Vice President Kashim Shettima will lead dignitaries to this year’s International Press Institute Nigeria Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting, scheduled for December 2 and 3, 2025, in Abuja.
According to a statement by IPI and made available to our correspondent on Thursday, the VP will chair the occasion.
Among the high-profile guests expected are the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, who is to deliver a special remark; Director General of the Department of State Services, Oluwatosin Ajayi; Professor of Mass Communication and Registrar of Baze University, Abiodun Adeniyi; and former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed.
Others include former spokesperson to the late President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu; former State Chief of Protocol to President Buhari, Ambassador Lawal Kazaure; Executive Director of IPI Global, Scott Grifen; former Ogun State Governor, Olusegun Osoba; and several senior media leaders.
Presidents of key media associations have been invited: President of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, Maiden Alex-Ibru; President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Eze Anaba; President of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, Danlami Nmodu; and President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Alhassan Yahya Abdul.
Heads of agencies under the Ministry of Information and National Orientation will also be present. They include the Directors General of the National Orientation Agency, Lanre Issa-Onilu; Voice of Nigeria, Jubrin Baba Ndace; Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Mohammed Bulama; Nigerian Television Authority, Salihu Dembos; as well as the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, Ali M. Ali.
“Vice President Shettima will chair the conference, while Minister Idris will deliver a special remark. Griffen, on his part, will present a message of solidarity from the IPI headquarters in Vienna, Austria,” the statement partly read.
The unveiling of IPI Nigeria’s Book of Infamy will be performed by Professor Adeniyi, while the President of IPI Nigeria, Musikilu Mojeed, will coordinate a surprise honorary event.
Two papers will also be presented at the event, with the first titled “Addressing Media Repression in Nigeria: Safeguarding Press Freedom and Democratic Accountability,” to be delivered by the Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda, Edetaen Ojo.
The session will be moderated by Funke Egbemode, with panellists including Executive Director of the International Press Centre, Lanre Arogundade; Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin; Deputy Director at the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, Busola Ajibola; and Special Adviser at the Office of the National Security Adviser, Idayat Hassan.
The second paper, “Building Sustainable Media in Nigeria: Navigating Innovation, Credibility, and Revenue Challenges,” will be delivered by the President and Chief Executive Officer of CBD MediaEdge Communications and Co-Founder of Media Trust Limited, Isiaq Ajibola.
The panel will feature the Vice-Chair of Channels Television, Olusola Momoh; Editor-In-Chief of Leadership, Azu Ishiekwene; and the Director of the MacArthur Foundation in Nigeria, Kole Shettima, while the session will be moderated by Professor Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika of the University of Lagos.
IPI Nigeria is the Nigerian chapter of the global International Press Institute — a network of editors, media executives and journalists dedicated to defending press freedom and promoting high journalistic standards.
The chapter organises conferences, AGMs and initiatives like the “Book of Infamy” to document press-freedom violations, foster media accountability, and strengthen the capacity and solidarity of journalists across Nigeria.
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