By Dare Akogun
The International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria on Thursday organised a dinner in honour of one of its board members, Raheem Adedoyin, recently re-elected into the executive board of the IPI International during the World Congress and General Assembly of the organisation in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Mr Adedoyin represents Nigeria and Africa on the IPI board, headquartered in Vienna, Austria.
In his address, the IPI Nigeria President and Editor-in-Chief of PREMIUM TIMES, Musikilu Mojeed, said the occasion was to celebrate Mr Adedoyin’s dedication to the organisation, which he noted has been instrumental in shaping the global conversation on press freedom and journalism.
He described Mr Adedoyin as a champion of press freedom, a mentor to many, and a shining example of excellence in journalism.
“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,” Mr Mojeed 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.”
In separate comments, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, IPI Nigeria and Chairperson, Media Trust Nigeria Limited, Kabiru Yusuf, and a member of IPI Nigeria Board of Trustees, Folu Olamiti, appreciated Mr Adedoyin’s commitment to the organisation when he served as secretary for 12 years.
Mr Olamiti also commended the IPI Nigeria President, Mr Mojeed, for steering the organisation to the path of greatness.
He noted that IPI Nigeria is one of the best African organisations pushing for press freedom and commended Mr Mojeed and his team.
He 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.”
In his speech, the honoree, Mr Adedoyin, reaffirmed his commitment to continued meaningful representation of Nigeria and Africa on the IPI executive board.
He said 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,” he said.
He noted his persistence almost led to his removal from the board but for the support of Mr Yusuf, the chairperson IPI Nigeria Board of Trustees, and IPI Nigeria President, Mr Mojeed.
He commended Mr Mojeed’s leadership of IPI Nigeria, noting the renewed efficiency and results.
He said: “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.”
