July 31, (THEWILL) – The former Vice Chairman of ExxonMobil Subsidiary Companies in Nigeria and a governorship aspirant, Mr. Udom Inoyo, has instituted the “RAY EKPU AWARD FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM,” in the name of the Co-Founder of Newswatch Magazine.
Inoyo also seized the occasion to refute speculations of his membership of the Pyrates Confraternity, describing such talk as mischievous.
Inoyo bared his mind during the monthly congress of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State Chapter, where he delivered a paper entitled, “Your Pen, Our Future.”
He announced his intention to sponsor the annual award to encourage professionalism and diligence in media practice in Akwa Ibom
He said: “I have thought of what I could do as my little contribution to the NUJ in Akwa Ibom State with regards to this matter. Anywhere that I have gone in this world when people talk about journalism, one individual comes to my mind first. He is a great son of Akwa Ibom State, an international award-winning journalist, who rose from a position of insignificance to that of global prominence. It is in honour of this High Priest of quality reporting that I hereby request the Exco to accept the institution of an annual award to be called: RAY EKPU AWARD FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM.
“This award, to be administered annually by a panel of five first-class journalists, comprising: Two celebrated veteran journalists; one national officer of the Nigerian Guild of Editors; a nominee of the award sponsor; and the State Chairman of the NUJ is aimed at encouraging quality, factual investigative reporting in Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria at large.
“The prize money for the winner of this award each year is N500,000 (five hundred thousand naira). But the journalist must be operating from Akwa Ibom State”.
Responding to a question from a journalist in Uyo on the issue, he retorted: “I am not a member.”
On the vexed issue of cultism causing havoc in Akwa Ibom State, even among secondary school students, he observed that people should not just be talking about cultism for the sake of politics, emphasising that it is important to talk about the negative manifestations of cultism,
He said: “It is more important to ask questions like: What are we not getting right that is driving these children into cultism? Are we providing adequate education? Are we providing adequate employment opportunities? Are we engaging these youths to avoid their minds becoming the devil’s workshop? Are we doing enough sensitization and attitudinal reorientation? Are the parents, schools, communities, government at all levels doing enough? We should be more concerned in addressing the problems from the root.”
He called on stakeholders from all fronts to explore ways of addressing the root causes of social vices, which, if not attended to, may consume everyone in the nearest future.
He declared his readiness to partner with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Community-Based Organisations (CBOs), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and other groups to initiate a conversation aimed at addressing the issues.
Inoyo, a former National President of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria who currently serves as Advisor, Inoyo Toro Foundation, celebrated the contributions of journalists towards the development of society.
He urged journalists in the state to revive the good old values of hard work, discipline and character in the discharge of their professional duties.
He appealed to journalists not to sacrifice professionalism on the altar of political correctness.
He lamented: “As we all know, hard work, discipline and character, have taken a back seat in our society.
“Those amongst you who continue to drum into our ears the need to act with honour and do things properly are now viewed as prophets of old. You are chastised and left to lurch in solitude. It has now become fashionable to be ‘correct’ in your reporting, not wanting to stir the hornet’s nest. So, let me upfront salute those who have decided to remain steadfast, bold, and honest; determining not to behave as if everyone is captured by an incubus or succubus powers.”
Mr. Inoyo noted that for journalists in the state to be taken seriously, they must work hard to weed out quacks in their fold.
“Let me draw your attention to one more thing which you can do for yourselves, and by extension, society. It is called differentiation. Many self-styled journalists may be doing damage to this noble profession. You must help separate the wheat from the chaff so that the integrity of journalism remains undiluted.”
He also frowned at false sensational stories aimed at tarnishing the image of seasoned sons and daughters of Akwa Ibom State.
He said: “Just this week, we woke up to a screaming headline in one of the state-based tabloids suggesting that I had a meeting two months ago in Calabar with His Excellency, Donald Duke, and the reporter must have been so important to be privy to Donald’s conversation with Governor Udom Emmanuel that ‘Inoyo is a Hard Sale.’ This is a complete falsehood and a mischievous creation of a fiction writer. While I will never bother to debunk such falsehood, it would be better if all practitioners would uphold the basic tenets of journalism in their daily practice, which includes: Truth, Accuracy, Objectivity, Social Responsibility, etc.”
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