The Nigerian chapter of the International Press Institute (IPI) recently celebrated the re-election of Raheem Adedoyin as Nigerian and African representative on the board. TOPE SUNDAY reports
It was a moment of honour for Raheem Adedoyin and indeed his family, when the Nigerian chapter of the International Press Institute (IPI) gathered top government functionaries and the shining stars of the nation’s media, to celebrate him for being their worthy ambassador at the global media body.
The event, held at the Intercontinental Hotel Abuja penultimate Thursday, was a reception in honour of Adedoyin, recently re-elected into the executive board of the IPI International during the last World Congress and General Assembly of the organisation in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The veteran journalist represents Nigeria and Africa on the IPI board which has its headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
…The roll call
Adedoyin’s wife and the daughter, Jumoke, an ex-BBNaija housemate popularly known as JMK, joined in the celebration of their matriarch.
Also in attendance were top government officials including Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris, Senator Salihu Mustapha, Hon. Yinka Aluko, both National Assembly members representing Kwara state, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga, a former Minister of Power, Dr. Olu Agunloye, Director General National Orientation Agency (NOA) Lanre Isa Onilu, Managing Director News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Ali M. Ali, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media Tunde Rahman, Senior Special Assistant to the President Media and Publicity Temitope Ajayi, and Executive Secretary of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) Biodun Ajiboye.
Others were a former Managing Director Nigeria Tribune and member of the IPI Nigeria Board of Trustees, Folu Olamiti, Chairman Board of Trustees, IPI Nigeria and chair, Media Trust Nigeria Limited, Kabiru Yusuf, a former Managing Director Champion Newspapers, Emma Agu, Publisher Nature News Aliu Akoshile, a former editor of The Guardian, Fred Ohwahwa, Chairman Editorial Board Blueprint Newspapers Zainab Suleiman Okino, Managing Editor(Northern Operation) The Nation Newspapers Yusuf Alli, Chief Executive Officer People’s Daily, Dr, Hameed Bello, Secretary IPI Nigeria, Ahmed Shekarau who ais also the CEO/Editor-in-Chief of Media Trust Limited, and General Manager/Editor-in-Chief of Kwara State Printing and Publishing Corporation, (Publishers of The Herald Newspapers), Mr. Yomi Clement Adeboye, among others.
…Idris, Onanuga’s words of caution
Describing Adedoyin as Nigeria’s pride in the global media industry , he said the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration remains committed to the freedom of media practice in the country.
“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 said.
Speaking in similar vein, Onanuga urged journalists to be mindful of the existence of rules and laws guiding journalism practice, saying: “Let’s not write stories because of traffic or advertisements. Let’s be conscious of our writings.”
…Musikilu’s welcome remarks
Welcoming guests to the event, President IPI Nigeria Musikilu Mojeed described Adedoyin one of its board members, as a champion of press freedom, a mentor to many, and a shining example of excellence in journalism.
He said Adedoyin was being feted in recognition of his commitment to the goals and aspiration of the IPI worldwide, and also for being a defender of journalists and the journalism profession.
Mojeeed, the Editor-in-Chief of PREMIUM TIMES, said: “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.”
“We journalists hardly celebrate ourselves. We are very good about writing about other people celebrating other people, but we hardly gather to celebrate with each other. So this is a very unusual event that we all find time to come here,” he added.
…Yusuf, Olamiti extol virtues
Speaking at the event, the duo of Yusuf and Olamiti commended the IPI chief for his commitment and sense of duty to the organisation which he served as secretary for some 12 years.
Describing IPI Nigeria President as a force to reckon with, Olamiti said: “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 Kabiru and others stood up 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.”
…My journey
In his remarks,Adedoyin spoke of the many hurdles he had to cross so Nigeria and indeed Africa, could have its rightful place in IPI’s scheme of things.
He singled out the trio of Yusuf, Olamiti and Idris, the information minister, for the huge support they gave him at different time in the service of the IPI.
Adedoyin said: “Each time we are at the world meeting, 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 favourites 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.
“But on this note, I want caution, a little bit of caution. IPI is not an activist organisation. In fact, we do our jobs better when we use internal mechanisms to resolve issues that bother us,” cautioned the former information commissioner in Kwara state.
“I got to IPI through Mr Olamiti. I think we were going to Japan and other places. He (Mr Olamiti) said you have to register to become a member before you can enjoy the benefit,” he recalled.
On the IPI World Congress hosted by Nigeria in 2018, he said: “Everybody talks about how well we did when Nigeria hosted a successful congress in 2018. To be honest, (I give it to) Kabiru and Daily Trust. Daily Trust was the secretariat. I was literally sleeping there. For six months, for the first time in my life, I did not leave Abuja. I even missed Ileya (Eid-el-Kabir festival) for the first time in my adulthood.”
Adedoyin also recalled an intervention by Idris, then as chair of Blueprint Newspapers, which greatly assisted him ahead of the IPI congress in Nigeria.
“I was just squatting at one hotel, and he just came and said Malam Raheem, and he provided N500,000 for me to go and get accommodation,” he told the gathering.
On his nomination and his eventual re-election, he said: “You know, Kabir (Yusuf) is a democrat. We had agreed that I was going to be nominated. On the day we were to do it, he just kept mute. I was expecting him to say, ‘gentlemen, we have nominated Raheem,’ but he didn’t.
“He wanted the congress to actually nominate me, which was good. And who did the nomination? It was the honourable minister. Who seconded the nomination? It was Sir Folu Olamiti.”
Giving the crème de la crème of the Nigeria media that graced the occasion, Adedoyin has before him a challenge of giving Nigeria and Africa as a whole, further voice in the global IPI. Nothing less is expected, because as it is often said, “ the reward for good work is more ore work.”