STRENGTHENING THE DAME IDEA
By Lanre Idowu, CEO, Diamond Publications and DAME Trustee
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
I stand here very privileged to welcome you to the 20th presentation of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence. I do so, on behalf of the Trustees of DAME and all the good people associated with the DAME programme---sponsors, judges, friends and well-wishers. By some fascinating coincidence, this weekend has witnessed three media awards in the country. On Friday, December 9, the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism held their 6th presentation. Yesterday, in Ondo, the Nigerian Media Merit Award held their 19th edition and today, DAME is celebrating the 20th edition. I think it is a positive development and deserves to be applauded.
I recall with a warm glow to the heart that 19 editions ago, some of us were gathered in this same hall, specifically on March 20, 1992, to witness the first DAME presentation. We started on a modest note, offering eight prizes to print journalists. Since then, we have expanded our focus to include broadcasters and advertising practitioners.
Every year, without fail, we have hosted the annual DAME awards. We have done so in the firm conviction that the media of mass communication as shapers of our public consciousness occupy a privileged and powerful position in our lives that everything possible must be done to nudge them to tread the path of ethical responsibility. We have done so in the knowledge that the human spirit values appreciation and recognition, especially when it is for something positive and edifying.
To date, we have awarded 410 prizes for meaningful, relevant, and useful works in various spheres of communication practice. Today, we will give two Lifetime achievement awards and 24 prizes in the fields of Advertising, Broadcasting and Print Journalism. We are not awarding in nine categories as listed in the event's programme either because the quality of the entries was poor or the number was too scanty for any meaningful competition. (Press Reporter of the Year, Political Reporting, InsuranceReporting, TV Documentary, Editorial Integrity, Editorial Cartooning, Radio Commercial, Services, Radio Drama, TV Drama).
Today, to the glory of God, we assert that DAME is the most consistent media award programme in Africa. We couldn't have done it without the support and encouragement of you good people---sponsors of the dream, eminent judges, cherished partners, well wishers, and indeed our critics.
Our prayer, indeed our pledge is to keep DAME as an independent and private initiative, unshackled by any parochial interest, and dedicated only to the continued growth of our media of mass communication as important partners in national development. Our independence guarantees our even-handedness and gives us the latitude to pick credible partners who can help us keep the dream alive.
In the New Year, by the grace of God, we intend to unfold some new initiatives to enrich the DAME idea. We are currently documenting all the inductees into the DAME Hall of FAME into a useful resource guide. Who are they? Where are they? And what have they been doing since winning the DAME? It will be a revealing work. I can only say that all those who received the DAME recognition have progressed in their different callings and can be counted as worthy DAME Ambassadors.
We are also holding discussions that should translate into better funding for DAME activities and better mentoring for younger practitioners. In addition to the annual awards and the publication of Media Review, which have been very useful, we will be more engaged in training, which we have identified as critical if we want to expand the streams of excellence we celebrate at DAME into an ocean of accomplishment.
Distinguished Guests, in the spirit of our reunion, let me quickly intimate us with some of the developments that have taken place in our industry since the last DAME presentation.
First, the good news: The National Assembly passed the Freedom of Information Act, opening up great possibilities for the crusade for more transparency and accountability in public affairs. Although it is not a media bill, it will help the media to perform its watchdog functions in significant ways. The media also gave a decent coverage to the 2011 elections. New publications such as The Moment newspaper and Entertainment Express entered the media market. The ownership of Newswatch changed hands thus ensuring that Nigeria's oldest newsmagazine stays alive. Chief Ajibola Ogunshola retired as chairman of The Punch after a successful tenure. Media Review and Tell magazine clocked 20 years in the market. Both celebrated by enriching media literature with the publication of some useful titles. Daily Independent turned 10.
Our joys also include the celebration of landmark anniversaries by some media houses and birthdays by some of our members. As the psalmist has urged us to ask God to teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom, we rejoice with Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, Editor in chief, Vanguard Media and president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, who turned 50 this year. We rejoice with Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, chairman Daar Communication, who turned 60. We equally rejoice with Femi Akintunde Johnson and Akin Osuntokun who also turned 50. How can we forget Professor Idowu Sobowale and Baba Yaba, Sunmi Smart Cole, who turned 70? Or our adorable Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, OON, who also turned 70?
We rejoice with the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism for hosting their sixth edition of the awards. We report that we were pleasantly surprised when they chose a certain Lanre Idowu for the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award for Journalistic Excellence. On your behalf we accepted the award and challenged them to keep the flame of excellence alight.
Because there is no "joy without its alloy of sorrow", we also witnessed the suspension of the promising NEXT newspapers from the market. Our hope is that the promoters will be able come up with a more sustainable publishing model in its second coming. We also witnessed the phone hacking scandal of the News of the World and some other British newspapers, underlying the need for a vigilant public worldwide so that the public trust reposed in the media is not betrayed. In this direction, the time has come for the Nigerian media to close ranks and agree to strengthen all relevant mechanisms designed to uphold media responsibility.
We mourn the passages by way of the flesh Prince Theophilus Awobokun, 86; he was a former editor of Sunday Times and one time General Manager of Sketch; Mrs. Oluwatoyin Gbemisoye of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State; our friend and supporter, Prof. Alfred Opubor, Africa's first professor of Mass Communication. He was 74. We mourn the transition of veteran broadcaster, Mr. Ikenna Ndaguba, 74, Mr. Alex Ibru, publisher of the Guardian. He was 66. Later today, we will be honouring Professor Opubor and Mr. Ibru with the Lifetime achievement Awards of DAME.
Let me say a thing or two about that. DAME does not have the tradition of awarding posthumous awards, but the truth is that our selection committee for Lifetime achievements had come up with a shortlist of five names for consideration this year. We had agreed on two before the passage of Mr. Ibru on November 20. But as it is our tradition we don't notify the honourees until about two weeks to the event. When we learnt of Mr. Ibru's transition, we debated whether to replace him with any of the other three names on the list but we concluded that would be unfair just because we wanted to be slaves of tradition. When we wrote Professor Opubor on November 28 he was still alive. But when he did not reply by Thursday, December 1, we became worried for it was out of character for Prof. not to reply emails within 24 hours. So we sent another letter on Friday, December 2 and phoned his number in Cotonou. We couldn't reach him. Later that night, Professor Opubor passed on at the Cotonou University Teaching Hospital. So, for us fate has decreed that our two Lifetime achievement awards this year would be given posthumously.
May I request that we observe a moment of silence in memory of these valiant ambassadors of our industry! May their souls continue to rest in peace!
Distinguished Guests all that remains is for me to congratulate in advance all those who will honoured tonight and urge them to work harder for sustainable progress and honour. Through a critical and vigilant media that is ethically dutiful, Nigeria stands to inculcate positive values that can truly transform our country into the decent comity of developed nations where high premium is placed on human dignity, ethical sensitivity, the rule of law and due process in our public and private conducts. I urge everyone to sit back, relax and enjoy today's proceedings and be ready to heed our call in the New Year for greater service.
On that note let me leave you with the words of Alfred Opubor at the 13th DAME, in 2004, in this same hall:
"DAME has kept the flame of excellence alive in an area of our public life that has sometimes been trivialised, sometimes marginalised, sometimes demonised. DAME has kept the Nigerian media conscious and honest. It is a great service to the profession and a patriotic service to the nation".
May we all stand to be counted when the clarion call is made to serve our industry and indeed our country in a meaningful, relevant and edifying way! Please enjoy the evening.
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