By Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
Veteran journalists, clerics and academics have poured encomiums on three media guru of Kwara origin who were recently conferred with the Fellowship of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (FNIPR).
The honourees are the Special Adviser on Strategy to the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Saadu Salahu, former Commissioner for Information in the state, Oloriewe AbdulRaheem Adedoyin and a Mass Communication teacher at the University of Ilorin, Dr Saudat AbdulBaki.
Those who spoke at the ceremony organised by the Kwara State’s chapter of the National League of Veteran Journalists (NALVEJ) in honour of the awardees are the Chairman, Board of Directors of Radio Kwara, Mr Kayode Adeyipo, the state Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), AbdulLateef Ahmed, a university don, Dr Mohammed Ghali Alaaya and Senior Special Adviser (Political Communications) to Kwara state Governor, Alhaji Bashir Adigun.
Others include Pastor Akinola Akogun, Mrs Silifat Adeyemi , Alhaji AbdulRasaq Adebayo, all veteran journalists, Chairperson of the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) in the state, Bola Olupinla and Gbenga Ishola.
All the speakers eulogised the Awardees for making the state proud and for being good role models to upcoming journalists in the state and Nigeria as a whole.
Responding, Oloriewe Adedoyin who was represented by the General Manager of The Herald , Mr Yomi Adeboye, thanked the leadership of NALVEJ for celebrating him and the other two Awardees.
The representative of Dr Saudat AbdulBaki, Mrs Nimat Abdullahi Abdulbaki, also applauded NALVEJ leadership for their kind gesture.
In his remarks, Alhaji Saadu Salahu, while thanking NALVEJ for honouring them, said that, “veteran journalists in Kwara State are among the best of journalism not only in the country but also the world.”
Reiterating that Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq is very proud of journalists in the state, Salahu urged the newsmen to continue to uphold the virtues of diligence, hard work and integrity in the discharge of their duties.
He urged the upcoming journalists to build on the solid foundation that the veterans had laid for them.
Earlier, the Chairman of NALVEJ in the state, Alhaji Tunde Akanbi, had described the Fellowship Award given to the honourees as well deserved, saying the recognition of three media guru by the NIPR was not accidental.
Akanbi recalled the valuable and immeasurable contributions of the trio to the fields of journalism and public relations, urging the upcoming journalists to emulate the exemplary conduct of the Awardees.
