Anyim Foundation organizes N1m prize for investigative journalism

The family of the late veteran journalist and renowned broadcast manager, Senator Anyim Ude, yesterday, announced the N1 million prize for investigative journalism in Nigeria.

This is as Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah and his Ebonyi counterpart, Ogbonna Nwifuru, extolled the fallen statesman, saying that he made indelible contributions to national development.

Spokesman of the Anyim Ude family, Nnanna Ude disclosed this at a memorial lecture organised by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in honour of the elder statesman, at the Enugu Sports Club,yesterday.

He said the foundation would liaise with the national leadership of the NUJ to work out modalities for the prize even as he thanked the union for honouring his late father.

He said that of the various areas of life that the late senator operated, he preferred to be identified with the journalism profession.

Mbah described Anyim Ude as a disciplined patriot, who lived his life for the unity and progress of Nigeria.

Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, the governor urged journalists to toe the footsteps of the late veteran by practicing their profession with truth.

Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, Mrs Patricia Obila, who represented her principal, commended the NUJ and family of late Ude for honouring their own.

She promised Ude’s family that the government of Ebonyi where he hailed from will not abandon them.

Keynote speaker and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Olu Akpata identified a dearth of investigative journalists as the reason for the spate of fake news in society.

Akpata who spoke on “Freedom of the press, fake news and the rule of law,” in honour of the renowned broadcast manager and politician, also stated that the job of journalism is so critical in the society that the media, the lawyers, labour leaders and the opposition parties are the ones always called upon for remedy whenever things go wrong in the society.

“I can’t recall anybody calling on architects or engineers, doctors or scientists being called for solutions in critical national emergency matters, such as in the current social crisis as we have in the country today. It is always the journalists, lawyers, the organised labour or the opposition parties,” Akpata said. The ex-NBA president stressed that people relied on well-researched stories, but that since the dearth of such investigative journalism, irresponsible and fake journalism have taken centre stage, “which unfortunately are the ones people want to to listen and read now in Nigeria.”

According to him, “Journalism entails public trust, a journalist should have regard for public trust. There’s anger and hunger in the land which brought about EndSARS and the Obident movements. People now see the courts as courts of injustice instead of courts of justice and in situations as these, they turn to the media as last hope.”

He urged journalists to always hold the government accountable and eschew dimension of the journalism profession despite their harsh working environments.

He noted that it was these positive virtues of journalism that the late Senator Anyim Ude stood for in his days of active practice and as a veteran, before his demise.

Akpata further advocated for stronger ties between journalists and lawyers, noting that in his days as NBA president, they chose to do things differently.

Chairman of the lecture and former President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Nnia Nwodo said that the late sage, Ude, was a celebrated statesman and a public administrator.

Nwodo charged journalists to rediscover what made great men such as Senator Ude and described him as “worthy example of success.”

National President of the NUJ, Comrade Chris Isiguzo said that the lecture was for a discussion that will inspire collective action for Journalism, noting that Senator Ude was a champion of press freedom, whose contributions were not just in the profession but also in other segments of the society.

“He was the longest-serving broadcast manager in his time, he was a community leader who dedicated his life to uplifting others,” Isiguzo remarked.