… receives “Man of the Decade” award
By Abuchi Ifesinachi
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh, has expressed happiness with the Nigerian media, saying that they have performed well in its watchdog role of the country.
Umeh made the remark on Saturday in Awka in an interview after receiving an award of “Man of the Decade” from the management of “The Aluta Newspaper”.
The newspaper is a campus newspaper published by students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra.
Umeh, who is an APGA aspirant for the Anambra Central Senatorial election in 2015, said that the media had remained the hope of the common people in a country which democracy was still growing.
“The media has the role of enlightening the people about goings-on, and the media practitioners have lived up to this through their reportage,” he said.
The APGA boss charged the media to do more to sustain the country’s democracy, especially focusing on developmental journalism and ensuring that the leaders are accountable to the people.
He expressed happiness that students could come up with a noble idea like publishing a campus newspaper to help educate their colleagues.
On the award, Umeh said “I thank them very much. It goes to show that whatever you do in the society, people are watching you.”
“The decision to give me this award means that they have been following my activities and consider it a great motivation for them to succeed.
“I am happy that I have inspired them to believe in themselves and I hope they will behold a good future for themselves,” he said.
The senatorial aspirant lauded the leader of the management team of the newspaper, Mr David Agu, a Mass Communications student of the university for the quality of the newspaper.
He called on students to always devote good time to reading newspapers so as to update their knowledge of the nation’s politics if they truly desire to be leaders of tomorrow.
“During our days in the 1980s, we had a campus newspaper in the University of Nigeria (UNN), and it helped us a lot about things that were happening all around us.
“I encourage all of you to read this and take it as your own,” Umeh said.
Earlier in his remarks, Agu said that the choice of Umeh for the award was informed by the several litigations he had won over the years, and his contributions to making APGA a major national political party in the country.
Others who were honoured include a Catholic priest and director of Spiritan Center for Self Realisation, Rev. Fr. Raymond Arazu and a renowned traditionalist and purveyor of the Igbo tradition, culture and language, Dr Ramas Asuzu.
Mr Chinedu Obidigwe, a former local government chairman of Anambra East local council area of the state was also honoured with an award, among others.
