Watch the Watchdog: Nigerian media unveils commission to self regulate

The Nigerian media has established a nine-member board for the National Media Complaints Commission (NMCC), also known as the National Ombudsman, to improve public confidence in the media.

The Nigeria Press Organisation (NPO), made up of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), and Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), inaugurated the commission in Ikeja, Lagos on Monday, April 03, 2023.

Main purpose of the commission: Speaking at the event, Malam Kabiru Yusuf, the President of NPO and President of NPAN, said that the commission would “watch the watchdog.”

Yusuf explained that the commission would be responsible for regulating the work and conduct of print and online journalists in Nigeria.

He stressed the need for co-regulation, with the participation of non-media non-governmental organisations and the legal profession.

He also emphasised the importance of self-regulation, noting that radio and television are already regulated, but print and online journalism have escaped such control.

Words from the chairman of the commission: In his response, Izeze thanked stakeholders for the initiative and stressed that the commission was not intended to gag the media.

According to him, since the military regime to date, there have been certain distastes for the media and people always look for how to keep the media in check.

“What has happened lately is that we (media practitioners) haven’t also been keeping ourselves in check.

“Our responsibility primarily is not to come and gag the press, we will not do that. We think that we have to be fair to ourselves. We must always do the right thing.

“So, when the public is complaining, instead of waiting for the people who do not understand this job to pull us down, we will remember this commission and take the initiative to address the issue.

“People do not like their dirty stories being told in the public and there are too many dirty stories that have to be told, particularly in our environment, to make progress."

The commission is expected to serve as an independent forum for resolving complaints about the press quickly, fairly, and free of charge, while maintaining high standards of Nigerian journalism and journalists’ ethics and defending the freedom of the press and the right of the people to know.