Osoba, Kolade, others laud author of books on media practitioners

MEDIA practitioners have applauded Mr. Richard Ikiebe, the author of books on media practitioners, as his works were presented in Lagos yesterday.

Former governor of Ogun State, Chief Segun Osoba, said he was pleased with Ikiebe. “We media people always go out of our way to celebrate others,” and lamented lack of record keeping in Nigeria especially now that Internet is evolving.

According to him, “There are lots of historical events that occurred during the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) that we presently do not have record of. We will continue to praise Richard for editing these books.”

Also, former High Commissioner of Nigeria to the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade, said it was a voluntary effort on the part of the author as the academia would benefit from the treasure and noted that the book features various interviews from experienced media personalities.
“Today, we seem to go in the direction of party politics; more media outfits are drown into party politics, and the media should understand that those responsible for us know about the responsibility they have to the people and to their constituencies.”

Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media, Mr. Femi Adesina, in his keynote address titled “Media and Government, Partners in Development or Foresworn Adversaries” said the book is a project in which he was actively involved as a principal figure of Nigerian Guild of Editors.

The Editor, The Guardian Newspaper, Mr. Martins Oloja, said the launch of the book was a quick response to Mike Awoyinfa and Dimgba Igwe’s 50 World Editors: Conversations with Journalism Masters on Trends and Best Practices, launched just last week, which features only five Nigerians.

Oloja urged journalism students to make the most of the book, as it was evident that Nigeria has produced great journalists.
Oloja further noted, “If you read the book, you will see that the Nigerian press used to be very vibrant. It is regretful that most of the journalism schools are not producing good journalists. This book represents the nexus between the training school and the industry.”

Ikiebe does not agree that Nigerians do not read, adding, “If Nigerians do not read, authors like Chimamanda Adichie would not produce thousand of copies of her books. Our intention is that this book will not just be textual, but that there will be soft copies to reach everyone.”

Ikiebe said he first conceived the idea of the book when Chief Anthony Enahoro passed on without writing a memoir. He further appealed to media personalities who have the ability to write to do so.

Reviewer of the book, Prof. Adigun Agbaje noted that the selection of each interviewee was carefully done to reflect the categories highlighted, adding, “In the content and intent, the volumes are seminar interventions in the relevant literature”.