It was a night to remember as the leading lights of Nigeria’s vibrant media industry gathered at the Abuja Continental Hotel to honour one of their own, Oloriewe Raheem Adedoyin over his recent re-election as a Director representing Nigeria and the African Continent on the Global Executive Board of the International Press Institute (IPI).
The dinner, organised by IPI-Nigeria to celebrate Adedoyin’s achievement, in Abuja by prominent officials of the Federal Government of Nigeria, including the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris; Senator Salihu Mustapha (Kwara Central Senatorial District); Hon. Yinka Aluko (Ilorin East/Ilorin South Federal Constituency); former Minister of Power and Steel and ex-Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Dr. Olu Agunloye; Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Mr. Tunde Rahman, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi; Special Assistant to the President on Intergovernmental Relations.
Others in attendance were; Hajia Jumoke Gafaar; Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Issa Onilu; the Executive Secretary of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Otunba Biodun Ajiboye among others.
Speakers at the event poured encomium on Adedoyin for his untiring efforts and contributions to the promotion of media freedom in the country and around the world, especially through the platform offered by the IPI.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation (Chairman of the occasion), Mohammed Idris commended Adedoyin’s reputation as a journalist of note who deserves his re-election and seat on the Gobal Board of IPI. He noted that the re-election of Adedoyin is a source of pride for Nigeria and that his contributions to journalism cannot be quantified. He also assured the people that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration remains committed to the freedom of media practice in the country, adding, however, that Nigerian journalists should avoid the pitfall of taking liberty for granted.
“We believe in media freedom. We believe in responsible journalism. But you can’t carry out freedom itself and leave responsibilities. They have to go together for media freedom to be entrenched. We shouldn’t take it for granted. We shouldn’t think because we are media practitioners we automatically have the freedom to do whatever we desire,” the minister explained.
Idris appealed for stakeholders’ understanding of the reality that press freedom is a collective responsibility that requires all hands to be on deck to continue the fight for it.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga explained that journalists should always be mindful of the existence of rules and laws guiding journalism practice and that they must be observed in the discharge of professional duties.
“Let’s not write stories because of traffic or advertisements. Let’s be conscious of our writings,” Onanuga said.
The President of IPI Nigeria, Muskilu Mojeed, observed that while journalists celebrate other people, they hardly gather to celebrate with each other.
“It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to this special dinner in honour of our distinguished IPI global board member, Raheem Adedoyin. We gather tonight to celebrate Raheem’s remarkable achievements and contributions to the world of journalism.‘His tireless efforts to promote press freedom, foster excellence in reporting and support journalists worldwide are a testament to his unwavering commitment to our noble profession,” he said.
Mallam Kabir Yusuf remarked that Adedoyin’s commitment to the IPI when he served as secretary for 12 years was never in doubt as he had the reputation of giving all his time to the revitalization of IPI Nigeria Chapter.
The Publisher of Newspot and a member of Board of Trustees of IPI Nigeria, Sir Folu Olamiti, praised the incumbent executives under the leadership of Musikilu Mojeed for steering the organisation to the path of greatness. According to him, IPI Nigeria is one of the best African organisations pushing for press freedom; he commended members for their commitment and dedication.
“When IPI was going through crises, there were so many people coming in and out to say let us have the elders take over the organisation. But Kabir and others stood against it and said let us have the younger ones. We then decided to have the younger ones take over. It was a bold move. These younger ones have actually done well to take IPI to the limelight beyond our expectations.”
The man of the day, Adedoyin thanked the leadership and members of IPI Nigeria for doing him the honour by organising the surprise event. Adedoyin restated his commitment to ensure good representation for Nigeria and Africa on the IPI Global Executive Board with renewed passion for fighting fir Africa’s cares and concerns.
“Whenever we are at the world meetings, I always say I can’t see what you are putting on the table for Africa. I’m here to represent African interests. We are always having issues.
“What IPI International has not been able to do, IPI Nigeria is doing. And we have become the favorites whenever we have meetings. Nigeria has become the shiniest. We’ve been organising trainings, conducting advocacy, and whenever we see cases of press freedom violations, we try to tackle them.”
He, however, added: “But on this note, I want to caution, a little bit. IPI is not an activist organisation. In fact, we do our jobs better when we use internal mechanisms to resolve issues that bother us.”
Also in attendance were media executives and prominent members of IPI Nigeria including the Publisher of Newspot and a member of Board of Trustees of International Press Institute (IPI Nigeria), Sir Folu Olamiti; Chairman of the Board of Trustees, IPI Nigeria and Chairman, Media Trust Nigeria Limited, Mallam Kabir Yusuf; President of IPI Nigeria,Mr. Mojeed Muskilu; former Managing Director of Champion Newspapers, Emma Agu; a former Editor of The Guardian on Sunday, Fred Ohwahwa; General Manager/Editor-in-Chief of Kwara State Printing and Publishing Corporation, (Publishers of The Herald Newspapers), Mr. Yomi Clement Adeboye; Managing Editor (North) of The Nation, Mr. Yusuf Alli; the Chief Executive Officer/Editor-in-Chief of Media Trust Limited, Mallam Ahmed Shekarau; Executive Director of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Mr. Dayo Aiyetan; the Chairperson of Blueprint Newspapers Editorial Board, Hajia Zainab Okino; Assistant Director, Voice of Nigeria, Rafat Salami; Deputy Editor, 24th Century Chronicle, Catherine Agbo; Administrative Secretary, International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria, Linda Kpum; Chief Executive Officer of People’s Daily newspaper, Mallam Hamid Bello; Publisher of Nature News, Alh. Aliu Akoshile; Managing Director of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mallam Ali M. Ali; Prof. Olaitan Bashir Ibrahim of University of Ilorin; Prof. Abiodun Adeniyi of Baze University, Abuja, Executive Secretary/CEO, National Lottery Commission, Comrade Tosin Adeyanju and a former President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Waheed Odusile, were also present.
