Nigerian Online Publishers form association, promise to sanitise industry

Online publishers in Nigeria have come under an association in a bid to sanitise the industry. The Nigerian Online Publishers Association (NOPA), already registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), held its inaugural meeting on Tuesday in Lagos. The meeting was attended by online publishers from various parts of the country. They included Malachy Agbo, formerly of THISDAY, who is now the publisher of The Citizen; Musikilu Mojeed, Co-Publisher of Premium Times and former Investigative Editor of NEXT; Gabriel Akinadewo, Publisher of Freedom Online and former Editor of Nigerian Compass; Maureen Chigbo, Publisher, Realnews magazine and former General Editor of Newswatch; Isaac Umunna, Publisher, News Express and former General Editor, Africa Today; Justus Nwakanma, Publisher, Daily Review Online and the immediate past Editor of Daily Champion; Segun Adeleye, Publisher of WorldStage News Online and former Business Editor, The Nation and the Nigerian Compass; Femi Kehinde, Co-Publisher, African Examiner and ex-Editor at Green News; Chijama Ogbu, Publisher of The Rainbow and ex-Business Editor, The Punch; and Dotun Oladipo, Publisher of The Eagle Online, a former Sunday Editor of the Nigerian Compass. At the meeting, Malachy Agbo was elected the National Chairman of NOPA and Musikilu Mojeed as the National Vice Chairman. Other officers elected at the meeting included Dotun Oladipo as the National Secretary and Maureen Chigbo as the National Financial Secretary. According to Agbo, the association was borne out of the growing need to ensure that online publishers uphold the tenets of journalism in doing their jobs. Agbo also said there was the need to sanitize online publishing in Nigeria as it is the future of journalism in the country as it has become in developed countries.