Posted by By Bukola Olatunji on
The University of Lagos (UNILAG) Radio, UNILAG 103.1 FM has won the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) Special Award for Community Outreach, in a competition amongst the....
The University of Lagos (UNILAG) Radio, UNILAG 103.1 FM has won the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) Special Award for Community Outreach, in a competition amongst the 500-strong membership of the association.
The university spokesman, Seth Adebisi Dare said in a release that the 15-page award winning entry entitled, ?Radio in an Academic Community: UNILAG 103.1 FM Experience, was written and submitted by the Head of Media and Corporate Affairs Division of the university, Mr. Adeniyi Bello.
ACU, in a congratulatory letter described the entry as ?a marvellous initiative, bringing together the realisation of Public Relations and communication objectives with an enhancement of the student experience, combining the two to further the mission of the university and hence, embedding communication in the day-to-day work of the university.?
The awards were in seven categories - Prospectuses and Student Recruitment; Handbooks, Annual Reports, Calendars, Bulletins and Newsletters; Website, as well as Outreach and Community Relations. UNILAG 103.1 was adjudged world best in the last category as a creative method to promote an initiative that benefits the institution, its students and the wider community.
The seven-man panel of judges drawn from Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, Australia, Pakistan and Canada, described the Outreach and Community Relations category as the hardest campaign category to judge, due to the variety and complexity of entries.
They were impressed with the role the radio station, which commenced broadcast in 2004, has played in encouraging Nigerian youths to alter their attitude to lifestyle choices, as part of the continuing campaign on HIV/AIDS awareness.
The award ceremony was held during the conference of the Public Relations, Marketing and Communication Officers Network of the ACU and hosted by the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG, Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe attended the ceremony and also presented a paper on Building Alliances with Higher Education Stakeholders through Public Relations, Marketing and communication.
Immediate past Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Peter Okebukola had remarked in the last of his weekly memos, that University of Lagos maintains its international winning streak adding that, apart from the ACU award, Ibidapo-Obe also won the 2006 University of Waterloo Alumni Achievement Medal for outstanding academic leadership.