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NPAN Calls on Government
to waive
VAT on newspaper business, expedite passage of the FOI Bill
The Newspaper Proprietors' Association of Nigeria (NPAN) has called on
the Federal Government to exempt newspapers
and magazines from payment of value Added Tax (VAT) and duties on
newsprint as newspapers are globally regarded as educational materials,
and on the National Assembly to speed up the process of the passage of
the Freedom of Information bill for the President to sign into law
saying the law will aid the government in its anti-corruption battle.
The NPAN made the call on October 24 at the
end of its Annual General Meeting held at Sheraton Hotel in Lagos at
which its elected a new set of executive officers to run its affairs for
the next five years.
Apparently worried by the state of the
Association, Mr. Ray Ekpu, immediate past president of the NPAN lamented
the disunity and incoherence among members of the association in the
past five years arising from the bitterness generated by the outcome of
the 2002 elections. He reminded members that: "The association cannot be
strong if the members wish it to be weak. The association cannot be
united if the members wish it to be disunited. A weak and disunited
association is of no use to its members. No one, no matter how rich or
strong, can stand alone. The polarisation in our association that
occurred in the last five years must never happen again, ever.
"The association, like other civilised
organisations in our industry, such as the International Press
Institute, the World Association of Newspapers; and the Commonwealth
Journalists Association, must be able to conduct its elections without
acrimony.”
Mr. Ekpu then asked the members to fashion
out a formula that will recognise experience in, and service to the
industry in the choice of those to run the affairs of the association.
One of the high points of the meeting was the
election of new members of executive which was done by consensus or
acclamation: officers thus elected were Chief Ajibola Ogunsola, Chairman
of The Punch newspapers Ltd as the new President; Mallam Kabir Yusuf,
Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of Daily Trust newspapers as Deputy
President; Ms. Comfort Obi, publisher of The Source magazine as General
Secretary; Mr. Sam Nda Isaiah, publisher of Leadership newspapers as
Assistant General Secretary; Mr. Frank Aigbogun, publisher of
Businessday as Publicity Secretary; and Mrs. Maiden Ibru, Chief
Executive Officer of The Guardian newspapers as Treasurer. They will
steer the ship of the association for the next five years.
Those chosen as ex-officio members were Sam
Amuka, the Publisher of Vanguard; Mallam Ismaila Isa, the Publisher of
Democrat; Mr. Ray Ekpu, the CEO of Newswatch; Mr. Ndanusa Alao, the
Managing Director, of New Nigerian; Mr. Augustine Nwikinaka, the General
Manager, The Tide; Prince Nduka Obaigbena, the Publisher of ThisDay and
Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the Publisher, Champion Newspapers.
The conference came out with an eight-point
communiqué which called on the government to exempt newspapers from
payment of VAT and duties on newsprint as newspapers are globally
regarded as educational materials; and the National Assembly to speed up
the process of the passage of the Freedom of Information bill for the
President to sign into law as this will aid the government in its
anti-corruption battle.
It also pledged its support to the President
Musa Yar'Adua's administration “for making the observance of the rule of
law the cardinal principle of governance” saying this will reduce the
prevalence of arbitrariness.
It also called on advertisers to urgently
settle all outstanding debts to newspapers; The electronic media to stop
the flagrant breach of copyright of newspapers for commercial purposes
or it would be forced to take appropriate actions against them. It added
that its members shall henceforth deal with Advertisers' Association of
Nigeria (ADVAN) and other professional bodies through NPAN.
NPAN also said while it agreed on the
principle of separation of powers, President Yar'Adua as the moral
authority of the nation and leader of the ruling PDP should advise the
former Speaker of the House, Mrs. Patricia Etteh, to resign as it is
obvious that she had lost the confidence of the people and the authority
to preside over the house:
The Association also called on President
Umaru Yar'Adua to confront the problem of insecurity of life and
property with vigour so as to stem the tide of incessant waste of human
lives including those of our journalists by night marauders.”
In his acceptance speech as the seventh
President of the association, Chief Ogunshola acknowledged the
challenges confronting the newspaper industry some of which he listed to
include advertising debts, tariffs on newsprints, review of newspaper
stories by broadcast stations, delay in the passage of the Freedom of
Information Bill, cost of circulation etc saying that NPAN had quite
some task ahead of it.
He however, pledged that the executive will
make the sacrifices needed to make the industry survive and thrive. To
do that, he said the members need to adopt business models that work and
they all don’t need to adopt the same model. He also promised to draw
necessary experience from bigger international newspaper organizations
like the African Newspapers Publishers Association and the World
Association of Newspapers which he said would be able to provide NPAN
the needed institutional support.
NPAN
conferred post-humous grand Fellowship awards on two of its deceased
veterans and honoured some of its living legends.
The late
Chief M. C. K. Ajuluchukwu, and the late Mr Dele Giwa, former
Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch magazine receieved its post humous awards.
Others
that were honoured included Alhaji Alade Odunewu, Mr Leo Stan Ekeh, Dr.
Doyin Abiola and Alhaji Ismaila Isa by NPAN which conferred on them the
Fellowship of the association in recognition of their selfless
contributions to the growth of the journalism profession in Nigeria.
Personalities that attended the event
included the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of the Guardian Newspaper
Limited, Mr. Emeka Izeze; Managing Director of Punch Newspapers, Mr.
Ademola Osinubi; Managing Director, ThisDay newspapers, Eniola Bello;
Dr. (Mrs.) Doyin Abiola; the Chairman of Troyka Holdings, Mr. Biodun
Shobanjo; Executive Director, Publications of The Punch newspapers, Mr.
Azubuike Ishiekwene; Chairman, Advertising Practitioners Council of
Nigeria (APCON), Chris Doghudje; and the Managing Director of the Voice
of Nigeria, Mallam Jijiwa Abubakar among others.
The NPAN was founded in 1962 at the office of
the defunct West African Pilot, Yaba, Lagos by a group of newspapers
including The Pilot, African Challenge, Daily Express, Daily Times,
Nigerian Tribune, Morning Post and two magazines, Drum and the Nigerian
Magazine. By December 1969, its membership had grown to 12 organisations
with more than 80 titles. At the moment, its membership stands at 50
organisations with 80 titles. |
