SAN FRANCISCO, January 29, (THEWILL) – Emmanuel Asiwe, Editor-in-chief, HUHUONLINE.COM, has come out in defence of the Online Publishers Association of Nigeria (OPAN), against the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, (GOCOP).
In a press release titled ‘In Defence of (OPAN) – Our Position,’ Asiwe gave a detailed account of OPAN’s activities in response to allegations by GOCOP following disagreements by the groups after a purported meeting with Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
“Our attention has been drawn to some insipid and belated attempt by a certain group of brown envelop chasing, internet infestations calling itself, the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, (GOCOP), to blackmail and disparage OPAN and its members,” the statement read.
He reiterated that OPAN did not attend the meeting with Mohammed and pointed out that the blanket use of “online publishers” in reports and press releases about the parley with the Minister was inaccurate and misleading.
“But in an angry reaction, GOCOP, whose members attended the meeting, came out pouring invectives and casting banal, vituperative aspersions on OPAN, ostensibly to undermine its credibility and impugn the character of its members.
“Much of the serial insults are no more than gross misrepresentation and a campaign of calumny by GOCOP. We wish to state our conviction that GOCOP’s unwarranted attacks on OPAN constitute a serious assault on press freedom and freedom of association, which reflects, frankly, a lack of understanding of the nature of the modern news enterprise, especially online publishing.
“The only reasonable explanation for this asinine and baseless accusation is to attract patronage from the Buhari administration, which seems to be the leitmotif of GOCOP. But painting OPAN as anti-Buhari, and a fifth columnist for the Jonathan administration smacks of desperation to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
Asiwe added that OPAN was at the forefront of defending online journalists as it led a robust engagement with the Nigerian Senate, met with the Senate leadership, and issued a public statement on the social media bill and even filed a lawsuit in federal court against the bill.
“The NASS issued a press release addressing the issues OPAN raised against the bill. Unlike GOCOP which goes shadow-boxing with photo-ops with members of government, we engage the government on issues of national importance. To accuse OPAN of attention seeking is utterly ridiculous. This allegation is therefore laughable and should attract no further comment.
He declared that GOCOP, to all intents and purposes, is not, and cannot rightfully claim to represent all online publishers of Nigeria.
Story by David Oputah
