Protocol:

I am very delighted to be with you today to chair this epochal event of the 4^th anniversary/dialogue series of an emerging media giant from the Niger Delta.

Kristina Reports, a virtual news medium cum online newspaper is rewriting the form books by virtue of its performance and remarkably high standards in just four years of existence in Rivers State. It has acquired for itself the status of a respected news medium because of its posture of accuracy, timeliness, and unbiased reportage of events across Bonny Kingdom, Rivers State, and the Niger Delta. It has indeed been a reliable source of information gathering in the region.

In the last four years. I want to believe that it has taken the collective work of your entire team to build such an important medium within the congregation of media outfits in the State and region. Media growth. I believe is not easy. But all of you working in Kristina Reports have proven that it is not impossible when all hands step up and fully commit to get the job done. You have taken your organization to great heights because of your commitment and loyalty. I congratulate you all on the feat.

Today, as you mark your 4th anniversary, it represents a new beginning. It gives you a chance to not only look back at how far you have come as a media organization, but how you have impacted society. Media growth doesn’t happen by accident. It takes hard work, commitment, and steadfastness. Those are the virtues the people gathered here have come to celebrate.

I am further delighted that your anniversary is not so much of a festivity, but an intellectual exercise meant to further enrich the profession of Journalism and the society. In Professor Chinyere Stella Okunna, Nigeria’s first female Professor of Mass Communication and the transformational John Momoh, whose media outfit continues to set new heights in the industry, we can expect an intellectual feast that would further reposition the Journalism profession.

Your theme for this year’s anniversary which is, “Nigeria’s Third Transition: Media, Economy and 2023 Polls in Perspective”, is indeed very apt. All over the world, the media sets the tone of discussion and portrays the kind of leadership that the country should have. There is no doubt that Nigeria’s economy is in a quagmire and would require a genius with proven capacity to redirect the country and bring us out of the woods.

Thus, in the run-in to the elections, which is but a few months away, the media should positively play its role by observing the sacred principles of the profession to avoid misinformation.

The media is expected to maintain its gate-keeping function and exercise its exclusive capacity to control what is reported. It is expected to sensitize the people on the power of voting, voting process, zero tolerance to violence and the evil of vote buying or selling.

While we expect the media to maintain its responsibility of holding governments accountable to the people as enshrined in Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), we expect them to rise above placing financial interests above public interest while setting editorial priorities.

Let me also charge media practitioners and the government to find a way of tackling the hydra-headed problems of fake news, social media propaganda and deliberate disinformation which has to a large extent eroded trustworthiness of the media. The problem is further compounded by social media in Africa’s largest democracy, which is not empowering people to make sound decisions, rather it is decreasing public ability to make good judgements.

Let me return to Kristina Reports as I conclude my remarks. You have proven that a dream does not become reality through magic, but by sweat, determination, and hard work. By becoming the “first properly established media organization whose ownership is indigenous to Bonny kingdom”, you have carved a niche for yourselves, and we are proud of you.

American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker, Jim Rohn once said, “if you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build, end up building us”. Kristina Reports, this is just the beginning. Go conquer Rivers State, the Niger Delta, and Nigeria.

God bless you all and thank you for listening.