A Veteran Broadcaster, Sociologist, Lawyer & Administrator, Professor Tonnie Osa Iredia was born on January 31, 1949.  He hails from the ancient City of Benin in today’s Edo State of Nigeria. He obtained his formal education mostly in Nigeria; and holdstwo Bachelor’s, a Master’s and two Doctorate degrees in the multi-disciplinary fields of Law, Media and Management.  He also participated in quite a number of professional improvement programmes within and outside the country.

Professor Tonnie Iredia has served his country and society at large in several critical capacities. These include: Mid-West Television [now Nigerian Television Authority], Benin City, where he rose to become Manager, News & Current Affairs; through Manager, Programmes Services [MPS] & Executive Director [News] & Anchor of the popular public affairs programme: Point Blank] — to the post of Director-General/CEO.

Professor Tonnie Iredia’s leadership tenure at the NTA recorded several innovations. Within one year, the number of transmitting stations rose from 27 to 68. He also institutionalized Live Coverage of events across the country as well as conceived and coordinated the idea of establishing NTA International for global reach.

In the interim — April 2002-June 2003 — he was the Secretary to the Board of the National Orientation Agency [NOA] & Director of Planning, Research & Statistics. Later, he was appointed the Agency’s Director-General/CEO.

Professor Tonnie Iredia was similarly deployed as a Technical Assistant on elections to Liberia’s Independent Elections Commission. While there, the Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS] also mandated him to serve as the Coordinator of political broadcasts for the first post-civil war elections in that country. One of his success stories in Liberia was his prudent management of resources provided by Nigeria for the resuscitation of the Liberia Broadcasting Service [LBS].

A regular feature on lecture circuits, he is on the faculty of the Department of Mass Communication at Nassarawa State University and a full Professor at Igbinedion University, Okada. He has also authored many learned papers and published works, including the best-selling Communication Skills: Fundamentals of Effective Communication in Developing Economies.                                                                                                                                                                                    

Professor Tonnie Iredia’s professional affiliations are very impressive. He is a Fellow — Nigerian Institute of Public Relations; Nigerian Guild of Editors; Nigerian Institute of Management; and Society for Peace Studies & Practice. He is also a Member of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Nigerian Bar Association, Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria, Institute of Administrators, and Institute of Corporate Executives of Nigeria.    

An Officer of the Order of the Niger [OON], this veteran of the broadcast industry has been variously recognised for his positive impact in his chosen fields and on society. Included here are: Best News Editor, FESTAC ‘77 [Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria], Kwame Nkrumah Leadership Award, 2007, 2010 Life-Time Media Management Achievement Award and many others.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that we invite Professor Tonnie Osa Iredia to receive the HLF-Christopher Kolade Award for Excellence in Leadership and Professionalism in the Media.

Congratulations, Sir!