Few weeks to the 17th All Nigeria Editors’ Conference, the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE) has disclosed that many corporate organisations and security agencies, including the Tony Elumelu Foundation, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Globacom, Air Peace, Zenith Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, Department of State Security (DSS) and others, have supported the conference.
The editors’ conference, which is the largest gathering of Nigerian editors and owners of mass media: newspapers, magazines, radio/television stations and online newspapers in Nigeria – is scheduled to hold between October 21 and 22, at Abuja.
According to a statement, this year’s conference which would focus on the current security challenges in Nigeria, with the theme: “Media in Times of Crisis: Resolving Conflict, Achieving Consensus,” was aimed at achieving consensus among media owners, managers and senior editors on what role the media can play in helping to resolve the seemingly intractable conflict enveloping the nation today.
“The annual conference also attracts our foreign partners: World Editors Forum (WEF), West African Editors Forum (WAEF), African Editors Forum (AEF), International Press Institute (IPI) and World Association of Newspapers (WAN).
“This year annual conference will attract top security officers, governors, lawmakers, academics, chief executive officers in private sector, members of the international community, leading non-governmental organisations and others,” the statement signed by the Nigerian Guild Editors President, Mustapha Isah and the General Secretary, Iyobosa Uwugiaren stated.
The editors stated that the conference which was designed to be intellectually engaging – with several experienced resources persons, would also feature an executive session with state governors and security chiefs.
“The executive session will provide a huge opportunity for governors and security chiefs to share with owners of newspapers, radio/television stations and editors, the challenges of managing insecurity in their states and the progress they have made so far,” it added.
Over 500 editors and media owners – both within and outside the country, are expected at this year conference.