Minister of works and housing Babatunde Fashola has been scheduled to attend the 17th All Nigeria Editors’ Conference (ANEC) beginning on Thursday, October 21 at the Nigerian Air Force Conference Centre in Kado area of Abuja.
Also booked to lead discussions at the conference themed ‘Media in times of crises: Resolving conflict, achieving consensus’ are group managing director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari; chief of defence staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor; and other security chiefs; publisher of Premium Times, Dapo Olorunyomi; and editor-in-chief of Leadership newspaper, Azu Ishiekwene.
President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) Mustapha Isah and the general secretary, Iyobosa Uwugiaren, in a statement issued on Monday, said Mr Kyari would be the special guest of honour, while the president, Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Kabiru Yusuf, would be the guest of honour.
Veteran journalist Ray Ekpu would chair the opening session with Mr Fashola and others, including president, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Chris Isiguzo, and foreign ambassadors.
Also to be part of the conversation are some state governors with security challenges. They are Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta); Nasiru El-Rufai (Kaduna); Yahaya Bello (Kogi); Seyi Mankide (Oyo); Bello Matawalle (Zamfara); Prof Babagana Zulum (Borno), and David Umahi (Ebonyi).
Other state governors expected at the event include Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo) and Gboyega Oyetola (Osun).
The conference will bring together editors and media owners across the country as well as their foreign colleagues to discuss security challenges in Nigeria and solutions.
Mr Olorunyomi will give the keynote address that would be discussed by security chiefs, including national security adviser Babagana Monguno; Irabor; director-general, Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Bichi; and inspector-general of police, Usman Baba.
“Besides the opening session, the conference would have three others; the second session for the Day 1 of the conference has a paper titled, ‘Conflict Reporting: The Editor as a Mediator,’ to be delivered by the Editor-in-Chief, Leadership Newspapers, Mr. Azu Ishiekwene.
“The paper would be discussed by Editor-in-Chief, 21st Century Chronicle, Dr. Mahmud Jega; Director-General, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Mr. Mansur Liman; and another leading journalist, Mr. Emmanuel Yawe. Noted broadcaster, Ms. Kadaria Ahmed, would chair the session,” the statement read.
The statement further said that the morning session for Friday, October 22, would have managing director, Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agriculture Lending (NIRSAL), Aliyu Abdulhameed, present a paper titled ‘Accessing capital for alternative career development for editors.’
Discussants at the session to be chaired by the managing director/CEO, Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe, are former NGE president, Funke Egbemode; managing director of New Telegraph Newspapers, Ayodele Aminu; and executive director (News), FRCN, Sani Sulieman.
The afternoon session with the theme ‘Security challenges: recovering lost grounds’ will be attended by state governors. It will be chaired by the minister of defence, Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi.
“The conference is to be rounded off in the evening with the induction of new fellows and members of the Guild,” the statement added.
The conference is being supported by corporate organisations including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), United Bank for Africa (UBA), Glo, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Air Peace and Trustfund Pensions Limited.
Other promoters are Nigeria Deposit Insurance Company (NDIC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Yobe State Government.
