Ace journalist and media strategist, Aliu Akoshile, has floated an online newspaper, NatureNews as Nigeria marks 60th independence anniversary on Thursday.
Speaking at a media parley in Abuja on Thursday, Akoshile, who was until recently the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Times, said he established the specialised newspaper as a novel solution to the critical challenge of development journalism in Nigeria and Africa.
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He said NatureNews would satisfy the yearnings for authoritative news coverage of the environment as a means to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations.
Akoshile said politics, business, sports and entertainment, which had dominated media coverage until now, would even thrive better in a safe and clean environment.
He said his vision was for NatureNews to be the most authoritative news platform on environment issues in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.
Akoshile, who previously managed the entire revenue business of Daily Trust newspapers, said NatureNews would partner all stakeholders involved in global actions towards nurturing a living environment.
Commenting on issues of press freedom, he said NatureNews was founded on the principles of fundamental human rights as enunciated in the UN and AU Charters.
According to him, the newspaper subscribes fully to cardinal ethics of journalism on accurate, fair, balanced and truthful reporting, and will hold governments accountable on their social contracts.
Explaining the areas of focus for NatureNews, Akoshile said the newspaper had set an agenda around the menace of gully erosion, desertification, oil spillage, open defecation and especially flooding that recently ravaged many states of the country.
