Media gurus, public relations and marketing giants and other eminent Nigerians will gather on Friday, September 6, 2024, for a public lecture in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the passing of Pastor Dimgba Igwe, pioneer Deputy Editor of Weekend Concord and former Vice Chairman of The Sun Publishing Limited.
Igwe, also former Deputy General Overseer of Evangel Pentecostal Church, Okota, Lagos, died on September 6, 2014, aged 58. Born on May 16, 1956, he would have been 68 years old last May.
The public lecture organised by a committee of friends and mentees of Pastor Igwe will be held at The Colossus Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.
Veteran journalist, Father of Soft-sell journalism in Nigeria, and publisher of Prime People, Mr. Muyiwa Adetiba is the guest lecturer.
Entitled: “Tabloid Journalism: Yesterday, Today and The Future”, the public lecture will have as Chairman, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, Publisher of Thisday Newspapers, Chairman and Owner of ARISE Television, and past President of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN.
Former Governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, will be the Special Guest of Honour.
Another Special Guest of Honour is the matriarch of the Igwe Family, Pastor Mrs Obioma Dimgba-Igwe, who has gallantly held the forte since her husband, Dimgba Igwe, died.
Chairman of the Organising Committee, Chief Femi Adesina, former Special Adviser to former President Mohammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, said the epoch was conceptualized to celebrate the gigantic contributions of the late Igwe to Nigerian journalism, his unwavering commitment to good governance, public order, advancement of democracy, as well as the general development of the country.
Adesina, a former Managing Director of The Sun and former President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, has this to say about the event:
“This lecture is a celebration of a man, who, together with his ‘twin brother’, Chief Mike Awoyinfa, midwifed Nigeria’s first Saturday newspaper, Weekend Concord, at a time many had thought such novelty was impracticable in the country’s media space.
“But they not only blazed the trail, they mentored a generation of journalists who have flown the flag very high in their different spheres of calling and influence in Nigeria, Africa and across the world. That is why we are celebrating him through this public lecture, which would be an annual event and it will get bigger with each year passing.”