“It is a mark of The Standard’s commitment to its ethical integrity that the newspaper continued to annoy the new set of people in government, composed of military and revolutionary elements to the point of being banned in 1985,” he added.

He stated that 1985 was probably the quietest and darkest part of the period known in our history as the era of the “Culture of Silence.”

Speaking as the Guest Speaker at the Paper’s 80th Anniversary Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, December 5, 2018, at the Christ the King Parish Hall, Accra, Nana Gyan-Apenteng, who is the Apagyahene of Akyem Ati (New Tafo), lauded the gallant role played by The Standard, its editors and contributors during those turbulent times, saying that the nation needs to salute the newspaper and those citizens.

He noted that the newspaper enabled voices the government wished to silence to be heard, adding that “to the chagrin of the government, Ghanaians waited for each edition of the newspaper with extremely eager anticipation.”

He said for many years the Paper ensured that the voices government wished to silence were heard.  “The entire nation was informed, educated and hugely entertained by the erudite writings of the likes of Kontopiat and Abonsam Fireman,” he stressed.

According to him, The Catholic Standard was not only a must read but also a must keep newspaper, expressing surprise to find many copies of the newspaper in the house of an army officer, an avid reader, who was serving in General Akuffo’s government just before the 1979 coup.

Speaking on the theme: “The Catholic Standard, 80 Years of Promoting Integral Human Development in Ghana”, he noted that newspapers like The Standard and other faith-based national newspapers were truly national in their scope and reach in terms of subject matters and distribution.

He said the Paper has served Ghana well over the past 80 years, adding that “What  ‘The Standard’, now “The Catholic Standard”, did was to speak the truth to power; to speak for those who must not speak, for those who cannot speak and especially for those too afraid to speak.

“We need The Catholic Standard to stand up to its name and continue to be the standard and exemplar of decency for the next 80 years.” He observed that even today, you are likely to find The Catholic Standard in places where other newspapers are not able to reach.

Nana Gyan-Apenteng suggested that “The Catholic Standard” emulates its old self and take on the role of exemplar for today’s media.” According to him, it appeared the Paper had “shrunk its editorial outreach and retreated from the battlefront, perhaps in the belief that the battle had been won.”

“Indeed, this is the time for the venerable newspaper to relight the fire in its belly. This newspaper must discover the new Adu Boahens, Kwesi Yankahs, P.A.V. Ansahs and Nana Esilfie Conduas to take on the battledress of intellectual warriors because we either defend what we have gained or we risk it all,” he challenged the Paper.

He said The Catholic Standard has demonstrated that journalism must be fearless but lamented that journalism of today lacked courage and bravery in tackling issues that undermine “our God- given rights to happiness and peace.”

Nana Gyan-Apenteng advised journalists to rise up and face evils in the society as a result of corruption, nepotism, superstition, ignorance, and poverty and asked them to raise the banners of better democracy, enlightenment, truth, human dignity and social justice.