Former Senior Manager, Corporate Affairs of The Punch Newspaper, Mr Joshua Agbeniga, has urged the Nigeria Institute of Journalism, (NIJ) to sustain the high-quality journalism training the institution has offered from its inception.
Mr Agbeniga, an alumnus of the school made the call on Monday while donating copies of Our Punch Years book – Reminiscences and Insider accounts by former editors and staff of Nigeria’s most widely read newspaper at 50 to the institution.
He recalled that his journalism career started in NIJ back in the late seventies when he was inspired to join the Nigeria Tribune by Alhaji Lateef Jakande who was a lecturer in the institute before he moved to the Punch.
He affirmed his sustained interest in the school and his willingness to support the training of the younger generation of journalists with the necessary resources and facilities.
He also commended the Institute for sustaining the legacy of professional training for journalists over the years and urged it to continue to meet the needs of the industry.
Agbeniga, accompanied by the editor of the book Mr Lekan Otufodunrin presented the books to the Provost of the Institute, Mr Gbenga Adefaye and other top academic and administrative heads of the Institute.
While receiving the books, the Provost expressed his gratitude to Mr Agbeniga for the kind gesture which he described as the best gift anyone can give to a school or even a person.
The Provost who decried the absence of book reading culture among students and even the country as a whole, occasioned by the advent of smartphones and online content, highlighted the efforts the school is making to populate the school library with relevant books through donations by veteran journalists.
Mr Adefaye used the opportunity to call on the Alumni of the institute to contribute to the improvement of the training of young journalists and communicators through donations of educational materials, equipment and other improvement facilities.
He said an endowment fund in collaboration with the alumni body would soon be launched to enhance scholarship and innovation in the students and products of the school.
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