Ogun State Hosts First NUJ National Summit

The Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, is set to make history as he hosts the first Annual National Summit of the Nigeria Union of Journalists.

Billed for between August 16 and August 18, 2016, the Summit, to be hosted in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, is the first of its kind and focused on engaging all stakeholders of the Nigerian media landscape to discuss the past, the present and the future of the Nigerian media industry.

Speaking on why he has graciously agreed to host the historic event, Amosun said: “It couldn’t have been otherwise since the history of the Nigerian media industry actually started here in Abeokuta.”

The Governor added: “We in Ogun State are known for always setting the pace. Don’t forget that the first newspaper in Nigeria, Iwe Iroyin Fun Awon Ara Egba, was published in Abeokuta in the year 1859 by the renowned missionary, Henry Townsend.

“Even the idea of the first television station in Africa was the brainchild of yet another great son of this Ogun State, our own revered Papa Obafemi Awolowo, the late sage who was then the Premier of the Western Region and has gone ahead to also publish the oldest surviving private newspaper in Nigeria, The Tribune Newspaper.

“So from whichever angle you may want to view it, Ogun State takes the lead in the history of the Nigerian media profession just as it does in so many other areas of human endeavor. It is therefore befitting that we naturally should be the host of the historic first edition of an annual National Media Summit.”

Organised by the national leadership of the NUJ in partnership with the Ogun State Government, the three-day Summit will have former President Olusegun Obasanjo delivering a keynote address on: “Media and National Unity,” at the opening ceremony on Tuesday.

The event will also witness remarks from Akinwunmi Ambode, the Lagos State Governor; Ibrahim Dankwambo, the Gombe State Governor; Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the Kano State Governor; Seriake Dickson, Bayelsa State Governor; Aminu Tambuwal, Sokoto State Governor; and Abdulfatah Ahmed, the Kwara State Governor.

There will also be remarks from the Minister of Interior, retired General Abdulrahman Dambazau and Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information, who is also the industry host.