NGE Holds Jakande’s Annual Memorial Lecture Monday

The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has said the Lateef Jakande Annual Memorial Lecture will be held tomorrow at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Maryland, Ikeja, Lagos, at 10:00 a.m.

This was revealed in a statement signed by the General Secretary of NGE, Dr Iyobosa Uwugiaren.

In the statement, the guild said the lecture came under the theme,  “Lateef Jakande: The Man, His Journalism, His Politics.”

According to the statement, it is both a testament to the cherished service rendered by Alhaji Jakande and an acknowledgement of the importance of having such a dialogue for the overall good of our media and our country, Nigeria.

It explained how the guild was established on May 20, 1961 to serve as an elite club of editors through which editors as professional heads of their publications could advance their professional interests by networking to discuss common challenges and developing relationships with their various audiences in the media itself, governments, professional, and trade associations.

The statement added that the guild was originally named as the Guild of Newspaper Editors of Nigeria, but later renamed Nigerian Guild of Editors to accommodate colleagues in the broadcast media.

It said: “NGE’s founding president was Alhaji Lateef Jakande (1929-2021). He had rallied his colleagues to form the body that was conceived to occupy the strategic middle ground of editorial managers between media owners and the general workforce of journalists.

“After discharging sterling duties to the Nigerian media, Alhaji Jakande went on to render commendable service as the first civilian governor of Lagos states and as a federal minister of works and housing.

“Sixty-two years after, the NGE remains a respected professional body in the media, a credible force among professional associations and a leader in civil society, Alhaji Lateef Jakande’s name remains a treasure whenever committed service is mentioned in the media and public service.

“Consequently, as part of nurturing a culture of appreciation the NGE is instituting an Annual Lecture in honour of its late pioneer president Alhaji Jakande which will interrogate developments affecting the media and society.”