Daily Times boss urges patronage of media
The General Manager, Folio Nigeria Limited, publisher of Daily Times group of newspapers, Mr. Olisa Egbunike, has described the media as a veritable tool for national development that should be patronised.
He said this in an interaction with journalists on Thursday in Owerri, the Imo state capital.
The publisher urged the people of the South East to increase their patronage of the media for the much-needed development of the region.
Egbunike said the mass media should be explored more vigorously to harness its potentials and opportunities for development.
He said that effective usage of the media would help in drawing attention to the various sectors of the economy to foreign investors.
Egbunike expressed the regret that while people from the South West understood the imperative of the media, those from the South East had remained aloof to usage of the media.
“People of the South East have yet to understand the marriage of convenience between politics and the media, and how to use the media to mobilise the electorate effectively to achieve results.
“It is sad that most south easterners are yet to come to terms with the role of the media and its influence in shaping politics,’’ he said.
Egbunike said that it was in that direction that the Daily Times group has gone into the publication of community newspapers.
“This innovation called `Abia Times’, `Anambra Times’ and `Abuja Times’ gives attention to governance, education, SMEs, agriculture and industrialisation,’’ he said.
He said rather than focus so much on the elite, the new innovation of the Daily Times stable provides voice to voiceless Nigerians, and therefore charged more states to take advantage of the initiative by subscribing to the community based publications.
Egbunike said the management of DTN was working tirelessly to reposition the newspaper to its former glory by expanding its frontiers in spite the challenges of recession.
He also appealed to Nigerians to still see the media outfit as a reliable newspaper with professional credibility, saying “Daily Times has come to stay and we expect Nigerians to give us the benefit of doubt.’’
