The Coalition of Editors and Media Executives has condemned a recent media publication that aimed to discredit the image of Professor Chinwe Veronica Anunobi, the national librarian/chief executive officer of the National Library of Nigeria.

The group, led by its coordinator, Abdulazeez Dirisu, issued a strongly worded statement yesterday describing the allegations as baseless and perpetrated by individuals to tarnish the reputation of the national librarian.

According to the group, “the perpetrators of this smear campaign of calumny is one of the several attempts to cast aspersions on the person of the national librarian/chief executive officer of the National Library of Nigeria, Professor Chinwe Veronica Anunobi for no reason other than their envy of the CEO’s successes recorded since she took over the helm of affairs at the NLN until they now found favour with one Omole Ibukun and co.

“In the Journalism profession, we are seriously admonished to hear both sides of a story before publication. This is lacking in this allegation by the writer and the person who alleged it.”

The coalition clarified that the controversial publication showed that the story’s sponsor lacked knowledge about budget administration and did not balance his report by finding out what budget administration is all about from the NLN.

“The sponsor(s) failed to understand that annual budget expenses include DTA paid to staff to attend workshops on budget preparation, cost of stationery needed to produce the budget documents for submissions, sitting allowances paid to budget committee members, just to mention a few.

“We consider this publication an outright blackmail compared with other government agencies,” it stated.

“It should be noted that besides, the budget line is not a creation of the National Library of Nigeria, but that the federal government knows how important it is,” he said.

The group described Prof. Anunobi as “industrious and a pacesetter,” noting her recent programme launched in Akure, Ondo State, known as citizens engagement, directed by the president to hear the citizens’ views. It was conducted in three geopolitical zones: South West, North East, and North West.

“The Annual Readership Promotion Campaign (RPC) was a clarion call to all Nigerians to embrace reading as a tool for literacy and a catalyst for social change, economic advancement, and national growth.

“We could recall that the Campaign is ongoing in all the South Western states. The campaign, titled ‘Reading Without Boundaries: A Renewed Hope’, speaks directly to the need for inclusivity in reading and the breaking down of barriers to access to reading. These barriers include the medium (print/electronic), geographical (rural/urban), social, or linguistic.

“Today, the virtual library can be accessed via https://virtuall.nln.gov.ng/

“For tech enthusiasts, an array of electronic/digital resources is now available through the Virtual Library of Nigeria application. You can avail yourself of our rich digital collections, which include Newspapers, Books, Journals, Reports, Videos, and many other resources.

“This is courtesy of the National Librarian’s hard work to reposition the National Library, yet those behind “Bring Down Syndrome” pretend not to see this.”

The group further advised those individuals behind the defamatory campaign to desist forthwith.

Leadership