Championing Reward for Media Excellence

Sunday Ehigiator reports that in hosting the ongoing 29th Nigerian Media Merit Award, Kogi State government is championing reward for excellence

Rising from the first edition of the Governor Yahaya Bello (GYB) Award for Crime and Political Editors where the first place winner went home with N2million, and the second and third place winners grabbed N1 million and N500,000 respectively, the state government has once again proven its desire for media excellence by hosting the 29th edition of the Nigerian Media Merit Award (NMMA).

The GYB award, where Augustine Avwode clinched the first position, Emmanuel Oladesu of The Nation was the first runner up and Chiemelie Ezeobi, THISDAY Group Features Editor was second runner up, was an offshoot of a training and newsroom exercise held in Abuja.

Building on that, the state government decided to host the NMMA as a show of responsibility and solidarity with the media. Accordingly, the state government said it has put all measures in place to ensure the successful hosting of the biggest media award on the continent.

The award, which begun on Thursday, October 28 and end on October 31, would be the first time the state is hosting the ceremony.

The NMMA, an annual award which is held to foster commitment about media excellence and service to the nation, is a Public Trust Limited by Guaranty and operates as a not-for-profit professional service institution for the media industry in Nigeria.

Established in 1990, the NMMA has maintained a reputation of high credibility and recognition as hosting of the most prestigious and respected Media Excellence scheme in Nigeria.

In consonance with its vision and focus, the NMMA Board agreed to moving the hosting of the NMMA Award programme across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, to bring closer review, attention, and exposure to states and local governments in Nigeria for essential benefits.

This way, the NMMA Scheme reflects further, its national outlook and the diversity of the nation.

The first hosting of the NMMA Grand Award out of Lagos, took place in Abuja FCT in 2003. Since then, the award hosting has gone round almost all the zones of the federation. This year, it returned to the North Central Zone of the country through its hosting by Kogi State.

In a statement from NMMA, “The hosting of the NMMA across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria has enriched media knowledge and appreciation of the challenges, achievements and opportunities available across the states of the nation.

“Also, over the years, the NMMA has evolved and emerged as Nigeria’s most respected and influential platform for the annual re-union of media veterans and practitioners with the créme de la créme of the society and other national and international stakeholders.

“It rightly enjoys the grand patronage of the nation’s foremost citizen from inception and the iconic inspiration of the late doyen of the Nigeria Media, Alhaji Babatunde Jose OFR, who was the scheme’s founding chairman and pilot for the first ten years.”

Speaking on the preparedness of the state, the Chairman Local Organising Committee, Dr. Ronke Bello said the NMMA programme has enjoyed support and sponsorships from eminent leaders and major public and private sector organisations who have endowed various categories of awards in perpetuity with full support for the scheme annually.

“The NMMA sustains diligently on the support of the federal and state governments and other organisations across Nigeria and abroad. Kogi State and Governor Yahaya Bello are on the threshold of history with the hosting of NMMA Kogi 2021. This will indeed be an investment by Kogi State for today and tomorrow with tremendous goodwill across the nation.

“We have put all necessary preparations in place in terms of security and the proper hosting of every guest we are expecting, and other logistics to bring the even to a successful conclusion.”

On what informed the decision of the state to agree to play host to the ongoing 2021 NMMA, she said, “The event is all about the state of the federation. This is the 29th edition, and we just thought Kogi should host it since we have never hosted it while some states have hosted it twice and some states were even bidding for a third hosting. This was the push factor for us.”

On how the event was funded, she said, “NMMA is a structure and the president is the Grand Patron. It is more like a body set up by the federal government. Most of the things in NMMA are sponsored, that is why over the years, NMMA has grown from just being a media event to what we call a business opportunity event.

“This is because all the franchises of the award given by NMMA, are sponsored by individuals and multinationals, the state only does minimal spending.”

On the order of events, she said the first program will be the Chief Host’s Grand State Reception for all media leaders, which includes veterans, chief executives, editors, and nominees of NMMA.

“Others expected at the grand reception include leaders of corporate organisations from across the nation especially those from the 10 neighbouring states, particularly from FCT-Abuja.

“The state government will be making a presentation on Kogi State to the august gathering at an interactive session with national and global media leaders in attendance.

“The second major event is the ‘Media Heroes Nite of Tributes’, a special fanfare session to recall and acknowledge the contributions of media professionals who have passed in recent years after meritorious service to their fatherland. Part of the vision of NMMA is to recognise and salute past media heroes.

“The third major programme will be the Annual Media Leaders Roundtable holding on Saturday, October 30, hosting an impressive assembly of veterans and current leaders of the media. Focus will be on current issues and challenges of the media industry fostering professionalism, excellence and service to Nigeria.

“The fourth programme is the unique tour of the three senatorial districts by three groups of media professional and accredited guests. The programme provides a unique opportunity for visitors and professionals to know a little more about the state. It is usually a very informative and popular programme.

“The fifth and highly celebrated will be the Grand Award Presentation Ceremony, which, of course, is usually one of the most exciting and prestigious evening of excellence for the media industry. The package for this year is structured to be spectacular and an update on this will be provided in due course.

“There are a few other side events, one-on-one meetings with state government officials and interaction with visiting leaders of Corporate Nigeria.”

She said the state government has gone the extra mile to ensure that the NMMA KOGI 2021 provides a very safe, secured, relaxing and memorable experience for media leaders, nominees and guests.

“The state government has also made far reaching commitments in ensuring security for all guests attending, from pick-up at Abuja to Lokoja Kogi State and back. For those coming from other parts of Nigeria, adequate security is assured on all routes to Kogi State with the support of federal security agencies to ensure a hitch-free awards ceremony,” she added.