– Publisher of The Truth newspaper in Delta, Kingsley Azu, has come hard against critics of his newspaper
– Azu said the critics were wrong in all the allegations because they lack information on the working of the media organisation
– He gave series of evidence to back up his claim, saying the medium is well equipped to stand the test of time
Publisher of The Truth newspaper, Kingsley Azu, weekend, said allegations against his media organization by a group of journalists in Delta state were false, giving evidence to show that the petitioners who listed his newspaper chapel that was inaugurated by the erstwhile Delta state chairman, Nobert Chiazor, as a fraud were wrong.
Azu, who spoke exclusively with ZENITHBLOG.com in Asaba following the petition filed by a section of media practitioners in Delta with intent to bring his media outfit to disrepute, said the group who filed the petition to the national headquarters of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) were ignorant of the working of his medium and the conditions surrounding the inauguration of the chapel by the outgone executive.
The petition filed and signed by a group of journalists in the state said the former chairman of the state NUJ, Nobert Chiazor, went against popular opinion and inaugurated the chapel on March 16, 2017, insisting that it was inaugurated to shore up votes for the chairman’s candidates in the state NUJ elections.
Kingsley Azu, aide to Delta state governor and publisher of The Truth newspaper
The petition read in part: “Is it morally justifiable to create chapels because of elections? Just last month during the inauguration of the chapel, Comrade Chiazor stated that the chapel was made up of 10 members, today the number has increased to 22 based on the list of members submitted.”
The petitioners further said: “To show that The Truth chapel is a fraud meant for the election, the newspaper hit the newsstand for the first time last year, it has not printed up to five editions and in this year, 2017, it has not printed a copy, it does not even have an office, no support staff, so for such an organization to have 22 journalists in its payroll, to say the least is fraudulent.”
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But Kingsley Azu, publisher of the newspaper, gave clear facts to prove that the petitioners were wrong.
Azu, who was an information officer prior to his appointment by the state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, told ZENITHBLOG.com that the petitioners were wrong on many grounds.
According to him, against the view of the petitioners that the newspaper chapel was inaugurated against popular opinion, he showed our reporter the letter from the national headquarters of NUJ signed by the national secretary, Shuaibu Usman Leman, authorizing the inauguration and dated March 16, 2017.
He added that the constitution of the NUJ stipulates that to qualify for a chapel, the newspaper organization must have at least 10 professionals who are grounded in the ethics of journalism and people who studied Mass Communication.
He said the chapel has more than 10 professionals, noting that anybody who said Chiazor mentioned that the chapel has only 10 professionals, that was wrong.
He said:
“A letter has been given by the state NUJ. And Abuja has sent us a letter in recognition of The Truth chapel. Those in doubt of its authenticity should come and see the letter from the national headquarters. Its inauguration before the election was just a coincidence.”
Comrade Nobert Chiazor, immediate past chairman of the Delta state NUJ who inaugurated The Truth chapel
Azu further said there was misconception on the issue of number of people in the chapel. He explained that besides the fact that the organization has more than 10 professionals, most of the staff are not in Asaba, the headquarters of the organization.
“What I did was to help those who read Mass Communication and still roam the street without job. I visited some media houses to collect names and phone numbers of Mass Communication students who did industrial attachment with them. With that I called many and discovered that some were still unemployed.
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“Some who have National Diploma could not go back because of finance. And as my contribution to reduce unemployment, I called them for interview. I told them they will work as correspondents in their different places.
“They get stories from their communities and send to us. With this, we were able to get about 24. Out of the 24, three did not read Mass Communication but they did industrial training in media houses. We would have done the inauguration for long but forces were fighting against it until it was finally done in 2017.
“I have been in NUJ for years. All NUJ needed was to inform Abuja and the inauguration is done. Lagos has more than 60 chapels. Some of the chapel chairmen were here during the inauguration and they played their respective roles,” Azu explained.
On the issue of having not published any copy since December 2016, the publisher gave our reporter four copies of the paper dated December 2016, January 2017, February 2017 and March 2017, indicating that the newspaper is a monthly publication and has published up to March 2017.
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