Mr Emmanuel Onwuka, winner of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Award for Journalistic Excellence, online cadre has asserted that the best journalists in Nigeria
By Christian Njoku
Mr Emmanuel Onwuka, winner of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Award for Journalistic Excellence, online cadre has asserted that the best journalists in Nigeria are not only in Lagos and Abuja.
Onwuka disclosed this on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) after presenting his award to Ms Archibong Bassey, Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Cross River Council, in Calabar.
NAN reports that the awardee who runs a blog called Parallel News is based in Cross River and won the award of the best online journalist in West Africa on July 25 as part of activities to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of ECOWAS.
He said there were a lot of good journalists in Cross River that could compete favourably with contemporaries in other states and many underreported stories they could leverage on to become world beaters.
“We need to stop assuming that stars journalism are all in Lagos and Abuja; we need to kill this spirit of being inadequate that makes us feel indifferent to opportunities.
“We have good reporters and storytellers in Cross River, I want to use this opportunity to urge them to come out of their shells, seek growth because there are so many amazing untold stories here that can bring you to limelight,” he stated.
He also used the opportunity to appeal to Cross River Council of the union to encourage its members to do good stories and apply for opportunities.
He added that journalists in the state needed to grow out of the house style syndrome that limits them to their various media houses and start learning what is expected of them by different organisations.
In her response, Bassey, congratulated the recipient for the award while calling on other journalists to borrow a leaf and grow in the profession.
“Do not be afraid of applying for opportunities, take a leap of faith, you never know what can come out of it,” she said.
She also promised to look into the area of trainings for journalists in the state to develop their capabilities in the profession. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)