In the luminous realm of journalistic brilliance, where words are crafted into sparkling narratives, a select few find themselves adorned with the rarest gem of recognition—the coveted DAME Fellowship. This prestigious honor, bestowed by the Diamond Award for Media Excellence (DAME), transcends the realms of traditional accolades, elevating the recipients to a dazzling echelon of distinction.
The date: Sunday, December 10, 2023. Picture me at the Ballroom, Lagos Oriental Hotel, Lekki, decked in my blue agbada. I had come along with my wife, Mrs. Olubukola Awoyinfa and wife of my late friend Dimgba: Mrs. Oby Dimgba-Igwe. My son Kehinde Awoyinfa later came to join us. A magazine on our table, MEDIA REVIEW, explains that Mike Awoyinfa and Emeka Izeze are to be conferred with the DAME Fellowship, an honor which is a tier lower than the Lifetime Achievement Award. “It is designed for two categories of professionals who have distinguished themselves as professionals and leaders, and who share the DAME in lifting high the banner of excellence in media practice,” the MEDIA REVIEW explains. In the magazine is a citation on me and Izeze.
CITATION FOR THE 32nd DAME FELLOWSHIP HONOREES:
Mike Awoyinfa, fnge, and Emeka Izeze are being inducted into the fold because they both have demonstrated steady commitment to enterprising journalism evidenced in their output since they joined the profession. In the case of Awoyinfa, 71, the journey began in 1978 when he joined the News Agency of Nigeria after obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos (Unilag) with a Second Class Upper in 1977. He was at various times features writer, features editor of National Concord, pioneer editor of Weekend Concord where he redefined weekend journalism with the support of his managing director, Dr. Doyin Abiola. He later served as a columnist, editor-in-chief, and managing director of Sun Newspapers. His contribution to book publishing are equally acknowledged. He remains a committed columnist who is happy to share his perspectives of the world.
Emeka Izeze, 66, like Awoyinfa, is a Unilag product. After a two-year stint at the Sunday Graphic, he joined the Guardian Newspapers Ltd, in 1984 where he was at various times, assistant news editor, news editor, editor of the Sunday and daily titles, and editor-in-chief and managing director. He was the general secretary of the Nigerian Guild of Editors. He is part of the FrontFood Media Initiative, a non-profit mass media organization which seeks to promote enduring change in Africa through robust and uncompromising journalism. He is also the chairman of the Nigerian Media Ombudsman—a co-regulatory mechanism of the Nigerian Press Organisation empanelled this year to entertain complaints against the media, and foster confidence in the general public of the role of the media, and foster confidence in the general public of the role of the media as an agent of development.
(After our induction, we were both asked to speak. It was an impromptu speech. This is what I said on that night):
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Distinguished CEO and visionary leader behind DAME Awards: Mr. Lanre Idowu. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen. People who know me know that Mike Awoyinfa doesn’t talk. He prefers to allow his hands and his writing tools to do the talking. But on an occasion like this, I am so touched emotionally that I have to say one or two things. For me, Christmas came fifteen days earlier. Today is my Merry Christmas. The kind of joy I feel inside of me, being honoured, is beyond description. So important is today’s occasion that I have brought along my wife and the wife of my late friend Dimgba, Mrs. Oby Dimgba Igwe to be here. I have also brought along one of my twins, Kehinde Awoyinfa to come and watch his father being honoured among his media professionals. There is a popular quote in Mark Chapter 6 verse 4 where Jesus says: “A prophet is not without honour, except in his hometown, among his own people and relatives.” In my case, I am not even a prophet, and here am I being honoured by my tribesmen. The tribe of journalism. It’s a tribe I belong, a tribe I love so much, and the citations made take me back to the journey of my life. A journey that if I start narrating, would be a whole book. And I don’t want to pre-empt my book.
But I can’t come here without paying tribute to some special people who gave me the ladder to climb on. People like the late Dele Giwa of the Sunday Concord fame. The editor among editors. He was such a phenomenon. Every journalist who had worked with Dele Giwa will know he had this knack for bringing the best out of those who worked with him. I owe a lot to him. May his soul remain blessed wherever he is. I also owe a lot to his deputy Mr. Sina Adedipe who has also gone to meet the Lord. He was a taskmaster. A tough editor who would brook no nonsense. But I gained a lot from his style of leadership.
I also would like to thank Dr. Doyin Abiola who saw something special in me. She saw the remarkable things I did as features editor at the National Concord. And she elevated me to go and start a newspaper called Weekend Concord which I am told redefined Saturday journalism in Nigeria. I wasn’t the only person who did it. Together with my colleagues like Dimgba Igwe, Dele Momodu, Femi Adesina—who is right here—we changed the narrative of Saturday newspapering. We merged features and hard news. We looked at news from the usual dimension which is real, original definition of news. Then from Weekend Concord, we went to the Sun where we created another successful newspaper. They say thunder doesn’t strike twice but in our case, it struck twice. I am happy the Sun won the prize of the well-designed newspaper at the DAME award. I was happy to collect the prize for the Sun. To me design is everything in newspapering. If your newspaper is shabbily packaged, no matter the story, it won’t interest the readers. I have said enough. I don’t want to talk and talk and talk. To me, this is my Pulitzer Prize. I would keep on working hard so that I can be elevated to the Lifetime Achievement Award category which has honorees like Dr. Babatunde Jose, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Chief Segun Osoba and other heroes of the Nigerian media.
Tonight’s Lifetime Award couldn’t have gone to a better person than Nduka Obaigbena, an entrepreneur and a professional who has impacted on the Nigerian media, both in newspaper and of late television. Love him or hate him, you can’t deny his chutzpah. It won’t be a bad idea for a biography on Nduka Obaigbena to be written in order to inspire younger journalists. Thank you very much for giving me your attention.
