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Times Heroes Awards

SPECIAL EDITION

Daily Times at 91 Times Heroes Awards “THE INCEPTION”

“THROUGH THE TIMES” A Daily Times Production

TIMES HISTORY “No nation makes a good future by forgetting its historical past”

Glamour As Daily Times Tells Nigerian History Through Exhibition

Andrew Orolua ,Abuja

A unique historical exhibition of Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN) publications from its first edition of June 1, 1926 to date precede the stable's 91 anniversary Heroes Award at the International Conference Centre on Tuesday, May 16, 2017.

The exhibition, which was witnessed by several dignitaries including the Director General National Council for Arts and Culture, Otumba Olusegun Runsewe, was described as an invaluable artifacts for the country growth and development Impressed by what he saw at the exhibition, Runsewe urged Nigerian politicians and leaders to pay frequent visits to the custodian of Nigerian political history, The Daily Times and read about the country and learn the basics of their professions.

Runsewe, who spoke while

performing the opening of the Daily Times exhibition show, urged the management of the DTN to conduct the exhibition in various parts of the country in order to educate Nigerians about the country.

According to him, exhibition of this nature meant to educate should not be limited to Nigerian politicians but for Nigerians who desire to know about the country's politics and development.

He pointed out that Nigerian politicians in the defunct First Republic fought for the independence of Nigeria with the aim to form one united

Nigeria and not individualistic and divisible Nigeria.

According to the culture expert, the newspaper exhibition is a fantastic pride of a nation’s history and it is good that we are now able to showcase its culture.

On the importance of the media in revitalizing the culture of Nigeria, he observed that Nigerians must not forget that the media is the watchdog of the society and any nation that neglects the importance of the media must have lost its value.

He said, “The media, is a little bit being misunderstood in Nigeria, we advocate that Government, should associate with the media for successful growth and do not forget that the media is the fourth estate of the realm, Runsewe reiterated that that the DTN Management should in the mean time storm the internet with the Daily Times copies of 1926 till date and by so doing, should be able to build a new cultural perspective on Nigerians and people in Diaspora who visit its websites to read about the Nigerian culture.

“

no nation makes a good future by forgetting its historical past

”

He said that educating the world about Nigeria is the greatest thing that can happen to the country, stressing that a lot of Nigerians are not abreast with this development.

He observed that the Daily Times must be playing the leading role among the newspapers industry for the reservation of culture.

Also speaking at the DTN exhibition , representative of the minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the permanent secretary of the ministry of information, Alhaji Hussaini Dayar, stated that Nigerian history will not be complete without historical exhibition of this nature.

He observed that history has a way of playing a role in nation building.

He said, "As I said, no nation makes a good future by forgetting its historical past it is a good thing that an organization like this puts the country and the generation next through”.

Speaking earlier, while welcoming the students at the exhibition venue, the Publisher/Editor -in -Chief of DTN, Mr Fidelis Anosike, said that the Daily Times has come a long way and that one of its duties is to record the country's history and events for all including the youths like the students . “ In his words, "The country is great, and has a great history. Nigerians must know where we are coming from to get it right”.

Bearing her mind shortly after the exhibition, Miss Opeoluwa

Olagunju, a student of Pace Setter Academy, Wuye, Abuja, stated that her perception had changed soon after she participated in the exhibition since she always visit the internet for information which ended up with negative things.

Miss Opeoluwa, further appealed to the government to always expose the youths with historical exhibition of Nigeria in order not to grow with the negative mindset about their country.

Ochijenu Ramat, an SS2 science student said from what she saw at the Daily Times exhibition of historic publication of Nigeria's event, there was need for the country to go back history. Some of the teachers, Mr. Ogbanako Mayaki and Miss Chizom Ike who led the students to the exhibition, corroborated that the advocacy for the reinvigoration of the Nigerian historical perspective, should be taken down to the parent education ministry to be inculcated in the curricular.

Also commenting at the exhibition, some of the participants at the exhibition, told our correspondents that the event was fascinating and educating, saying that it was fascinating to see diverse historical news events as reported by the Daily Times publications of the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Master John Obi, a student of SASCON International School stated that, "Some of the things I am seeing today from these publications were either told to us by our parents as history, or we read them on our own but I have not heard or read most of them until today that I see them in the Daily Times.

"We should go back to our past, we can make Nigeria a better place again," the young student said. She also pointed out that her favourite publication of the Daily Times is the 'Woman's World', which she said captivated her interest because it deals mainly on women issues.

Two teachers from Pacesetter College, Mr Maiyaki Ogbanamo, who also shared their experience at the exhibition said until Nigeria take advocacy to the policymakers to make teaching of history compulsory for schools in the country, the nation cannot develop.

