Blue chip companies back hosting of 11th Realnews anniversary lecture

Blue Chip companies and organisations are supporting the hosting of the Realnews 11th Anniversary Lecture holding at the Sheraton Hotel on November 7.

The organisations include Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board and Nigerian Ports Authority.

Others are Nigerian Communications Commission and Nigerian Export Import Bank.

The others are Chevron Nigeria Limited, Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, FirstBank Nigeria Limited, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Dangote Group, National Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Johnwood Hotel in Abuja and Central Bank of Nigeria.

Expressing the appreciation of Realnews to the organisations, Maureen Chigbo, its Publisher, prayed God to bless them and give their management the wisdom to lift their organisations to greater heights and prosperity.

Chigbo also expressed her deep appreciation to all the banks, institutions, companies and other organisations that have placed online advertisement on Realnews website in the last 11 years.

She said: “Without their support we would not have remained in business all through the years to do what we love best – investigative journalism.”

The theme of Realnews 11th Anniversary Lecture is: “Threats of Illict Funds Flow to Africa.”

The Lecture, which will be chaired by Mohammed Bello-Koko, Managing Director of NPA, will be delivered by Edwin W. Harris Jr., Director General of the ECOWAS Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa, Senegal.

Ahmed Kuru, Managing Director of Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), will keynote the conference.

The lecture, which will hold at the Sheraton Hotel by 10am, will feature Kayode Adebayo, Director of Proceeds of Crime Department, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, and Felix Obiamalu, Associate Director, Legal and Sanctions, Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, as discussants.

The Management of Realnews Magazine and Publications Limited, publishers of Realnews Magazine Online, had announced that the theme of the lecture is: “Drug Abuse among Youths in Africa: Implication for Nigerian Economy and 2023 Elections.”

Chigbo said there will be an investiture of all the speakers into The Realnews Hall of Fame immediately after the Lecture.

She explained that the Realnews Hall of Fame was established to honour only those who play key roles during the anniversary lectures.

She said: “Realnews, a general interest magazine, is an online publication that thrives on investigative journalism.

“We have expertise in reporting the oil and gas sector with its attendant environmental challenges.

“We aim to unearth exclusive stories about real people and the challenges they are facing in their day-to-day activities.

“We do this bearing in mind that government can only act to influence the lives of people positively if they are aware of their true situation.

“Hence, our objective is to use our investigative skills to ferret out information in the sectors we focus on and produce an unbiased report which will actually influence the government and decision-makers to take actions that will make society better.

“Realnews is populated by seasoned journalists who believe strongly in the tenets and ethics of the profession.

“The online publication believes that journalism as the fourth Estate of the Realm can contribute its quota towards building a fair and just society where fundamental human rights are respected and citizens have the freedom to pursue their interests anywhere in the world without hindrance.

“Its editors have a combined experience of several decades in active journalism practice and are highly dedicated to serving humanity. Hence its motto: “For God and Humanity.”

“Realnews Anniversary Lecture Series was established to commemorate the best minds in our society and to tap from them to enrich the discourse in our national development.”