The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has celebrated the accomplishments of and the Chairman of its governing board, Mr Edetaen Ojo and its immediate past Chairperson, Commissioner Soyata Maiga,
Mr. Edetaen Ojo, the current Board Chair of the MFWA, was awarded the 2017 Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) in recognition of his exemplary character and prowess.
According to a press statement by the WSCIJ, Mr. Ojo received the prestigious award for “his leadership of issues that enshrine freedom of expression, including his dogged trailblazing effort at ensuring the passage and implementation of the Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria.”
Mr. Ojo, the Executive Director of the Lagos-based non-governmental organisation, Media Rights Agenda (MRA), took over from Honourable Commissioner Maiga in January 2014 as Chairman of the MFWA governing board.
The organisation also celebrated the election of Honourable Commissioner Soyata Maiga, the immediate past Chairperson of its governing board, as the Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) at its 61st Ordinary Session which took place from November 1-15, 2017, in Banjul, The Gambia.
Commissioner Maiga has also been elected to additionally serve as the Chairperson of the Commission’s Committee on the Protection of the Rights of People Living with HIV and those at Risk, Vulnerable to, and Affected by HIV. She will also serve as the Chairperson of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities in Africa.
Commissioner Maiga, who is from Mali, served as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the MFWA for several years until the end of her tenure in January 2014.
Speaking on the celebration, Mr Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of MFWA said “We are extremely proud and delighted about the accomplishments of our Board Chairs. Their recent and numerous past accomplishments are a testimonies of the quality leadership the MFWA continues to benefit from in the most critical area of the organisation – strategic direction and governance.”
