Shettima, Osoba others for Yenagoa as editors x-ray nation’s challenges
Vice President Kashim Shettima and former Ogun State governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba, are among dignitaries expected in Yenagoa as Nigerian editors gather to x-ray some challenges facing the country and proffer solutions.
Shettima is expected to declare open the forum — the 2024 All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) — holding from Nov. 7 to Nov. 9.
Osoba would join the Founder/Publisher of Vanguard Media Group, Uncle Sam Amuka, as Fathers of the Day.
The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) disclosed these on Monday, in a statement by its General Secretary, Dr Iyobosa Uwugiaren.
It said that the 2024 annual conference would address issues on Nigeria’s economy and media space challenges.
The Guild said that the gathering was coming against the backdrop of the federal government’s economic reforms, policies of petrol subsidy removal and forex rates unification, and the resultant inflationary trend.
It noted that the government, to assuage the inflationary effects of these reforms on the most vulnerable, said it had been implementing temporary cash transfers to reach 15 million households.
The NGE said that the government had also said that efforts had been made to tighten monetary policy and refocus the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on its core mandate of maintaining price stability.
It said that the poverty rate in the country, exchange rate, inflation and spiralling energy prices, however, remained huge concerns to many Nigerians.
The body said that, to address these economic challenges and achieve development, stakeholders were proffering more solutions.
It said that they believed there was a need to push for “a wide-ranging and comprehensible set of policies and strategies that will address both the short-term and long-term issues”.
On media sustainability, it said that there was a growing view that media stakeholders should come out with mechanisms to support sustainability in the industry.
“The argument is that mechanisms should adjust to evolving market conditions and boost the likelihood that publishers can build diverse revenue streams.
“It is within this context that this year’s ANEC will focus on strategies and policies aimed at addressing the challenges of the nation’s economy and the media space.
“Key experts, actors and players from different sectors: energy, security, money/capital market, regulatory agencies, Big Tech, media and others have been invited to start conversation on the best possible way out of the challenges,” it said.
It said that the ANEC would be chaired by the Chairman/Editor-In-Chief of THISDAY/Arise Media Group, Prince Nduka Obaigbena.
According to the statement, Gov. Douye Diri of Bayelsa will be the chief host.
