Press Statement
January 25, 2006-New
York
INTRODUCING
SAHARAREPORTERS
Everyone has the right to freedom
of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers.
---Article
19, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
It’s our pleasure to introduce to
you Saharareporters, an online community of
international reporters dedicated to bringing you stories,
features, news reports and the like from the
Nigerian-cum-African perspective. It is a unique organization,
founded in the spirit of Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and comprised of ordinary people
whose only mission is to seek truth and publish it without
fear or favour. This means that apart from the team of
professionals running its affairs, Saharareporters
is also an umbrella for anyone who has something to say and
who seeks an avenue to say it, as far as what he/she says is
verifiable and ascertainable as true and the information
therein is in the public interest.
We are unapologetically
practitioners of advocacy journalism, because to us journalism
is not an end in itself. If journalism or any human profession
for that matter cannot boldly contribute to the resolution of
the problems of the times, then it’s of no value to humanity.
Africa has had enough of ‘stand-aside’ practitioners in this
sector for too long while its strategic importance in
development is being compromised. We have a stake in the
genuine African democratic process, in its economic
revitalization and in the social and cultural advancement of
our people. We have a stake in freeing them and ourselves from
the psychological terror of inferiority complex and the
senseless neo-colonial entrapment that have been the bane of
Africa since the declaration of flag-independence. We are here
because we have something to give to our people; we are here
because we want to give them the power of information, the
power of truth. We believe with this power, the Nigerian and
African people can begin to set aright in every sphere all
that is wrong with our mother continent.
The home of
Saharareporters shall for now be
www.saharareporter.com (also,
www.saharareporters.com ).Our
reports shall be primarily online-based while our advocacy
work would naturally be out there amongst the people. Like
every enterprise we do have ambition, but such ambition is
subservient to the need to make empowering information freely
and widely available to our people. We are aware of the vast
possibilities of the net, especially with its democratization
of access to information through advanced technology. To this
end, we hope to maximize the value of the web and, in the
process, create one of the most dynamic sites for Nigerian and
African news. But we do not want to introduce to you the
finished article; we want you to come visit us regularly and
watch us grow under your own very eyes. Your advice and
contributions are therefore crucial in realizing our overall
objective. We are counting on you the Nigerian and African
public in particular and the international community in
general, because you, indeed, are the people we work for. To
this end, the Saharareporters enterprise in
whatever dimension it expresses itself is and shall remain a
public trust.
So, please, feel free to visit our
site and see what’s going on. There are the regular sections –
News, Articles, Photonews, Interviews
and the like. We will also be establishing an e-library
for downloadable documents, including serving also as an
archive for whatever story/information we originate or carry
on the site. The site is very user-friendly even though it’s
still a work in progress. As we’ve said, we really depend on
your inputs as well. Our doors are open twenty fours hours a
day, seven days of the week. If you call any of our numbers
someone will speak to you; if you send us a mail by whatever
means someone will get back to you. We’re here for you because
we believe you’re there for us. We are reporters without
borders in deed and in truth. Help us share and live our dream
because you are also part of that dream. We count on your
patronage to keep it a veritable source of instant, credible
and liberating information for the benefit of Nigerians nay
Africans and progressive citizens of our world.
Thank you.
Signed on behalf of the
Saharareporters team:
Omoyele Sowore
Kennedy Emetulu
London, UK
New York, USA
