News Express Marks 5th Anniversary

Mary Ekah

News Express Publisher, Isaac Umunna recently held his firm’s 5th anniversary lecture in Lagos. One of the highlights of the occasion was the unveiling of the new logo of News Express. The event, which was essentially a media event, was graced by an array of distinguished personalities from Nigeria and abroad including Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina; General Manager, External Relations, Nigeria LNG Limited, Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke; General Manager, NTA Lagos Channel 10, Helen Onma Odeleye; and United Nations Security Coordination Officer, Francis T. Okoemu. Others were Chairman of Zinox Technologies Limited, Leo Stan Eke, and President Emeritus of Aka Ikenga think tank, Chief Goddy Uwazurike.

The Guest Lecturer, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State, represented by his Chief Press Secretary, Mallam Jibrin Baba Ndace, spoke on the theme, ‘National Unity and the Demand for Restructuring — A Governor’s Perspective’. According to him, “some said Nigeria’s diversity is the problem but which is not as we have country like Indonesia which is more diverse but they enjoy unity,” adding that there were certain redline which must not be crossed while calling for restructuring. He said however that, “calling for restructuring should be done with decorum.”

The chairman of the event, President Emeritus of Aka Ikenga think tank, Chief Goddy Uwazurike, acknowledged the role of the press in a country as a vehicle to maintain peaceful atmosphere in the society. According to him, “pen is mightier than sword” while also calling on the press to kill hate speech. Also corroborating the position of Chief Uwazurike, the special adviser (Media and Publicity) to the President, Femi Adesina noted that fake news is an endemic which is fast becoming more viral and has caused damages. In his words, “the intention of fake/hate news is to cause disharmony.”

He encouraged the consumers to separate the wheat from the chaff. He added that restructuring that will deepen the county is welcome not to fragment the country.

Other speakers included Chairman of Zinox Technologies Limited, Leo Stan Eke; and General Manager, External Relations, Nigeria LNG Limited; Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke.

The unveiling of the new logo of News Express was done by Presidential Spokesman Femi Adesina. The new logo, two intertwined circles – one red and one black represent the world while red stands for day and black night. News Express, which debuted on August 29, 2012, is one of Nigeria’s most popular and influential online dailies. It is read by hundreds of thousands of people around the world and records annual traffic of upwards of 100 million.