By Bisi Bamishe
More sponsors have supported the hosting of the eighth annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) from October 2 to October 3, in Lokoja, Kogi State. Leading the pack of sponsors are the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Delta and Lagos State governments, Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). Other sponsors are the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and T-Pumpy Concept Limited.
Danlami Nmodu, 2024 Conference Planning Committee, chairman, confirmed this in a press statement by Remmy Nweke, GOCOP publicity secretary, recalled that the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Emadeb Group and Dangote Group had earlier pledged their support for the event.
Other sponsors include the TotalEnergies, Osun State, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Setraco Nigeria Limited, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Access Bank plc, Zenith Bank plc, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Fidelity Bank plc, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc (STI), Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) and National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) to name but a few.
According to him, the eighth conference theme is “Nigeria: Tackling Insecurity, Power Deficit, and Transitioning to Digital Economy”. Former governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke, will give the keynote address.
The two-day event will also feature GOCOP members exclusive business and capacity building sessions; business lunch with GOCOP sponsors and heads of corporate communications of organisations and media advisers in the country on Wednesday, October 2. The main conference that is open to the public is on Thursday, October 3.
Confirmed speakers for the event include Yusuf Mamman, former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Spain, who is the conference chairman, Lt-General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, former Nigerian chief of army Staff (retd), and Aminu Maida, the executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The conference will also feature a panelists session involving Rotimi Ajayi, a professor of Political Science at the Federal University, Lokoja, and Debrah M. Ogazuma, an edutainment communicator and veteran broadcaster.
Nmodu recalled with excitement that GOCOP conference 2023 was chaired by the JAMB Registrar and Chief Executive, Prof Ishaq Olarenwaju Oloyede, while the first Nigerian Professor of Capital Market, Prof. Uchenna Joseph Uwaleke was the keynote speaker.
Preceding speakers at the GOCOP annual conferences consist of Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto who in 2019 delivered a lecture on “Economy, Security and National Development: The Way Forward.”
In 2021, Boss Mustapha, as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, keynoted the conference and spoke on: “Post Covid-19 Pandemic: Recovery and Reconstruction in Nigeria.”
Professor Mahmood Yakubu, chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, delivered the keynote at the 2022 edition themed “2023 Elections: Managing the Process for Credible Outcome.”
GOCOP was established to ensure that online publishers uphold the tenets of journalism.
