A faith-based online publication with a divine mandate to bring sanity to the practice of journalism and illuminate society with the light of God to save humanity from the forces of darkness and disillusionment, Diadem (thediademng.org), was on Thursday launched in Lagos.
Though, the publication had existed for about ten years distributed to many nations in hard copies before it was rested, the compelling need to revive and safeguard the dying ethical practice of the very crucial profession of journalism in Nigeria in order to save humanity prodded the man of the vision, Mr Emmanuel Ehinola, Group Managing Director of Tacoms to launch back the magazine in digital form.
Ehinola, in his speech at the event, told the world his mission for launching diademng: “Over 6 months ago we started the journey with the mission to make a positive impact, to use testimonies of God’s Grace to influence society towards a godly living by providing a well and professionally compiled Testimonies’ Edition on monthly basis downloadable and completely free.
“Over the years diadem has reached out to many nations. We started with the publication of hard copies distributed to many nations, distributed to prisons, offices, free of charge, and it has really impacted so many lives until the time we moved onto what we call the digital publication.”
The GMD added that his team was on a mission to see a rebuilding of Nigerian society on a solid foundation of the fear of God; Love for one another, and living by the Golden Rule (i.e. do unto others as you want others to do unto you).
He further excited his audience when he declared that diadem would be a “one-stop platform for the truth and only the truth (No fake news). It is a platform to get proper counselling, to render help, to reach out to everyone”, adding that the platform would be the voice of positive impact across the Globe.
Ehinola reminded his media team that whatever grace or knowledge God has given anyone of them should be used to influence others positively.
He called on Nigerians, saying “I’m inviting you, irrespective of your position, colour, race or belief; Let’s rebuild Nigeria. Let’s rebuild Africa. Let’s rebuild the world; one soul at a time; one person at a time; one family at a time; and then a community, a state and a nation at a time.” GMD Emmanuel Ehinola (right) and his GM Paul Dada leading the thanksgiving
The Editor-In-Chief/GM of diademng, Mr Paul Dada, who had earlier delivered his speech immediately after the prayer and thanksgiving sessions that kick-started the programme, noted the indispensability of the press; its failure to be the conscience of the nation, and the rots bedevilling the Nigerian society.
“Colleagues, in Nigeria, the press is not just the fourth estate of the realm, it is the last estate of the realm. We live in a society where institutions; political, economic, social and religious are collapsing. Unscrupulous men and women have become juggernauts. They are stronger than the institutions. And all of us, citizens and the institutions are at the mercy of the whims, caprices, shenanigans and mind-boggling perfidy of depraved men and women.
“There is a need for the media to be a change. Many journalists have tried to keep their heads above the water. But many of our colleagues have allowed the insatiable lust for lucre and illicit gratification to cause them to lose the ability to be the conscience of the society”, Dada lamented. Paul Dada delivering his speech
He vowed that the editorial team of Diademng would be the voice of change.
“Colleagues, we at Diademng have resolved to be the voice of change. We are irrevocably committed to being the voice of impact in our society.
“At Diademng, we won’t just do stories for the sake of excitement. We won’t be financially induced to pull people down. Our news stories, feature stories, news commentaries, editorials among others, are meant to cause a change.
“When we criticise, we would do so to cause positive change. When we commend, we would do so to inspire change.
“We are people of faith, so, expect zero to hero, rags to riches, disgrace to grace, and trial to triumph stories. We are the go-to website for stories and articles of positive impact. Our downloadable e-magazine would be unputdownable”, Dada assured.
The E-I-C rounded off the event by showing the audience various wonderful features of the website through a projector.
