Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo has called in media practitioners to uphold the responsible and development-driven journalism.

Soludo who was represented by his Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Dr Law Mefor congratulated journalists on the 35th anniversary celebration, assuring the government’s commitment to lasting partnership with the media in the task of developing the state.

He called for diplomatic reportage on the part of journalists, rather than for them being irritants to the government.

Also, the Bishop of Amichi Diocese, Anglican Communion, Rt. Rev. Ephraim Ikeakor, has urged media practitioners to uphold professional responsibility, fairness balance, encourage and truth in their reportage at all times.

Bishop Ikeakor who congratulated the NUJ on the 35th anniversary milestone, decried what he described as decline of investigative journalism associated with conflicts of interest and financial/material inducements and urged media practitioners to toe the path of investigative journalism which entails verification of sources, investigation of issues properly and provision of sufficient context to uphold the truth.

Bishop Ikeakor made this view known in Awka, Anambra State on the occasion of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Anambra State Council’s presentation of the Anambra State Man of the Year Awards as part of activities marking the grand finale of the 35th anniversary celebration of NUJ.

Bishop Ikeakor called on media practitioners to use the 35th anniversary to reflect on the journey of the profession, assess its past and present states and determine the direction it is headed for.

According to him, the position of the media as the Fourth Estate of the Realm carries a lot of responsibility and ethical obligations to serve as watchdog of the society, set agenda and arm the citizens with necessary faces to hold government accountable for its actions and its inactions.

In his remark, the Chairman of the occasion, Churchill Okonkwo said the press plays enormous roles in democracy, good governance, accountability and national development remains indispensable.

Okonkwo stressed that the event is a celebration of excellence, a celebration of service, and a celebration of 35 years of organised journalism in Anambra State.

In an opening address, the State Chairman of NUJ, Dr. Odogwu Emeka Odogwu welcomed the participants, stressing that journalism has contributed immensely in its roles of informing, educating, enlightening the populace, stabilizing the polity, developing the economy and advancing democracy.

Delivering a speech as the Guest Lecturer at the 35th anniversary celebration of NUJ, and National Vice President of Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), Sir Victor Agusiobo observed that the story of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Anambra State Council since 1991, has been fairly smooth perhaps unlike the practice of journalism itself.

Agusiobo who served two terms as the State NUJ Chairman in the late 1990s while speaking on the topic, “A Responsible Press: Answering the “So What?”questioned whether the audience, media owners, government, advertisers, or conscience of the practitioners themselves make for responsible journalism..

The former Editor of the State moribund newspaper, The National Light and privately-owned Orient Daily said: “Perhaps, it is this search for the mirage called responsibility that made the progenitors of our profession to give us a formula in the 5Ws and 1H to deal with it.

“They must have reasoned and rightly too at that time that once we get what, when, where, who, why, how right, then we can jump for joy that we have been objective and indeed responsible.”

However, he reasoned that “Today, that objectivity by formula is no longer enough and may not likely serve the ends of journalism in 2026. Yes, we train, we gather, we fact-check. We balance. We follow ethical codes, we call all of those responsible journalism and they may well be.”

According to him. “In a world of a thousand headlines a day, information must make personal sense. …Our duty is not just to inform. It is to inform _with purpose_. It is not just to be responsible. But to be responsible _for something_. And _”so what?”_ is that something.

“And the so what journalist will not be deceived by titles._ …The big call for ‘So What’ journalism is simple: What changes for the powerless? If the story runs and nothing shifts for the people affected, then its success is doubtful.

Agusiobo said: “No democracy can survive without the press. A journalist has no business being ignorant in 2026. An ignorant journalist is obviously a terminal disease to the society he avoids to inform.”

Agusiobo said that the test of the next 35 years will not be how many press releases we rewrite. It will be how many ‘so what’ questions we ask. If we commit to that, Anambra NUJ will not only be the oldest in character, it will be the most consequential,” Agusiobo added.

The highpoint of the event was the preservation of the award of the Prof. Chinyere Stella Okunna Prize for Ethical Journalism, won at the event by Ukpa Ewa to the tune of N500,000 with Uche Ndeke and Ebuka Oguocha as runners-up.

The weeklong programme chaired by Francis Eklone started on September 3 at the Press Centre with activities including humanitarian visits, indoor games, a novelty football match between the NUJ and FRSC at the Paul University field, a facility tour of Seahorse Lubricant Industries owned by Chief Ebuka Onunkwo, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) Candidate for Abambra South Senatorial District.