BY NORBERT CHIAZOR
Nigeria cannot survive without journalism. Think of a day: No TV, Radio, Newspaper, with Phones and all, shut down! Darkness! Society was doomed, even with no bomb, like fate of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But completely ruined in anarchy of ignorance.
I saw Delta governor, Rt.Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori with a copy of The Pointer Newspaper. Then I smiled. The mass media have no food, but they feed everybody and everything.
Democracy and society cannot do without journalism vocation.
The Pointer is an Asaba -based sub-regional tabloid owned by the state government. On Monday October 28, 2024, The Pointer held its 30th anniversary with the theme: Honouring Truth and Unity Through Excellence In Public Communication.
Governor Oborevwori made a cameo appearance at Grand Hotel, Asaba to honour a newspaper that has devoted its existence since 1994 to amplify the identity, soul and fortunes of Delta.
The governor’s camaraderie with Pointer journalists and management was more than a symbolic executive duty. It takes a responsible father to present prize to a good son. The Pointer Board chairman, Dr Ebenezer Okorodudu, General Manager, Mr. Godfrey Ubaka et al, must have felt like break-dancing.
Let The Pointer take its 30 flowers and more. As Oborevwori noted, the paper has been “a strong ally of the Delta State Government in promoting the policies and programmes of successive administrations, while respectfully advocating for unity and peaceful co-existence.”
The recognition of Pointer by the Delta governor is a record tribute to industry and sacrifice. With tireless unbeatable resonance, the daily has continued to point to all quarters across Delta and far afield the strides and sights of Oborevwori’s development initiatives under the M.O.R.E Agenda.
No media organ has been more committed.
The truth is that Oborevwori’s ‘street credibility’ has been exceptionally rhythmic because of the sustained symphony of Pointer in informing the public about the activities of a sensible Sheriff in town.
It is not about the piper and the payer. Not all pipers play pleasant tunes before their masters. There is Judas before Jesus, Cinna the poet before Caesar.
In Delta’s experience, The Pointer leads media establishment in Nigeria can tell the story of Delta better than Pointer. Together with its Radio and TV sisters under DBS.
You cannot sing to a home choir or tell a native his own history. Delta heritage and Pointer essence are one, intertwined.
All Deltans, especially political office holders across party affiliations have a duty to buy and read The Pointer. It is not just for patronage but patriotism. The paper needs more structures and its own viable printing press to grow better.
It may not have the spread of a national newspaper. That is not its innate character. The greatest appeal of The Pointer is its devotion to the peace and progress of multi ethnic Delta.
The pointer has done well. It is worth reading, worth celebrating. The paper deserves more funding by the state government. The staff members must be more dedicated in creating its editorial content and layout, for greater readability and competitiveness, in accordance with the best traditions of journalism.
The daily merits all goodwill, given its tall background. The Pointer rose from The Nigeria Observer title, one of the oldest regional dailies established in 1968 by late Samuel Ogbemudia under the defunct Bendel state government.
The pioneering status of The Observer inherited by the Edo state government after the split of Bendel in 1991 remains unassailable. Those who championed post colonial journalism, beginning from the eve of Nigeria’s independence,
worked in The Observer based in Benin – city.
Powerful journalists like Abiodun Aloba ( Ebenezer Williams ) Tom Borha (Tom B) Adun Akenzua, Lindsay Barrett, Pius Agwu, Eric James, Mike Oputa, Andy Akporugo, Elo Ekeli, Nduka Obaigbena, Oseheni Uzamere,Kate Oyegun and Miniere Amakiri among others.
According to departed journalism legend Eric James, The Observer helped the then Benue-Plateau government under late Joseph Gomwalk to establish the state owned newspaper The Nigeria standard. The Standard was initially printed at The Observer office, at 18 Airport Road Benin city.
Other state governments drew inspiration from The Observer in setting up their newspapers such as Nigerian Chronicle in Cross River, Nigerian Tide in Rivers and The Daily Star in East Central, Enugu. That is the prestigious background The Pointer sprang.
The value of Pointer media format- print is the noblest of journalism.
The documented word with its permanence and authenticity has no comparison in archival phenomenon. Newspapers are the originality of history. The most iconic and timeless recollections of man are written accounts. Words are powerful tools for painting and preserving the world.
That is the profound power of The Pointer at 30.
CHIAZOR is ex-Delta Chairman, of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Executive Assistant (Media) to Delta Governor.