Daily Times at 91: Roll Call Of Who-is-who Tom Okpe, Abuja It was pomp and pageantry as dignitaries from all walks of life stormed Abuja, the nation’s capital, as the Daily Times Newspaper turned 91 years of existence. Incorporated in 1926, it was the first modern printing and publishing company in Nigeria with majority equity participation from the Daily Mirror in the United Kingdom (UK).

On Tuesday, 16th May, 2017, the current owners of the doyen of journalism in Nigeria, the Daily Times newspaper, celebrated this big feat in a flamboyant and psychedelic manner with notable Nigerians and foreigners honored during a gala night at the prestigious International Conference Center, ICC, in Abuja.

Those honored at the ceremony tagged “Times Heroes” 2017 Leadership Award included the President and Commander in Chief of the Nigeria Armed forces, President Muhammadu Buhari and the President of Ghana Nana AkuffoAddo.

Others are former President and Military head of state in NigeriaGenerals Yakubu Gowon and Olusegun Obasanjo (Rtd), immediate past President of the country, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki.

Others are Governors Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State, Yahaya Bello of kogi State, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos State.

Others are Governors Willie Obiano

of Anambra State, Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State and Bindo Jibrilla of Adamawa state. Other awardee includes Tony Elumelu, Chairman and founder, Tony Elumelu foundation, Ibukun Awosika, Chairman, First Bank Nigeria, Sir Lucky Omoluwa, Chairman CEOFinance Communications Limited, Lt. Gen. T Y Danjuma (Rtd), Nduka Obaigbena, Publisher of Thisday Newspaper, Pastor Paul Adefarasin and Pete Edochie, Veteran actor.

Other recipients include Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, Mr John Momoh, CEO, Channels Television. Popular World, African and Liberian footballer, George Weah currently a serving Senator in Liberia; a serving senator of the Federal Republic, Lanre Tejuoso, Mohammad Jibrin, MD/CEO Suntrust bank Ltd, Chris Ubosi, CEO, Megaelectrics Ltd, Linda Ikeji, Abike Dabiri- Erewa and Mustapha Chike-Obi. The ceremony was graced by the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina representing his Principal, President Mohammadu Buhari who received the Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe Leadership award.

Alhaji Kabiru Taminu Turaki was on hand for his principal, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who received Ernest Ikoli Leadership Award. Governors Ikpeazu, Yahaya Bello, Ibrahim Dankwambo, Rauf Aregbesola who also represented Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, and Anambra State Deputy governor who stood in for her principal, Willy obiano. Others are Adamawa and Kogi States Deputy governors, Senators Lanre Tejuoso, Ibn’Na Allah, Shehu Sani, Theodore Oji and Mao Ohuabunwa were all there.

Pastor Paul Adefarasin and doyen of Nigeria Nollywood, Dr. Pete Edochie, Mohammad Jibrin of Suntrust Bank, representatives of the Ghanian President and George Weah who got the prestigious honors of Babatunde Jose Leadership Award and Life Impact Award respectively.

Also present were political office holders from all over the country, Traditional rulers, local government Chairmen and top members of staff of the old Daily Times including Prince Tony Momoh, Ambassador Dele Cole, Mr Tunji Okegbola and too numerous to be mentioned dignitaries.

On hand to give more glamour to the night were the women group of Abia State and the set of traditional instrumentalists from the State who rendered the national Anthem in vernacular with their local instruments.

With the International Conference Center filled to its capacity, it is a known fact that Daily Times newspaper has come back to life with the publisher, Mr Fidelis Anosike promising that the publication will be taken to a greater height from where it was, while the Times Journalism Institute at Agidingbi in Lagos will be moved to Abuja for more efficient training of journalists.

Mr Anosike promised to be an advocate of welfare for journalists in Nigeria not only in Daily Times, “Saying, I am not afraid of any criticism as I am not a politician or a business man who has neither supplied nor sold even a pin anywhere. I have been a graphic artist all my life and the media is where I belong”.

How Dtn Honors Prominent Nigerian, African Leaders in Grand Style

By Idu Jude Abuja

T

he 91st Anniversary celebration of the foremost Nigerian print medium, the Daily Times of Nigeria, will, in a long time to come, remain evergreen in the minds of Africans, as this year’s celebration gave an insight to her existence, were most beneficiaries were given ‘once in a life time’ heroic awards.

The unprecedented show of crème’ de la crème of politicians, civil society organizations, public

servants and private entrepreneurs were put on notice for the upcoming event with class of event planning to usher in the ceremony, which was first of its kind in the most populous black Nation.

