MEDIA stakeholders in Nigeria have celebrated Raheem Adedoyin’s re-election into the International Press Institute (IPI) global board.
With this re-election, Adedoyin will represent Nigeria and Africa at the global network of senior editors, media executives, and communication experts headquartered in Vienna, Austria.
At the dinner night in honour of Adedoyin held in Abuja on Thursday, July 11, the stakeholders commended him for championing media freedom in the country and beyond.
“His (Adedoyin) 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,” said Mojeed Muskilu, IPI President, Nigeria chapter.
Muskilu added that Adedoyin’s contributions to IPI had been instrumental in shaping the global conversation on press freedom and journalism.
In his speech, Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, lauded Adedoyin’s efforts in promoting press freedom in Nigeria. However, he urged media practitioners and executives to adhere to “responsible media freedom.”
“All of us have to be free to do our jobs, but freedom comes with responsibility. It is by doing so that we can entrench media framing and ask everybody to respect it,” he said.
Also, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, urged journalists to be factual in their reportage and avoid publishing stories for the sake of social media traffic.
“There are rules and if we (journalists) commit any transgressions, the authorities will come after us,” he said.
Adedoyin, a former Commissioner for Information in Kwara State and Chairperson of the Editorial Board of The Herald Newspapers was re-elected to a three-year term in May 2024 at the World Congress and General Assembly of the IPI in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In his speech, Adedoyin reinstated his commitment to press freedom, appreciating media stakeholders and members of the IPI Nigeria chapter for their support.
Sinafi Omanga is a multimedia journalist and researcher with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. He has a keen interest in humanitarian reporting, social justice, and environment.
Twitter handle:
@OmangaSinafi
Email:
somanga@icirnigeria.org