Nigeria has accepted to host the maiden meeting of National Committees of the International Press Institute, IPI, African bloc.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris disclosed this during a meeting at the weekend in Vienna, Austria.
The meeting was with the Chairman of IPI Executive Board, Mr Marton Gergely, IPI Executive Director, Mr Scott Griffen, and the Executive Board Member representing Nigeria and Africa, Mr Raheem Adedoyin.
This minister in a statement yesterday issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Malam Rabiu Ibrahim, in Abuja, noted that the IPI Board had, on Thursday, approved the creation of regional blocs of National Committees as a means of dealing with specific regional interests within the global IPI community.
Speaking during the meeting, the minister said “Nigeria agreed to host the maiden meeting of the African bloc. It is a great honour for us to lead as we always do.
”You may recall that Nigeria successfully hosted the IPI World Congress and General Assembly in Abuja in 2018. We are ready for another world-class hosting,” Idris said.
Although no date has been fixed for the meeting, Griffen disclosed that the IPI Secretariat in Vienna would work out the details with Adedoyin and the IPI Nigeria National Committee.
The statement quoted Gergely as acknowledging that Nigeria is a leading light in democratic governance with a free press, while Griffen praised the Nigeria National Committee for its robust press freedom engagements.
The statement explained that during his discussions with the IPI leadership, Idris also raised the lingering quest of the IPI Nigeria National Committee for assistance to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, NIJ, in Ogba, Lagos.
He recalled that NIJ was founded by IPI in 1971 during the board presidency of the late Alhaji Lateef Jakande.
He noted that its Governing Board is currently chaired by IPI leader and former Ogun State governor, Aremo Olusegun Osoba.
The minister, a leading member of the IPI, was a registered participant at the just-concluded IPI World Congress and 75th Anniversary held in Vienna.