Tuesday, 16th of May, 20 17 did not only offer the opportunity to present a re-invigorated Daily Times newspaper to the wider public, it also helped to reenact the zeal to rediscover a culture that was at the brink of going into extinction.

The prestigious and popular international conference center, located in the central area of Abuja, was the venue where deserving Nigerian and African leaders got a memorable recognition of a life time. The awardees were carefully selected as the umpires effortlessly and painstakingly picked individuals based on the opinion poll secretly conducted by the media as well as the assessment by the general public.

An evening of glamour in the month of May, saw State Governors, from different states geo-political zones of the country were in attendance with entourage to herald the occasion of a life time opportunity. The performance of the incumbent Ghanaian President, Mr.Nana Kuffour Ado paid off with trans-National recognition by the foremost newspaper as Daily Times, not only because of services to Nigeria, but the entire West African sub

region.

It was, no doubt, an evening of serious drilling and hectic task for the security Men as the surging crowd, who have come to solidarize with the awardees, struggled to have a glimpse of the magnificent stage and as well as to see when their leaders will mount the rostrum to receive the awards.

Daily Times had graciously bestowed on them. The water tight security arrangement did not however make is possible for some of them to achieve that purpose. The security personnel did not mince words in making it clear that the safety of individuals attendants matters most as the main hall of the international conference center and the galleries were filled to the brim.

Former Director-General, DG, of the National Council for Art and Culture, Otmba Segun Runsewe had earlier performed the cutting of the tape to mark the opening of Daily Times art exhibition, which preceded the main ceremony.

Runsewe described the medium as the custodian of Nigerian history, stressing that it should be made to host the exhibition every year to educate Nigerian politicians on the history of Nigerian politics. He pointed out that Nigerian politicians in the first republic, have fought for the independence of Nigeria with the aim of having a united Nigeria and

not individualistic and divisible Nigeria.

According to him, “Nigerians far and near, should be able to come over and be reminded of their history. Look at the newspaper exhibition today; I was just reading about the Ikorodu of 1956 and other areas in Lagos.

“Take a look at that publication in 1986 with the oil price at 5 dollars per barrel. I tell you that no country exists without its past and Nigeria cannot and should

build a new cultural perspective on Nigerians and people in Diaspora who visit its websites to read the Nigerian culture.

He maintained that educating the world about Nigeria is the greatest thing that will happen to the nation. Runsewe suggested that Daily Times must be playing the leading role among the newspaper industries for the reservation of culture.

Also speaking to Daily times, representative of the minister of information and culture Alhaji lai Mohammed, the permanent secretary of the information ministry, Alhaji Hussaini Dayar, stated that Nigerian history, will not be complete without historical exhibition of this nature. He observed that history has a way of playing a role in nation building.

Speaking after the exhibition, Miss Opeoluwa Olagunju, a student of pace setter academy Wuye Abuja, stated that her perception had changed soon after she participated in the exhibition since she always visit the internet for information which ended up with negative things.

historical exhibition of their country in order not to grow with the negative mind set about their country.

Master John Obi a student of SASCON International School stated "Some of the things I am seeing today from these publications were either told to us by our parents as history, or we read them on our on but I have not heard or read most of them until today that I see them in the Daily Times."

"We should go back to our past, we can make Nigeria a better place again," the young student said.

Miss Opeoluwa, further appealed to the Government to always expose the youth with

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DTN @ 91: What makes Times Heroes Award unique

T

he Daily Times Nigeria on Tuesday May 16, 2017 marked its 91st year anniversary amidst pomp and pageantry with lineup of different activities that culminated in the distinctive Times Heroes Award held at the prestigious Abuja International Conference Centre, ICC. Many dignitaries from all walks of life came to witness the uniquely organized award.

MATHEW DADIYA reflects on the historic even.

Obviously, the Daily Times, a leading Nigerian newspaper, did not only emphasis the globally acclaimed fact that awards are products of success; they also take into cognizance many other qualities like ability, struggle, effort and, above a l l , exce llen ce.

The awar dees w e r e chosen carefully, parently and by the Management company.

trans wisely Board of the

What perhaps perplexes the gathering was the fact the Times Heroes Award is the only one of its kind in the history of bestowing award in Nigeria and Africa in general, unlike anything else. The event was unique in modern trend.

An award is something given to a person, a group of people, or an organization in recognition of their excellence in a certain field and may be accompanied by trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaque, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons. Of course, that of the Times Heroes was accompanied by a rare commemorative plaque uniquely crafted with bronze.

