By JKNewsMedia Reporter
DECADES OF professional recognition defined the mood as members of the national media community gathered for the 34th presentation of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME).
The event was hosted to recognise the cumulative work of award recipients over more than three decades, with organisers outlining both recent achievements and historical milestones drawn directly from the programme’s records.
During the ceremony, the Chairman of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME), Lanre Idowu, said a total of 643 title awardees had emerged from the scheme since its inception in 1991.
He explained that DAME had also given 31 lifetime awards in 19 years and 11 honorary fellowships in five years.
In his words, these figures brought the total number of individuals recognised in the DAME Hall of Fame to 685, which he described as “an average of 20 names a year”.
He also said the names were “carefully chosen as the best in their fields”.
Idowu noted that the latest presentation was taking place at what he called an important period for the country.
He referred to developments within the domestic environment and said they continued to attract what he described as concerning attention from outside.
He also urged attendees not to give in to despair, saying: “We must dig in and rediscover our strength as a people. We must make our resilience count for the better. We must make our voices heard.”
He stated that the works nominated for awards this year carried strong messages from the media.
According to him, the entries “call attention to a lot that is happening in our society”. He added that the works “in part make us think, in part make us cry, and in part reassure us that all is not lost”.
Speaking on the work of journalists as interpreters of social reality that often came with consequences, DAME chairman stated that those who remained committed to the traditions of a “free, strong and responsible media” and to journalism that was ethical and conscientious would be well placed to keep good journalism alive and safeguard the country’s future.
He said the lesson from the year’s awards exercise was that good journalism had an important role to play in repositioning the country.
He added that office holders must be made accountable through what he described as a fair and robust appraisal of public service. He said: “Our media has tried, but our media can do a lot more.”
The event also included a moment dedicated to journalists and award recipients who died in 2025.
Idowu said the organisation mourned the deaths of three DAME Lifetime Awardees – Dr Doyin Abiola, Mr Dan Agbese and Dr Christopher Kolade.
He described the deaths as bad developments for the organisation adding that the ceremony also remembered Joseph Agboola, who died at 71, and Evelyn Osagie, who died at 49.
According to the release, Abiola received her Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 and died on 5 August 2025.
Agbese received his in 2016 and died at the age of 81 on 17 November 2025. Kolade, who received the honour in 2008, died at 93.
Idowu also referred to several figures he described as DAME ambassadors.
He listed Azu Ishiekwene, Sam Omatseye and Reuben Abati among those whose professional work reflected the standards the awards aimed to promote.
He said the organisation was proud of the strides achieved by the ambassadors over the years.
The ceremony further recognised organisations and individual journalists for work done during the year. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), PUNCH won top honours, including Newspaper of the Year and Editor of the Year, for the second consecutive year.
PUNCH received 15 nominations and won nine awards at the event. The PUNCH Editor, Oyetunji Abioye, won the Editor of the Year Award ahead of editors from The Nation, ThisDay, Daily Sun and Premium Times.
Media Trust Group’s Daily Trust newspaper won the 2025 Diamond Award for Media Excellence in the category of Best-Designed Newspaper of the Year.
Daily Trust beat Leadership and ThisDay to secure the award. NAN reported that this was the second consecutive win for the newspaper after taking the same award in 2024.
The presentation was received on behalf of Daily Trust by Taofeek Oyeniyi, Regional Manager of Media Trust Group. Oyeniyi said the organisation invested heavily in the design of its publications and would continue to provide quality content for its readers.
He described the consecutive wins as evidence of the company’s commitment to quality journalism.
He said: “We take everything about journalism very seriously, and that is why we pay close attention to the outlook of our paper.” He added that the organisation believed first impressions mattered and that the award validated its investment in design.
He said Daily Trust would continue to justify the responsibility placed on journalists. According to him, the organisation would not limit its efforts to the appearance of the newspaper alone and would attend to every aspect of journalism.
The release added that Punch newspaper “stole the show”, sweeping eight awards across different categories, and highlighted that, since the inception of the award ceremony in 1991, 643 title awards had been won and 31 lifetime achievement awards had been presented over the past 19 years.
