AS the midmorning sun rises radiantly today, the 28th day of October 2024, a fresh chapter beckons in history with the drums rolled out and the banners flying high to celebrate 30 years of The Pointer Newspapers. As we gather at the highly symbolic Nnebisi Hall of Grand Hotel and Resort by the bank of the Niger River reflecting back to how it all started, we remain grateful to all those who have stood by us in the past three decades beginning interestingly with the staff of Bendel Newspapers Corporation who were of Edo State extraction. They were the ones who locked out their colleagues who happened to have come from the then newly created Delta State in a hate-filled exercise they tagged ‘Go your State no be curse’. The two States, Edo and Delta had just been created from the defunct Bendel State and their governments with regard to the assets sharing modalities had some form of understanding that the Bendel Newspapers Corporation, publishers of The Observer would be jointly run by the two sister States. That was to follow after the operational module of The Sketch Newspapers by the OODUA group of South West Nigeria. Edo State apparently could not keep faith with that agreement.
That resulted in the locking out of Deltans working in Observer. That action precipitated their return to Asaba and their heroic reception by the military administration of Ibrahim Kefas with Chief Mercy Almona Isei as Commissioner for Information. Today, 30 years on we are grateful to our colleagues, brothers and sisters of Edo State for closing the doors against their Delta colleagues. The truth about life is that most times if a door does not close, a bigger door may not open. Today, the Pointer door is evidently a wider and more promising door than the one that was locked against our people some thirty years ago in Benin City, Edo State. Thanks to the noble and far reaching vision of the founding fathers. We are equally grateful to the governments of Delta State, past and present for appreciating and amply demonstrating the critical role of vibrant media institutions in citizenship engagement , sensitization and aggregation of opinions towards development . Truth be said, The Pointer titles are not yet where they should be but they are certainly no longer where they used to be. We remain eternally grateful to professionally minded men and women who through undeterred commitment have proven that it is possible to produce a government owned newspaper that can be appealing to wide spread leadership. This is possible as the publications reflect not just the policies and activities of government but its impact on the average citizen through an objective and empirical feedback mechanism. The Pointer team has proven that it is possible to go from a weekly publication to twice weekly and eventually faithfully keeping date with growing spectrum of readers on a daily basis. We are grateful to our numerous advertisers for believing in us. In 33 years, Delta has had about fifteen Commissioners of Information with each dispensation contributing significantly to the success story of The Pointer of today. Today from various parts of the country opinion leaders have defied the pervasive inclement economic situation in the country to celebrate with us three decades credible and consistent contributions to the development of Delta State, the South South geo-political zone, Nigeria and the evolving dynamics of information dissemination in sustainable development . We remain eternally grateful even as we strongly resolve to take The Pointer and by implication Delta State to a higher level of professional accomplishments in the ever evolving media and communication industry. To the Mass Communication Departments and Faculties who have much believed in our operational standards that they keep sending their students to us on industrial trainings and attachment, we are also grateful for through our well worked out partnership we are sure of an engaging future for the Fourth Estate of the Realm.
I still cherish the memories of my encounter with a top ranking traditional ruler who commended the quality of responsible journalism The Pointer represents. Also,a University Vice Chancellor also pointed out the operational synergy between the newspaper house and the varsities and Polytechnics in terms of providing the finisher platform especially for the students of Mass Communication. This is also in addition to the thousands of fresh graduates in English/ Literary Studies, Mass Communication, other social sciences who have had to use The Pointer as their place of primary assignments in the National Youth Service Corps scheme. As timeless as eternity could appear in the bowel of history, it also ends up being measured by time. Thirty years of The Pointer is indeed remarkable and deserves different layers of celebrations as the hand of God can be seen upon the establishment. Thirty years on, the establishment is getting stronger instead of going under, chronicling the unfolding of history both for the now and for posterity. We are also celebrating the resilience and commitment to professionalism on the part of the staff, past and present who have made it such that compellingly innovative chapters are being opened daily with exciting engagements across increasing teem of readers. What then are we celebrating as members of the Fourth Estate of the realm? Resilience and professionalism on the part of staff and management come readily. We are also celebrating enduring support of successive governments both in military and the current democratic dispensations Delta has had successive governments who fully appreciate the critical role of the media in galvanizing a modern society towards peace and development. The celebration with theme, honouring truth and unity through excellence in public communication features Prof Joyce Ogwezi of Dennis Osadebay University delivering a Lecture on The Mass Media And The Challenge Of Consolidating Nigeria’s Democracy And Cultural Ethos. We remain ever grateful to this intellectual amazon, development and gender advocate of excellent reputation. Prof Sam Oyovbaire, chairman of today’s anniversary celebration has always been there for us, a firm advocate of improved mass media for enhanced democratic development. Equally of significance is that having keenly participated in the events that shaped our State, Delta and Nigeria in the past 30 years we are today recognizing and celebrating consistency and integrity in public service with awards designed to inspire more Deltans towards excellence and sublimed nobility. We are indeed immeasurably grateful to all the stakeholders whose support and patronage have kept us growing in relevance in spite of the challenging trends in the sector. We are grateful indeed to the founding fathers for seeing clearly the role a vibrant media outfit like The Pointer can play in uniting a people of heterogenous cultures towards building a strong, vibrant and exemplary State, a clear leader in all spheres of development. In a sense, what is happening today can be seen as Delta celebrating a success story with the Pointer Newspaper unlike was the case with The Standard of Jos, The Triumph of Kano, The Sketch owned by the OODUA group, The Herald of Kwara State, Pioneer of AkwaIbom, The Chronicles of Cross River, The Tide of Rivers State, The Daily Star of Anambra and Statesman published by Imo newspapers, Owerri. Delta has amply demonstrated the value placed on viable mass media for citizenship engagement and social engineering. The government of Delta State deserves some historic accolades in this regard.
