Replicating islands of hope and promise in Nigeria By Lanre Idowu It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the 17th presentation of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence on behalf of the Board of Trustees. This presentation is the latest in our annual ritual of recognising talent, rewarding diligence, honouring enterprise, and celebrating excellence in the media of public communications. Every year since 1992 when we hold DAME presentations I always feel very happy to see many people honour our invitations. It is a feeling of appreciation to all of you, faithful men, and women who recognise that the path to enduring greatness is one paved with diligence, discipline, and dedication. You do not have to be here. There are many other things you could have chosen to do this Sunday evening. You could have opted to retire home after Church service or after your village meetings. You could have chosen to be prisoners of fear and confess negatively that Lagos is dangerous. For you to be here means this event is special to you. And we appreciate that. We also wish to note that it takes a special audience to identify with a special event. So I urge you to give yourselves a round of applause. Mr. Chairman, I welcome you especially for being present today, for keeping faith with us right from the beginning. I welcome all the trustees and all the judges that assessed the entries this year. May I request that those judges present today should be upstanding for recognition! I welcome our sponsors, whose support has made today possible. Let me also welcome our revered fathers, who are receiving the Lifetime Achievement Awards tonight—Dr. Christopher Kolade, CON, Mr. Ted Mukoro, frpa and Chief Segun Olusola, OFR. Over the years, through great sacrifice, you have brought honour to the industry. When we think of you, we think of professionalism, we think of accomplishment and we think of integrity. It is these attributes that have earned you the little appreciation that is coming your way tonight. We welcome all the nominees and indeed the winners who will be unveiled tonight. We welcome all you good people. In a sense, today is also a day of renewal—renewal in our country, Nigeria, renewal in its people, its future, and its destiny. Renewal that even though we appear to wallow in an ocean of mediocrity, there are islands of promise, of hope that merit pays and there are those committed to promoting the spirit of excellence in the land. The challenge for all of us is: how do we replicate these islands of hope and promise? How do we turn this vast ocean of mediocrity into reclaimed estates of excellence, of promise, of hope, of restoration to our manifest destiny? I propose that we can begin by resolving individually to make a difference at our individual posts to do our honest bit to promote that which is fair, ennobling, and enduring. We must always keep a long-term view of our actions whether in the newsroom, boardroom, studio, or in our management meetings; for it is those who set their eyes on the future who have a stake in it, and who are ready to be judged by it. To the 28 winners, we say congratulations in advance. You have been specially selected—set apart from the pack. You are a special breed being inducted into a higher calling. You have now increased the number of DAME winners to 341 in 17 years. You must be ambassadors of best practices, apostles of responsibility. You must raise the banner of diligent professionalism, ethical rigour, and unwavering defence of a free and responsible media. You must be ambassadors of change by redoubling your efforts, and promoting the culture of creativity, diligence, and doggedness. You must translate your today that is promising into a tomorrow that is glorious. It is when we have more of you sprouting in the land that the pursuit of excellence will defeat the temporary suzerainty of mediocrity. Mr. Chairman, we mourn the passage of five members of our industry, who have since passed on between the 16th DAME and today, namely: Dr. Babatunde Jose, a pioneer recipient of our lifetime achievement award, Ephraim Audu of the Nasarawa State Broadcasting Service, Tunmise Adekunle of Thisday, Abayomi Ogundeji also of Thisday, Chief Olu Fadairo, retired General Manager, Publications of the Daily Times and Mr. Yinka Craig, who was the compere of the 12th and13th DAME presentations. Please join me in observing a moment of silence in their honour. May the souls of the faithful departed continue to rest in peace, Amen! Distinguished guests, once again I welcome you to the 17th presentation of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence.. I wish you a rewarding evening. Thank you. *Address of welcome by DAME Trustee, Mr. Lanre Idowu, CEO, Diamond Publications Ltd. at the 17th DAME Presentation on November 30, 2008 at the Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Ikeja.