clearly, it did not matter to them the danger they’re putting themselves and future generations – comprising their children and grandchildren, Tragedy!
But what is it that Tinubu and his co-travellers have not destroyed since happening on Nigeria? What pain have they not wrought on the polity? Is it the economy? Think of those rich Nigerians alighting from their fancy cars and jumping into the Lagos Lagoon.
Is it security? Reminisce on the last moments of General Sani Uba, as he watched the approach of the terrorists while crouching on his knees in the forest, having lost the vain hope that his country would save him.
Think of the Oyo school teacher in that final moment as he waited for the impact of that sharp knife on his bare throat, while being slaughtered like a goat at the abattoir. Think of Zamfara, think of Sokoto, think of Kwara, think of Anambra – add to the list – think Nigeria.
Yet, the APC foot-soldiers – including a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives – a leader in the legislature – the most important institution of democracy – clowned, jested and had fun.
For them, the rest of the country doesn’t matter. All that matters is Tinubu’s happiness. And the master-strategist, the democratic doyen, the June 12-NADECO icon, was all and about, grinning from ear to ear and lapping everything up.
With economy destroyed from day-one with the impulsive, brainwave – subsidy is gone declaration – with security in tatters that school children, now scurry and scamper in different directions like scared rodents, at the slightest sight of strange faces for fear of being the next kidnap victims – with the national fibric almost giving way from the consistent and unrelenting pressure in running the most nepotistic administration – far worse than the days of the late Muhammadu Buhari, thought to be the worst at a time – what else remains of Nigeria?
Before now, I had grieved that Tinubu deliberately left out Humphery Nwosu in that outlandish June 12 struggle honourees list, when he ought to be the numero uno. I had hoped however that someday, someone more amenable than Tinubu would do the needful. But what hope is there now that Tinubu and his men are tightening the noose on Nigerian democracy? Now this!
The worst part is not that the APC goons committed this heinous atrocity, but in the manner they did. They enjoyed the process. Only mindless characters such as mafia kingpins we watch in movies, take pleasure in inflicting pains. That we now watch such playing out in real life is not only disturbing, it is THE TRAGEDY!
My name is Sunny Igboanugo, I’m The Tiny Voice!
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