Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, will on Sunday, 25 October, deliver the 3rd Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi Annual Diamond Lecture.
The governor will speak on the topic “Media, Democratic Consolidation and Development”. The ceremony is scheduled for the Banquet Hall, NAF Conference Centre, Abuja.
In a letter naming Uzodimma Guest Lecturer for this year’s event, the organisers, DAAR Communications Plc and the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), said the Governor was chosen primarily for his “understanding of the theme for the lecture, his outstanding performance in office and his relationship with the late Chief Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi”.
The letter was signed by Mr Raymond Dokpesi Jnr, Chairman, DAAR Communications Plc, and Dr Ike Neliaku, President and Chairman of Council, NIPR. In it, they commended the Imo State Governor for his “exemplary leadership and remarkable strides of your administration under the 3R Agenda: rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery”.
According to them, the “massive infrastructural renewal across the 27 LGAs of Imo State, the revamping of healthcare facilities, the expansion of the Imo International Airport and your bold investments in youth empowerment through Skillup Imo and digital innovation have repositioned Imo for growth and development”.
They also noted that his commitment to security, good governance and democratic ideals aligned perfectly with the ideals the late Chief Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi stood for, which recommended him as Guest Lecturer.
The organisers disclosed that the lecture was instituted in honour of the late Dokpesi to immortalise his legacy and to curate, in scholarly and practical context, the significance of his pioneering role in independent broadcasting in Nigeria.
They said the lecture would promote Dokpesi’s philosophy of dedication to patriotism, excellence in education, technology, communication, social cohesion, democracy and development.
The late High Chief Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi pioneered independent broadcasting in Nigeria when he founded DAAR Communications in 1994.