Mr Nelson Chukwudi of The Tide Newspapers and Paul Damgbo of Rivers State Television (RSTV) were among 28 new members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) inducted last Saturday into the elite club of Editors in the country, with a charge to comply with the Code of Ethics of the Journalism Profession and the Constitution of the NGE while ensuring absolute respect for rights and privileges of Nigerians in the discharge of their sacred duties.
Former President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr Bonnie Iwuoha, who gave the charge while performing the induction of the new members at a dinner/gala to mark the end of the 2015 Biennial Convention of the NGE in Lagos, last Saturday, admonished the new inductees to exhibit high sense of integrity and professionalism in the management of their various media organisations, just as he warned that the Guild would not take likely to any member who, by his or her conduct, brings the reputation of Nigerian Editors into disrepute.
Iwuoha reminded the new NGE members that their induction at a critical time of transition in the nation’s democratic experiment, demands that they bring their wealth of experience and expertise to bear in contributing to the promotion and sustenance of the nation’s democracy, and urged them to open new windows of interaction to improve relations with their older colleagues to ensure harmony and growth of the Guild.
The 28 new members, who swore oath of allegiance to the Guild as part of the induction, were given certificates of membership and a copy of the NGE Constitution each.
Earlier, Mr Femi Adeshina was on Saturday re-elected unopposed as the president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE.
Adeshina, along with some executive members of the association, were returned unopposed during the 2015 Biennial Convention of the NGE held in Lagos at the weekend.
The other executive members re-elected were Garbadeen Mohammed as deputy president, Mr Suleiman Gaya, as vice president North, Mr Victor Agusiobo, as vice president East and Mr Steve Ayorinde as vice president West.
Others are, Asst. General Secretary, Mrs Mary Atolagbe; Treasurer, Mr Ogbang Akwaji and Social and Publicity Secretary, Mrs Funke Egbemode.
However, the post of national secretary was contested for by Mrs Victoria Ibanga and Mr Mustapha Isah.
Ibanga won the position with115 votes against Isah’s 103 votes.
A Deputy Editor-in-Chief with the News Agency of Nigeria, Malam Sani Adamu and Fred Fabor of Bayesa Broadcasting Service were among the seven persons who won membership of the Guild’s Standing Committee.
At the opening ceremony, President-elect, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, in a goodwill message, lauded the media for its roles in facilitating Nigeria peaceful and credible elections.
Represented by Vice President-elect, Porf Yemi Osinbajo, Buhari said that any meeting of the Guild of Editors was very important because of the role Editors play in nation-building.
He charged the media to monitor the activities of his incoming administration to ensure sustainable democracy.
Ex-information Minister, Tony Momoh stated that any editor who compromises in discharging his or her duties was a disgrace to journalism, and challenged editors to monitor the performance of government officials at all levels in line with their statutory obligations
Governor  Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State urged editors in the country to set agenda for political discussions that would guide future election campaigns.
Fashola, while receiving executive members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors in his Alausa office, said future elections would be more peaceful and free of tension, if they are actually focused on national burning issues.
The governor said that with issues-oriented campaigns and elections, even children would freely participate in future election campaigns and town hall meetings.
Reminiscing on the last general elections, Fashola said year 2014 and the last few months were quite eventful for the country, given the election threats and tension that engulfed the whole country.
According to Fashola, “Though, there is no nation without conflicts, but I think in all that has happened, one thing was missing in this election; we didn’t see our children there.
“One question I’ve continued to ask myself is that if this is about the future, why do our children not come to the campaigns or the town hall meetings?
“Why don’t we have sessions where school children on excursion begin to get involved? How many parents can allow the children to come, given the atmosphere that we’ve created? Yet, we say this is about tomorrow.
“This is one of the issues we all must reflect on, and I hope that it will manifest itself even in your relations.
“You (editors) know better than all of us what the issues are. And we expect that you will tackle, as well as confine the candidates who are seeking to lead and see who best articulates the issues,” he said.
The governor said that he disagreed with popular school of thought that argued during the election that there was no difference among the contending parties.
“I disagree with that and vehemently so. I can argue for a whole year and give you 101 reasons why the parties are different.
“I hear some people say that ‘nobody is talking about issues’. But security was an issue, corruption, economy were all issues. What do we want to talk about again, if those ones are not issues?
“So, we need to raise the bar in political discussion in order to douse the tension, which has been about people who really don’t want political discussions to be about issues.
“The British election is coming and all the parties have released their manifestos. So, the public are now looking at who has the best plans to reduce the debt because the issue in that election is economic.
“We must also begin to put issues forward and nobody can set the agenda for discussion better than you (editors) because you decide what goes into the news,” he said.
The President of the Guild, Mr Femi Adesina, earlier said that the 14-man Executive Committee team had come on a courtesy visit ahead of their Biennial Convention, which begins today in Lagos.
Adesina said that three of such conventions had held in Lagos in the last six years, “which confirms the State government’s affinity with the press.”
He appreciated Fashola’s contributions to the state and said that he would be sorely missed.
The NGE president said that Fashola had always been with the Guild at its conventions, either in person or represented, and thanked him for his support.