Story by Dili Utomi
The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Thursday held its second edition of the Annual Milestone Recognition of Media Icons in Nigeria with the theme: The Place of Icons and Role Models in National development: The NUJ Milestone Awards in Perspective. The opening speech was made by the National President, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) who also doubles as the President of the Congress of African Journalists (CAJ), Dr. Chris Isiguzo.
Mr. Ray Ekpu waiting while his citation was read at the event.
The occassion saw the attendance of such media personalities as Dr. Olusegun Osoba who was the father of the day, Ray Ekpu, Dr. Danladi Bako and the representative of the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris Malagi, Dr. Mohammed Bulama and many more industry heavyweights. Dr. Osoba in his opening remark was jovial and in his element as he said that “journalism practice continues in heaven as angels must also continue to carry messages from God to other angels and to the people on earth”
A group photograph of awardees at the event.
The representative of the Minister highlited the noble roles of the media in nation building as well as the intent of the government on proper enlightenment of the populace. He also traced his early carreer development as a fresh graduate from the University of Lagos where he met Dr. Sam Amuka-Pemu . He noted that Dr. Amuka-Pemu at the very first meeting with him gave him the assignment of pouring out his thought about the then fiery lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University, Dr. Patrick Wilmot and that this experience later became his first article for the then Vanguard Newspaper.
The representative of the Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed was Barrister Ibrahim Mohammed Kashim and in his presentation, he stated that “I cannot trade my jounalistic identity with anything else in life”. His speech was on “The Place of Icons in national Development” and he posited that “It is in the nature of human beings to be appreciated, so I can imagine the depth of circumspection in the choice of the awardees and the list which mainly comprises of those who have paid their dues in the profession”. He noted that the Nigeria media had played a very crucial role even during the colonial era. He also aded that though the nation has always confronted the media, but that their roles have always been very crucial in national development.
“It is unsurprising that the media has become bolder and more courageous in their roles to the nation, but we should also be careful not to fall into the gutter of blackmail journalism as power without responsibility breeds anarchy”, Barrister Kashim warned. He noted that with the acute existential challenges faced by the Nigeria media as they do not exist in isolation to the realities of the nation, some have stopped the production of hard copies as a direct result of the economic realities but the realities of life is the compensatory ambience as many can work online from home as opportunities are provided by the existence of the internet. He informed the audience that his State has always maintained a cordial relationship with the media.
A major part of the event was the awarding of media icons such as Ray Ekpu, Dr. Danladi Bako, Prof. Stella Chinyere Okunna, Senator Chris Anyanwu, Prof. Raph Akinfeleye, Tony Akiotu, Henry Odukomaiya, Dr. Grace Achums and a host of other icons of the journalism profession.
It was a real glamorous occassion and after the major media heavyweights were recognised and awarded, Dr. Danladi Bako gave a vote of thanks, he started by tracing his interest in becoming a journalist back to when he was a little boy of about ten years old in the 1960s as said that he had always desired to be part of the profession, he reeled out the names of those who were the firebrand journalists trying to sensitive the populace during the colonial days and encouraged the current practitioners to continue to learn from the icons in order to continue with the legacy of good work.
Dr. Bako quipped that if he will come back to this world again, that he will remain a jounalist.
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