Abia Governor Hails THE WHISTLER For Reliable Journalism

…. Lauds Tenacity Of Publisher James Ume

Abia State Governor Alex Otti has congratulated THE WHISTLER newspaper for its steadfast dedication to journalism over the past nine years.

Speaking at the newspaper’s annual dinner and maiden awards event held on Saturday at the Wells Carlton Hotels and Apartments in Abuja, Otti acknowledged the important yet challenging role of journalism in society.

Otti, delivering his address, lauded THE WHISTLER’s consistent reliability as an information source and highlighted the challenges journalists face and the importance of perseverance.

The governor commended THE WHISTLER’s resilience and lauded Publisher, Chief James Ume, for his perseverance and trailblazing work in Nigeria’s media landscape.

“I want to thank my brother, Chief James Umeh, and his team for building this great platform to celebrate impactful journalism,” said Otti.

“It takes remarkable strength and perseverance to not only launch a newspaper but sustain its success over nearly a decade,” said the governor.

He added, “James is a man of many paths. Let me thank the GMD (Kari) for the impact he has made in the life of my brother, James.

“Thank you for all the support that you have given him, thank you for the encouragement, thank you for making yourself available for him because anyhow you spice and dice it, it is not easy to get you out if you do not value him. On behalf of Abia State, because he’s an industrious son of my state, say a big thanks to you and to also encourage you to keep supporting him.

Commending recipients in various award categories, Otti emphasised the importance of recognising efforts, noting that “to whom much is given, much is expected.”

He said, “To the recipients of this night’s award, those that have received and the ones that are about to receive, it’s a recognition of the hard work that you’ve done, that never forget that the reward for hard work is more work. To all of us who are supporters of THE WHISTLER, I want to also say a big thank you to you, because if there were no readership, I’m sure they would have gone out of business.

“So, because you have seen THE WHISTLER as a reliable source of information, I believe that is why you have stuck with them these past nine years and counting. So, I want to congratulate all of you because we are all part of a success story.

“But journalism is a profession in which one has to be very strong and develop a thick skin to survive. If you see anyone who has done well in journalism for years, you must congratulate him. And it’s on that basis that I want to congratulate my brother, Chief James Ume, and his team, for surviving these past nine years. And my prayer is that you will continue to do well.

”For us in Abia, what we are doing is what people want us to do. We believe that the essence of governance is that you must listen to the people. You must address issues around their welfare, their security, and their source of livelihood. So, when you see a devoting 15 % of our next year’s budget to health care delivery, it is because we want our people to be healthy. And whatever we spend to keep our people healthy is not lost. When you see us devoting more than 20% of our total budget to education we believe, just like Nelson Mandela said, that education is an instrument with which you can eradicate poverty and bring people to great landing.

“So, when you see us attacking infrastructure with anger it is because we know that access is the most important thing that human beings need and if you don’t have access, whatever you produce you cannot bring them to the market. If you do not create good roads and keep you and keep your environment clean, and provide pipe-borne water and electricity, then you may as well live on air, sourcing investments both foreign and local but will fail. But if you have provided an enabling environment, you don’t need to go anywhere. Investors are smart and investment is close to where that’s very prepared for it.

“Once again, I thank Chief James Ume and THE WHISTLER group for coming. I thank all of you for coming to be part of this celebration.”

The dinner and award event celebrated excellence in journalism while highlighting THE WHISTLER’s indispensable role as a reliable news source.

During the award session, the newspaper’s Lagos correspondent, Ikenna OMEJE, won the award for ‘Best Feature Story of the Year’ for his report tiled ‘Trapped In Trash! The Dire Living Conditions Of Scavengers In Lagos’

Nneoma BENSON won the ‘Best Investigative Story of the Year’ award for her investigation titled ‘Offspring Of Blood: Investigating Benue’s Herder-Farmer’s Clashes’ while Philip UKPE won the ‘Best Report of the Year’ award.

The event featured goodwill messages from the NNPC GCEO, Mallam Mele Kyari, NUPRC Chief Executive, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, and former Minister of Power and Chairman of General Electric, Bath Nnaji.

Nnaji praised Ume’s journey from reporter to establishing a distinct newspaper and lauded the impactful initiatives of the Unubiko Foundation, founded by Ume.

He commended Ume’s dedication to helping his community through road construction, scholarships, and school projects, all of which he said were accomplished with humility and without seeking personal acclaim.

“Chief Ume rose from a proper newspaper, from writing as a reporter, he became the News Editor at Leadership newspaper,” said Nnaji, adding “That is a rare accomplishment in Nigeria.”

The former minister said, “I wasn’t so surprised when he established himself, he would think of establishing a newspaper that is different from other newspapers.

“The Unubiko Foundation is known for touching the lives of so many and ensuring that. So, many lives are touched, particularly in his community. Building roads, you know we have a system where poor people who go to hospital will be held in the hospital and won’t be released, and his foundation does much to get them out. Scholarships running in hundreds of scholarships and then pay their WACE.

“The most recent one is the secondary school that he’s planning to hand over on the 26th of this month. These are some of his accomplishments, awarding scholarships, and building a secondary school. What is so important about all this is that he did all of this without announcing himself and his foundation. That’s a major accomplishment in Nigeria where noise goes before what you actually do. We appreciate you and your wife for all the food things you do.”