International Press Institute celebrates Nigerian journalist, Raheem Adedoyin reelected into global executive board

The International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria on Thursday organised a dinner in honour Raheem Adedoyin, one of its members who was recently re-elected into the executive board of the institute during the World Congress and General Assembly of the organisation held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Penpushing Adedoyin, a veteran journalist represents Nigeria and Africa on the International Press Institute (IPI) board, with headquarters in Vienna, Austria.

The President of Nigeria Chapter of International Press Institute (IPI) Musikilu Mojeed, in his speech the ceremony explained that the event was put together to celebrate Adedoyin’s dedication to the organization.

The number one member of the world body in Nigeria who doubles as Editor-in-Chief of PREMIUM TIMES pointed out that Adedoyin has been instrumental in shaping the global conversation on press freedom and journalism.

Penpushing further reports that Mojeed described Adedoyin as a champion of press freedom, a mentor to many, and a shining example of excellence in journalism, stressing that he worth being celebrated in all ramifications

‘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 stated.

‘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’, Mojeed added.

‘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’, the president emphasised

Penpushing also reports that the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria and Chairperson, Media Trust Nigeria Limited, Kabiru Yusuf, in his remarks pointed out the commitment of Adedoyin to the organisation when he served as secretary for 12 years

The Publisher of Newspot and a notable member of International Press Institute (IPI), Nigeria, Folu Olamiti commended the President, Musikilu Mojeed for steering the organisation to the path of greatness.

Penpushing reports that Olamiti noted that International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria is one of the best African organisations pushing for press freedom and 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 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’, he said

Penpushing further reports that the honoree, in his speech reaffirmed his commitment to continued meaningful representation of Nigeria and Africa on the International Press Institute (IPI) executive board, adding that he had been committed to fighting the ‘euro-centric’ nature of the organisation, which he believed neglected much of Africa’s needs and concerns.

‘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’, Adedoyin emphasised.

Penpushing also reports that he explained that his persistence almost led to his removal from the board but for the support of  Yusuf, the chairperson  International Press Institute( IPI) Nigeria Board of Trustees, and  Nigeria President, Mojeed, as well as commending his  leadership qualities.

“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’, he stated.

‘But on this note, I want caution, a little bit of caution. International Press Institute(IPI) is not an activist organisation. In fact, we do our jobs better when we use internal mechanisms to resolve issues that bother us’, Adedoyin added

Penpushing reports that he equally took attendees through memory lane of how he joined the International Press Institute (IPI) 29 years ago through Olamiti during a trip in 1995.

‘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, Adedoyin recalled at the event

Penpushing also reports that Adedoyin said, he later served as the organisation’s secretary for 12 years while running the organization under the leadership of Yusuf, adding that Nigeria’s successful hosted the International Press Institute (IPI) World Congress in 2018 as a result of great efforts by Yusuf and his newspaper, Daily Trust.

“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,” he said.

Penpushing reports Adedoyin narrated how the then the chairperson of Blueprint Newspapers, Idris came to his rescue when he was going to become a refugee, recalling that he was just squatting at one hotel, and Idris just came and provided N500,000 for him(Adedoyin) to get accommodation

The honoree disclosed that Messrs Yusuf, Idris and Olamiti, were instrumental to his nomination and reelection into the International Press Institute (IPI) global executive board having agreed that he was the choice of the Nigeria chapter.

‘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.”

Penpushing further reports that number of  senior government officials, including the a former Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye; former Managing Director of Champion Newspapers, Emma Agu; a former editor of The Guardian on Sunday, Fred Ohwahwa; the Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Isa Onilu; the Executive Secretary of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Biodun Ajiboye; and  the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Tunde Rahman attended the events.

The others include Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga; the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi; the Head, Editorial Board of Blueprint Newspapers, Zainab Okino; Assistant Director, Voice of Nigeria, Rafat Salami; Deputy Editor at 24th Century Chronicle, Catherine Agbo and Administrative Secretary, International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria, Linda Kpum.

Penpushing reports they also include media executives, among them the Managing Editor (North) of The Nation, Yusuf Alli; the Chief Executive Officer/Editor-in-Chief of Media Trust Limited, Ahmed Shekarau, who doubles as the secretary for International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria; the Executive Director of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Dayo Aiyetan; and the Chairperson of Blueprint Newspapers Editorial Board, Zainab Okino.

The others were the Chief Executive Officer of People’s Daily newspaper, Hamid Bello; the Publisher of Nature News; Aliu Akoshile; the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ali M. Ali; the Head of the Postgraduate School of Baze University, Abuja, Prof Abiodun Adeniyi, and a former President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Waheed Odusile.

Penpushing further reports that Adedoyin was accompanied by his wife and daughter, Zainab Adedoyin, an ex-BBNaija housemate popularly known as JMK.

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