DOPF inducts 7 new members

By Jon Egie

Seven new members have been inducted into Delta Online Publishers’ Forum, DOPF, .

Their admission into the forum was formalized during an induction ceremony held at the Ministry of Information conference hall, Asaba, yesterday.

The new inductees include: Mr Oweh Julius, publisher of The Pond News, Mr Jikeme Smart, publisher of Fidelity Reporters, Ogwuda Austin, publisher of The Town Hall and Dr. Paul Bebenimibo, publisher of Pebnews.

Others are Mr. Daniel Oji, publisher of Actual News, Mr. Celestine Ukah, publisher of Area News, and Mrs. Christy Aboghe, publisher of The Hill Nigeria.

In his opening remarks, during the ceremony, DOPF chairman, Mr. Emmanuel Enebeli said that the forum has a rich history of excellence and charged all members to uphold the ethics of journalism profession.

He advised the newly inducted members to always carry themselves as Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of their different organisations and called on all members to pursue collective dedication to duty as entrepreneurs.

The Vice chairman, Deacon Chukwudi Abiandu, in his speech, drew the lines of relationship between DOPF and NUJ pointing out that DOPF is not an affiliate of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), neither is it a chapel of the NUJ, but a forum of entrepreneurs in the business of online newspaper publishing.

“We are employers of labour, we are autonomous. Our operation is backed up by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended”. Abiandu schooled the inductees.

As part of strategies marking the 4th Lecture series and 2023 DOPF Convention, two financial institutions, Bank of Industry (BoI) and Premium Trust Bank were invited to talk to members on how to raise funds to grow the publishing outfits.

Representatives of both banks were present at the induction ground where they delivered lectures on possibilities and eligibility criteria to raise funds through loans to boost either their publishing business or other ventures they deem necessary.