Ace broadcaster and one-time Nigerian Ambassador to Spain, Malam Yusuf Mamman, will chair the 2024 Annual Conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), slated for October.

A statement issued in Lagos on Thursday by the Publicity Secretary of GOCOP, Sir Remmy Nweke, quoted the Chairman of the 2024 Conference Planning Committee, Danlami Nmodu, mni, to have announced that Ambassador Mamman, a former presidential aspirant on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), had accepted to chair the conference.

According to the statement, the 8th Annual Conference, with the theme, “Nigeria: Tackling Insecurity, Power Deficit, and Transitioning to Digital Economy,” is scheduled to hold at the Reverton Hotel, 1/5 Kunama Crescent, GRA, Lokoja, Kogi State at 10 am on Thursday, October 3, 2024.

Before his appointment as Nigeria’s Ambassador to Spain, Yusuf Mamman was the Diplomatic Editor with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Network Service and later served as Chief Press Secretary to Commodore Ubitu Ukiwe, the de facto Vice President under the then Military Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida from 1985 to 1986.

After completing his tenure as Ambassador, Yusuf Mamman  served as the Chairman of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) at the beginning of the democratic transition in 1999 when the party held sway as the dominant political force in the South West.

He was later appointed Chairman of the Presidential Committee for the Review of the 1999 Constitution, as well as Chairman of the Board of Aso Radio and Television in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The statement further quoted Ambassador Mamman to have, in his acceptance letter, appreciated the Conference committee and the entire GOCOP leadership for the opportunity.

The former ambassador noted that with the evolution and growth of digital media, online journalism and convergence had thrown up many opportunities and challenges.“I look forward to the conference.”

Nmodu also disclosed that a keynote address would be delivered by a renowned technocrat and expert on the theme.

He recalled that the GOCOP conference 2023 was chaired by the Registrar and Chief Executive of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Ishaq Olarenwaju Oloyede, while the first Nigerian Professor of Capital Market, Prof. Uchenna Joseph Uwaleke was the keynote speaker.

Nmodu noted that previous speakers at the annual conference consisted of Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto who delivered the 2019 lecture on “Economy, Security and National Development: The Way Forward.”

In 2021, Mr. Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, keynoted the Conference in his capacity as Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19.He spoke on: “Post Covid-19 Pandemic: Recovery and Reconstruction in Nigeria.”In 2022, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, delivered the keynote entitled “2023 Elections: Managing the Process for Credible Outcome.”

He assured that preparations were ongoing to make the conference a resounding success.

GOCOP was established to ensure that online publishers uphold the tenets of journalism.

Membership of the Guild is a constellation of editors and senior journalists who, having distinguished themselves in their various positions in the print and electronic media, ventured into online publishing which is both the present and future of journalism globally.

The Guild has over 104 corporate publishers as members.