Sanwo-Olu, minister to grace Jakande memorial lecture

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris; Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, and a former Ogun State governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba, will grace the second Alhaji Lateef Jakande Annual Memorial Lecture on Tuesday in Lagos.

At the event, the Chairman, THISDAY/Arise Media Group, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, is expected to share with editors, media executives and other stakeholders, the survival strategies as Nigerian media grapple with a harsh economic environment.

With the theme “Rapidly Changing Media Landscape: Survival Strategies,” the lecture, which is slated for 10 am at Radisson Blu Hotel, Isaac John Street, Ikeja, Lagos, will be chaired by Idris; while Governor Sanwo-Olu will be the Special Guest of Honour.

In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by the Nigerian Guild of Editors President, Eze Anaba and the General Secretary, Dr Iyobosa Uwugiaren, it was revealed that the Publisher of Vanguard Media Group, Uncle Sam Amuka; former governor Osoba and an ex-minister of foreign affairs, Gen. Ike Nwachukwu (retd.), will be Fathers of the Day.

According to the professional body of editors and media executives, the annual lecture, which was instituted in 2023 by the NGE – in honour of its Founding President, the late Alhaji Lateef Jakande, is both a testament to the cherished service rendered by Jakande, and an acknowledgment of the significance of having such a conversation for the overall good of the media and the country.

The NGE was formed on May 20, 1961 to serve as an elite organisation of editors, through which editors as professional heads of their publications could enhance their professional interests by networking to discuss/address common challenges and developing relationships with their various audiences in the media itself, governments, professional and trade associations.

Originally named the Guild of Newspaper Editors of Nigeria, it was later renamed the Nigerian Guild of Editors to accommodate colleagues in the broadcast/online media.

According to the NGE, Jakande rallied his professional colleagues to form the body that was conceived to occupy the strategic middle ground of editorial senior managers between media owners and the general workforce of journalists.

The guild said after discharging “uncommon duties” to the Nigerian media, Alhaji Jakande went on to render appreciable service  as the first civilian governor of Lagos, and as a federal Minister of Works and Housing.

The statement said, “Sixty-three years after, the NGE,  the professional body of editors and media executives, remains a respected organisation among professional associations, and a leader in the media landscape.

“And Alhaji Lateef Jakande’s name remains treasured whenever committed service is mentioned in the media and public service.

“Consequently, as part of nurturing a culture of appreciation, the NGE, in 2023, instituted an Annual Lecture in honour of its late pioneer president, Alhaji Jakande – to continue to interrogate developments affecting the media and society.”