The Plaque: The plaque is a star which symbolizes the elegance, brilliance and excellence demonstrated by our awardees in their daily lives, making them shine above all others in their field. It was crafted by Reuben Ugbine a Nigerian artist. Handmade in the heart of Benin City, Edo State, the creation was modeled in clay and cast in bronze it seats on seasoned Iroko wood, gleaned from the rich rainforests of Nigeria.

THE PRE-CONFERENCE OF THE EVENT One week to the main event, the management of the Daily

Times, in their usual unique manners, held a press conference to intimate the media of the outlines of the event. During the Press Conference journalists were informed of what the Times Heroes Award meant and why the management penned down the individuals and companies that were honoured with the award. The categories of the awards were also listed out to the media. The newsmen of course, drilled the DTN management with questions about the award, the awardees, and the reason for the awards. The management no doubt explained accordingly to them everything they needed to know about the awards and choice of the awardees.

EXHIBITION The history of the Daily Times is synonymous with the history of Nigeria, thus the 91st anniversary of the DTN begun with the National Historic Exhibition tagged; Nigeria through the Times.� The exhibition held at the entrance foyer of t h e Internati o n a l Confere n c e Centre A b u j a f r o m 3:00pm to 6:30pm.

Students came in their numbers from different secondary schools in Federal capital territory, FCT, Abuja to participate at the historic event. The exhibition was guided by the Manager Daily Times Archives and Library, Mr Tunji Akingbola and led by the Director General, National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Segun Runsewe.

Some of the students who participated at the exhibition told our correspondent that it was fascinating and educating to seeing diverse historical news events as reported by the Daily Times publications of the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. A Pacesetter College's student, Ochijenu Ramat, an SS2 science student said from what she saw at the Daily Times exhibition of historic publications of Nigeria's events, there was need for the country to go back to history.

Ramat said, "Some of the things I am seeing today from these publications were either told to us by our parents as history, or we read them on our own but I have not heard or read most of them until today that I see them in the Daily Times." We should go back to our past, we can make Nigeria a better place again," the young student said. She also pointed out that her favorite of the Daily Times Publication is the 'Woman World', which she said captivated her interest because it deals mainly on women issues.

Two teachers from Pacesetter College Mr Maiyaki Ogbanamo

and Chinyere Okeke who also shared their experience at the exhibition said until Nigeria takes advocacy to the policymakers to make teaching of history compulsory for schools in the country, the nation cannot develop.

The exhibition had some captivating stories of the Daily Times publications like: "Zik Accuses Awolowo of Breach of Faith;” Daily Times, Wednesday 16, 1956. Daily Times Saturday September 5, 1953, “Northern Leaders Return from London Talks.”

"Go won Warns Nigerians Press, "I Want a Constructive and Responsible Press," Daily Times Tuesday May 13, 1973. "Crude Oil Price Drops to 5 Dollars, Dependence on oil to Reduce"Daily Times Thursday July 10, 1986. These amongst several other notable headlines were displayed at the exhibition.

THE MESMERIZING It was a colourful event full of glamour as top echelon of the Nigerian political space thronged ICC to jubilate with the Daily Times as it marks its 91st anniversary with the Times Heroes Award. The dignitaries nattily dressed in different attires. The hall was beautifully decorated with varieties of lightening. The hall was filled to capacity yet many people were struggling to gain access into the aesthetic hall just to catch a glimpse of the event.

Chairman of Daily Times, Mr Fidelis Anosike explained that the award was the first of its kind in the past 20 years. He said that the Daily Times is a national treasure that must be guided adding “I'm just a custodian of daily times. DTN is going to be the custodian of Nigerian history."

Prince Tony Momoh, Paul Adefarasin, and other all described the Daily Times as a national asset that must be cherished.

They called on the need for the country to uphold the unity of the country. The observed that journalism is an effective tool hat shapes society adding that the daily times has played the role of

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guiding light in Nigerian journalism.

Veterant Nollywood Actor, Pete Edochie, who received Life Impact Award described the Times heroes Award as authentic, adding "if a blind man says he has seen means he has truly seen."

POST-TIMES@91 ‘THANK YOU MEDIA ROUNDTABLE’ In their usual corporate and unique ways of doing things, the management of the Daily Times Nigeria did not end the event without a thank you to the media for their unflinching support and reportage before, during and after event. Journalists from various media organizations were on Thursday hosted at Treasures Suite, Maitama Abuja at a roundtable to say thank you for all your supports. “We will do it again next time,” says the management.

Success is empowering, motivating and full of revelations.

Success is not final; failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts. Happy 91st Anniversary DTN!

“

Some of the stories I see today from these publications were either told to us by our parents as history, or we read them on our own but I have not heard or read most of them until today

”

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