FORMER Director-General of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and one of the founding fathers of the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA), Engr. Vincent Maduka has taken over the chairmanship of the Board of Trustees of the foremost media excellence organisation, from another veteran journalist, Hadj Alade Odunewu.Odunewu is retiring from the Board after 22 years of meritorious service, 12 out of which he served as chairman. He took over from the late doyen of Nigerian journalism, Dr. Ismail Babatunde Jose, who was pioneer chairman of the Board of Trustees. Jose served as chairman of the NMMA Board from 1991 to 2000.Maduka was unanimously adopted as the new chairman at a meeting of the trustees held recently at the NMMA Secretariat in Lagos. His first public assignment as chairman would be to preside at the 2012 NMMA grand presentation of Awards Ceremony slated for Calabar, Cross River State later this year.The NMMA was established 20 years ago by renowned veteran media practitioners led by the late Dr Ismail Jose. It was conceived by the founding fathers which also included Odunewu, Maduka and the current Trustee and Chief Administrator of the scheme, Mr Yemi Akeju, in recognition of the Fourth Estate of the Realm as the most consistent vanguard and avenue for national development all through Nigeria's evolution as a nation.Maduka was born on October 5, 1935. He attended King's College, Lagos and graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Electrical Engineering from Leeds University in 1959 and M.Sc. in Applied Acoustics from UCD, Dublin in 1969. He was the Chief Engineer of WNTV-WNBS, Ibadan in 1972 and later, in 1973, was appointed the organisation's General Manager/Chief Executive Officer. In 1977, he was appointed the pioneer Director-General of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA). He was briefly Technical Adviser to the Federal Ministry of Communications before returning to NTA. He retired in 1986 into consulting.Maduka has served as President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers and also of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering. He was Chairman of the Board of Magnum Trust Bank Plc, which merged with a few other banks to form Sterling Bank Plc. He also sits on the board of several companies and is the Principal Partner of Macrocon Systems Limited. He holds the Nigerian national honour of the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR). He is at present a Senior Fellow at the School of Media and Communication, Pan-African University, Lagos.The outgoing Chairman of NMMA, Hadj Odunewu, presided over the NMMA at a critical period in the nation's history. He introduced innovations into the scheme and ensured that the NMMA Grand Award Presentation hosting was successfully rotated among the six geo-political zones of Nigeria to give journalists and other stakeholders in all parts of the country a sense of belonging in the scheme, as well as to showcase the promotion of media excellence in all parts of Nigeria and to bring the essence of media service in national development to all parts of the nation.In appreciation of Odunewu's contributions to the growth of the organization and the media in Nigeria, the Board of Trustees at the same meeting where Maduka was endorsed as the new chairman, also approved that Odunewu be installed as a Life Patron of the NMMA.The formal handing over to Maduka as Chairman and inauguration of Odunewu as Life Patron would be key highlights of the NMMA 2012 Grand Award Presentation Programme in Calabar, to be co-hosted by the government and people of Cross River State, with Governor Liyel Imoke as Chief Host.For 10 years, from 1992 when it was flagged off with the attendance of the then President of Nigeria and first Grand Patron of NMMA, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, to 2002, Lagos hosted the yearly celebration of excellent performance by the media operatives both print and electronic.With the suggestion of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo that the impact of the awards should be felt in all parts of the country, a rotation arrangement was adopted in 2003, and thus that year's edition was hosted in Abuja by the then FCT Minister Mallam El-Rufai. In 2004, it was the turn of Port Harcourt (Rivers State) hosted by the then Governor Peter Odili; Bauchi (Bauchi State) in 2005 hosted by the then Governor Adamu Muazu; Ilorin (Kwara State) in 2006 hosted by the then Governor Bukola Saraki; Osogbo (Osun State) in 2007 hosted by the then Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola; Kano (Kano State) in 2008 hosted by the then Governor Ibrahim Shekarau; Enugu (Enugu State) in 2009 hosted by Governor Sullivan Chime; and returned to Lagos in 2010 at the prestigious New Expo Centre of Eko Hotel and Suites. Last year, Governor Olusegun Mimiko played host to the NMMA team in Akure, Ondo State.According to Mr Eniola Ashaolu, General Manager of Ideas Communications and General Administrator of NMMA, the Chief Host of this year's event, Governor Liyel Imoke, will treat all the invited guests, nominees and administrators to the rich hospitality of Cross River State.'The event will afford the media practitioners the opportunity to explore and discover the Nation's Paradise to the fullest and the dividends of democracy under Governor Imoke. It promises to be grandly in all ramifications as the grand attractions across the state would be under the spotlight of local and international media plus all the visiting guests of NMMA during and after the event,' he stated.
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