The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has named the Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Mr. Edetaen Ojo, winner of its “Defender of Press Freedom Award”. The Award will be formally conferred on him at the NUJ’s Awards Night and Dinner, scheduled to take place on May 5, 2018 at the Abuja Sheraton Hotels and Towers.
Mr. Ojo was informed of his selection for the Award through a letter by the National Secretary of the NUJ, Mr. Shuaibu Usman Leman, dated March 29, 2018.
Mr. Leman said Mr. Ojo was nominated as one of the winners of the Defender of Press Freedom Award and that “after sifting through many nominations received from journalists and members of the Nigerian public” for the award category, the NUJ Awards Selection Committee adjudged him as “winner of this Award”.
According to him, the Awards Night and Dinner on May 5, 2018 will be part of the NUJ’s celebration of the World Press Freedom Day 2018 and would be marked by an awards lecture on “Press Freedom, Good Governance and Nation Building in Nigeria” to be delivered by a distinguished guest speaker.
Mr. Leman said the event would be “a gathering of crème de la crème of Nigeria’s media icons, policy makers, technocrats, political heavyweights, captains of industry, diplomatic corps, civil society and multilateral agencies.”
Responding, Mr. Ojo said “It is with great humility and a deep sense of pride that I accept the nomination for the award.”
He thanked members of the NUJ Awards Selection Committee and the leadership of the NUJ for the “great honour” done to him.
