For the records: Welcome address by Maureen Chigbo, President of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, at its 8th Annual Conference on October 3, 2024, at the Reverton Hotel, Lokoja, Kogi State.

Protocols

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I warmly welcome you all to this 8th Annual Conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP). The first we are having hosted by the government of any state in the country. We are indeed happy that His Excellency, Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo of Kogi State, provided a comfortable ambiance at this Reverton Hotel in Lokoja, the confluence State where the historic and iconic event of River Benue and River Niger joined.

I thank you and your officials who worked tirelessly to ensure we the two-day meeting of GOCOP has been going on peacefully. May God grant you and your team of cabinet members and media and information manager both online and mainstream the wisdom, good health of mind and body and strength to continue to lift Kogi State to greater heights.

Ladies, gentlemen, and distinguished guests, please permit me to lavishly welcome our erudite and gentleman, Minister of Information, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, who has been very supportive of GOCOP since he assumed office last year. Thank you for honouring our invitation and look forward to continuing partnering with you to factually disseminate information about real government activities.

I also welcome our erudite resource persons beginning with the Chairman of the Occasion, His Excellency Mallam Yusuf Mammam, former Nigerian Ambassador to Spain. Thank you Sir devoting time to the cause of GOCOP. We are encouraged by your sacrifice to be here today with us. Also, I warmly welcome the Keynoter, His Excellency, Senator Liyel Imoke, former governor of Cross River State who is to titillate our brains on the apt and timely topic: “Nigeria: Tackling Insecurity, Power Deficit, and Transitioning to Digital Economy”.

I do not doubt that you will do justice to this topic. I also welcome Lt. General Tukur Buratai, former chief of Army Staff and Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). I know you will add colour to our understanding of the dynamics of technology in promoting security and the digital economy for the well-being of our people and humanity in general.

Permit also to graciously welcome Professor Rotimi Ajayi of the Department of Political Science, Federal University, Lokoja, and the only Lady who has the privilege to be amongst men in this year’s GOCOP Conference.

Apart from being an ace broadcaster who has produced award-winning documentaries on topical issues affecting Nigeria, she was my national coordinator of the West African Media Network (WAMNET) formed in the prelude to the 1995 Women’s Conference in Beijing, China, and probably wondering about the gender imbalance on this side of the divide.

My big Sister, we tried to create balance but those we contacted at press time were already engaged and I promise that we will do better in the future. Suffice it to state, we have come a long way and I learnt a lot under your leadership of WAMNET as I was then beginning my journalism career.

Your Excellencies, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, please permit me to duly acknowledge the presence of my predecessors – President Emeritus Mojeed Muskilu and President Emeritus Dotun Oladipo, Publisher of Eagle Online. Mr. Muskilu is the no-nonsense chairman of the screening committee while Mr. Oladipo is the chairman of the GOCOP Ombudsman/Disciplinary Committee. Both have continued to serve GOCOP very well even after the expiration of the tenure. You are warmly welcome.

I welcome all GOCOP aspiring members who will be inducted here today. I can only enjoin you that being a member of GOCOP comes with a lot of responsibility as the small and businesses enterprises of the online community and in our bid to sanitise online publishing and keep it free from fakenews as we look for positive ways to sustain our businesses.

Please note that GOCOP is a peer-review body that can help build your capacity to run your small-scale online publishing business well. It is not an advert canvassing entity for publishers. But we provide the link between you and those in a position to advertise and the rest is left for you to follow. As I look at the galaxy of our speakers this morning, they belong to the group of people who can support our businesses positively. And I need not tell you what next to do to get their support.

Your Excellency, may I let you and our August guests here today and the entire Kogi people that our new members went through a very rigorous selection process in their journey to become GOCOP members. Many applied but only a few – 16 applicants out of more than 50 applicants, were chosen. As you are inducted today as GOCOP members, I felicitate and wish you the very best as members. In addition, please note that there will be a debriefing immediately after your induction with Exco members to guide you properly in GOCOP traditions and expectations of you and also answer any question that bugs your mind.

Your excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, this conference would not have been possible without the tireless effort of the 18-member planning committee led by Chairman Danlami Nmodu, mni who is the Deputy President of GOCOP and Secretary Olumide Iyanda (Olumighty), also the assistant general secretary of GOCOP.

My special thanks go to Our President Emeritus, Mr. Dotun Oladipo, who brokered the hosting deal as well as all the Kogi State information managers and government officials who worked day and night to ensure the success of today’s event. In no particular order – Mrs. Yemi Kolapo, Commissioner of Information, Fanwo, and the special media adviser Online, thank you very much.

I also thank all the special guests here and representatives of NUJ, NIPR, the Chairman, the Board of Trustees of GOCOP, and all GOCOP members who are now working in the corporate and public institutions who supported this conference, especially those who have used their good offices to give our businesses succor. Chief Femi Soneye of the NNPCL, Horatius Equa thank you.

My deep appreciation also goes to all State Governments – Delta, Lagos, Osun, and the companies and organisations who have supported us in hosting this conference. I thank and welcome you all. God bless your various businesses so you can support us more in the future.

On this note, May I once again, welcome you all to this conference in the confluence state that like a river will wash away all the stress of the last year and energise us to forge ahead with our businesses successfully until we meet again in October 2025.

Thank you for your listening. God bless you all God bless GOCOP. God bless Nigeria.

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