The Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Mr Sunday Dare, Saturday urged online news publishers throughout Nigeria to create a set of ethics to give their vocation some level of respectability.
He also added that the publishers should beware of what he called “tyranny of the headline and tyranny of immediacy.”
Dare gave these admonitions while playing guest to the South West Group of Online Publishers (SWEGOP) at a two-day seminar for online media held at the Ilaji Hotel and Resorts, Akanran, Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State.
Continued the Minister “You know I am one of you. I have practised journalism for almost 30 years. I beg of you, let us always check before we publish our stories. We all need to protect our country. We are in very difficult times in the country and journalists have very crucial roles to play.”
Dare also revealed that the federal government is determined to turn around infrastructural facilities at the first stadium in Nigeria, Obafemi Awolowo Stadium complex, Ibadan to enhance sports development in the country.
The Minister disclosed that the government is set to revive the agelong stadium through Private Public Partnership (PPP).
While citing government efforts at National Stadium, Lagos and others, the Minister said there is an ongoing plan to reach out to some Nigerians to invest in the infrastructural development of the stadium.
He further disclosed that the federal government, in addition to providing needed incentives to private investors, is currently developing a policy that will support value in sports investment.
In his welcome address, the chairman of SWEGOP, Olayinka Agboola beseeched the Minister to be ready to offer quality advice to the group from his wealth of experience as a journalist of international repute.
