The Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda, Mr. Edetaen Ojo has been inducted into the DigitalSENSE Africa Hall of Fame.
He was inducted along with the chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria and CNSSL group, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo; Managing Director, Digital Realty Nigeria, Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani, Executive Vice Chairman, Teledom International, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem; Managing Director, Condata Systems Limited, Dr. Chris Nwannenna and chairperson, Board of Trustees of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), Mrs Ibukun Odusote.
The Lead Consulting Strategist, DigitalSENSE Africa and Group Executive Editor, ITREALMS Media group, Sir Remmy Nweke said that the inaugural induction was a special occasion set aside for eminent individuals for the worthy contributions they have entrenched in the Internet Governance for Development (IG4D) ecosystem over the years by the leadership of DigitalSENSE Africa and management of ITREALMS Media.
The event was part of the 2024 Nigeria DigitalSENSE forum on Internet Governance for Development, presided over by Ojo with the theme: “IG4D: Innovative Digital Economy & Safer Civic Space in Nigeria.”
PROFILE OF EDETAEN OJO
Edetaen Ojo is Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda (MRA), which is an NGO based in Lagos. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Studies from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and a Master’s degree in International Journalism from City University in London, where he was a British Chevening Scholar.
He also has a diploma in NGO Management from Galilee College in Israel and was a Visiting Media Fellow at DeWitt Wallace Center for Communications and Journalism at Duke University, North Carolina, in the United States.
Mr. Ojo currently serves as a member of the Advisory Network of the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC), a partnership of 39 governments around the world working to advance Internet freedom; a member of the National Media Complaints Commission (NMCC) of Nigeria, and as Chair of the Board of the International Press Centre (IPC) in Lagos.
He has sat on the boards and governing bodies of numerous organizations around the world. He served as inaugural Co-Chair of the National Steering Committee of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in Nigeria from 2016 to 2019 with then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN).
He has also been Chair of the Steering Committee of the African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX), a network of freedom of expression organizations in Africa; Chair of the Working Group of the African Platform on Access to Information (APAI); Convenor (Chair) of the governing Council of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), a global network of freedom of expression organizations based in Toronto, Canada; Chair of the Board of Directors of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in Ghana; Chair of the Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC); a member of the Board of International Media Support (IMS) in Denmark; a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD); a member of the Task Force of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) that coordinated the Strengthening Africa’s Media (STREAM) process; a member of the Advisory Group of the Africa Media Development Initiative (AMDI); and a member of the Steering Committee of the Web We Want, a global campaign for Internet freedom; among others.
From 2004 to 2007, Ojo was UNESCO’s Technical Adviser to the Government of Liberia in the post-war reconstruction of the media sector in Liberia. He was also Coordinator of the International Partnership on Media and Conflict Prevention in West Africa, an alliance of UN agencies, international, regional and national non-governmental organizations.
In 2013, he was a member of the International Advisory Committee for UNESCO’s project on “The Safety of Online Media Actors Doing Journalism” and was also in 2013 named an Internet Freedom Fellow by the U.S. State Department.
He has received numerous awards and honours for his work in promoting media freedom, freedom of expression, access to information, digital rights and Internet freedom. In 2023, he was conferred with the “OGP Reform Champion Award” by the Open Government Partnership in Nigeria for his “inspiring leadership, steadfast commitment, and outstanding contributions to improving the state of Open Government in Nigeria”. Two decades earlier, he received a 2004 award from the Centre for Media Education and Networking for his “Outstanding Contributions to the Development of Journalism in Nigeria”.
He also received a “Pan African Award for Information Activism” at the Pan African Conference on Access to Information held in Cape Town, South Africa, in September 2011. In 2013, he was honoured by the Lagos State Government a “Crusader for Freedom of Information” award and in 2017, he was conferred with the “Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence” by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ). In 2018, he was honoured with the “Defender of Press Freedom Award“ by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
In January 2024, Mr. Ojo was named by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), based in Kampala, Uganda, as one of 10 digital rights experts across Africa who have played a pivotal role in shaping the continent’s digital and Internet freedom advocacy landscape over the past 10 years.
By June 2024, Mr. Edetaen Ojo was recognised as DigitalSENSE Africa Freedom of Information (FoI) Champion of the Decade at the Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum (NDSF) on Internet Governance for Development (IG4D) hosted by the ITREALMS Media group. He was later inducted into the DigitalSENSE Africa Hall of Fame to mark its 15th edition.
