NGE/PAU’s book on 75 years of Nigerian media out in Sept

All is set for the launch of a book on the Nigerian media and its leading figures over the past 75 years.

The book, which focuses on the contributions, challenges and exploits of Nigerian media leaders on the scene for more than seven decades, will be launched formally on September 22, 2015 at the Eko Hotel & Suites, Lagos.

Titled Nigerian Media Leaders: Voices Beyond the Newsroom, the book features conversations with more than 80 media leaders across print, broadcast and the academia.

Richard Ikiebe, a media scholar at the School of Media and Communication, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos edited the four-volume work.

The research is a collaborative work between the Nigerian Guild of Editors and the School of Media and Communication, Pan Atlantic University (PAU).

Ikiebe said he was motivated to undertake the work to fill the gaps in the study of Nigerian journalism since the pioneering work of Alfred Omu’s Press and Politics in Nigeria, 1880-1937 published in 1978.

“It became imperative as many of the pioneers have passed on without sharing their experiences and know-how,” he added.

The book represents a significant contribution to the knowledge of the media.

It consists of interviews with 75 media players in the Nigerian print and broadcast media, spanning 1935 to 2010; and covers various themes of media leadership and management, circulation and distribution, readership, changing media landscape, media and military, as well as the effects of social media and changing demographic patterns.

Those featured in the work include Sam Amuka, Patrick Dele Cole, Christopher Kolade, Vincent Maduka, Segun Osoba, Garba Shehu, Tony Momoh, Lade Bonuola, Ray Ekpu, Kevin Ejiofor, Muhammed Haruna, Adamu Ciroma, Doyin Abiola, Areoye Oyebola, Ted Iwere and Laban Namme.

Others are John Momoh, Frank Aigbogun, Femi Kusa, Kabir Yusuf, Idowu Sobowale and Festus Adesanoye.

Ikiebe, who serves as a senior fellow and director of the Centre for Leadership in Journalism at the PAU, is also vice chairman and director of Cornerstone Insurance Plc.,

Though he later served in government as special adviser in the Presidency and Ministry of Information under different administrations, Ikiebe was a reporter and staff writer of the Daily Times and Newswatch Magazine in the late 1970s and 80s.

He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Ohio and Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin.

He is a doctoral research scholar at the University of Westminster, UK.