Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Enugu
The South East geopolitical zone has been said to be deliberately short changed, suffocated and schemed out of relevance in the country.
The former Political Editor of Daily Times Mr. Emeka Nwosu who stated this in a paper titled “Issues in media ownership in South East of Nigeria and the quest for a balanced federation,” at a colloquium in honour of Nze Magnus Eze, Head of South East Bureau of Sun newspapers to mark his 50th birthday held at Enugu.
He said that South East is the only region out of six geopolitical zone of the country with that has five states, regretting that while North West has seven states others have six states each.
Nwosu also said that South East has the least number of local government areas and federal constituencies, which he said were the units for political representation and revenue sharing in the federation.
“In the Igbo quest for a balanced federation, in which all the regions or zones will be equal stakeholders, there is a compelling need for the Igbo to invest in the media. For such investment to succeed, it must be considered as a social service especially at the pioneering stages. Profit motive is normal. But the primary consideration should be the power and influence which the ownership of the media brings to the table.
“Ndigbo need a well-funded and robust media to the challenge. The media is another form of power through which we can protect our rich cultural heritage and values, customs, traditions and religion. It serves as a bulwark against unwanted foreign influences and some hegemonic interests that seek to impose their strange ways of life on our people.
“In the ongoing national clamour for the restructuring of the Nigerian federation to ensure equity and balance, the media has a crucial role to play in terms of agenda setting and public advocacy,” Nwosu stated.
The event attracted many prominent politicians and journalists including a representative of Enugu State governor Chief Ifeanyi Ugwanyi, Senator Anyim Ude, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo and wife of late Eze Igbo Gburugburu, Chief Mrs Bianca Ojukwu among others.