Scholars commend research on 75 years of Nigerian journalism

Journalism scholars at the Media75 Conference, organised by the School of Media and Communication, have commended the school’s commitment and support for a pioneering research work on 75 Years of Nigerian Media and Journalism.

The Media75 Conference featured academics from various institutions who met to appraise the research effort towards the publication of major works on 75 years of Nigerian journalism. The media project consists of interviews with 75 media players in the Nigerian print and broadcast media. It covers a period spanning 1935 to 2010, and includes various themes of media leadership and management, circulation/coverage and distribution, readership/viewership/listenership, changing media landscape, media and military, as well as the efforts and effects of social media and changing demographic patterns.

Adigun Agbaje, a former deputy vice chancellor of the University of Ibadan, chaired the conference. Participants included  Dayo Alao of Babcock University,  Lai Oso of Lagos State University, and  Bisi Olawunmi of Bowen University.

There were also  James Tsaaior,  Isah Momoh and  Josef Bel-Molokwu, all of the School of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University, and Chido Nwakanma, president of the Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN).

Welcoming the scholars, Juan Elegido, vice chancellor of the Pan-Atlantic University (PAU),  affirmed the commitment of the university to research and knowledge creation, saying ‘’PAU believes you cannot be a proper university without an active research team.”

The vice chancellor said PAU strongly supports the research effort because “we especially aspire to be a university whose contributions are relevant to industry and society.” The Pan-Atlantic University and the Nigerian Guild of Editors fund the research.

Agbaje commended the School of Media and Communication for initiating and supporting the research effort, saying it would help to preserve the “institutional and national memory” of the Nigerian media.

Richard Ikiebe of the Centre for Leadership in Journalism (CLeJ) of the School of Media and Communication, who is the brain behind the research, said he was motivated to carry out the research to fill the gaps in study of Nigerian journalism since the pioneering work of Alfred Omu’s Press and Politics in Nigeria.

It became imperative, he added, as many of the pioneers had passed on without sharing their experiences and knowhow.

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.

It also includes John Momoh, Frank Aigbogun, Femi Kusa, Kabir Yusuf, Idowu Sobowale, and Festus Adesanoye, among others.