The Director General National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) has appointed the immediate past Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Former Minister of Defence, Mohammad Abdulkadri, ANIPR, as MEDIA ADVISER.

The strategic appointment of the media veteran and strategic communication expert whose professional pedigree speaks volume spanning over three decades takes immediate effect in response to the demands of his new area of responsibility.

The erstwhile NTA defence correspondent, who retired from the largest network on the continent at the enviable level of Assistant Director News and Current Affairs, has accepted the highly referred appointment ready to hit the ground running. The new appointee is no doubt a well-decorated, celebrated, and highly cerebral journalist of national and international repute who has plied his journalism trade flying the national flag in over twenty-five (25) countries across the globe, which include Greece, Germany, China, Columbia, France, Malaysia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Libya, Liberia, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Niger, Mali, and Guinea-Bissau, among others.

He carries with him a stamp of authority and proven capacity anywhere his service is required, as well as a stately patriotic posture and a huge deposit of vast experience, tested expertise, and exposure.

As a man of impeccably good character who is thoroughly trained, well baked, and a hard-working journalist, which earned him arrays of recognitions with enormous goodwill befitting of his towering calibre at all levels in the discharge of his duty.

They include gallantry awards in Counter Terrorism Operation conferred on him by the former Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Leo Irabor, and former Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General, Tukur Yusuf Buratai, as well as decoration by the Chief of Army Staff of Columbia.

In his kitty of well-packaged and paraded intimidating credentials of well-deserved honours include two NTA Director General’s commendations awards by Dr. Tony Iredia and Sola Omole.

Also, his professional constituency, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, fished him out to wear the befitting title of “Touch Bearer of Press Freedom” at the national level, as well as awards of recognition by both Edo and Kwara States NUJ Councils.

Mohammad Abdulkadri, who was the first elected leader of the Defence and Security Journalists Association in Africa in faraway Germany, was also the only embedded journalist among the Nigerian troops deployed to African Led International Support for Mali, AFISMA.

He is also an active member of the international Strategic Communication Network, among other professional bodies. Others include Fellows of the Chatered Institute of Leadership and Governance (USA), the Institute of Strategic Public Negotiation, the Institute of Corporate Administration, and the West African Society for Communication and Administration, as well as Associate Members of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, ANIPR. Again, the newly appointed media adviser, who is in the last lap of completing his Ph.D. in Strategic Studies at Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma, Edo State, is the first recipient of the Defence Correspondent’s award by the Prelate Methodist Church Nigeria, Lagos, in recognition of his invaluable contribution to national security.

The media outfits are please requested to accord the New Image Maker of the NILDS the usual full cooperation and support in the spirit of camaraderie to dutifully navigate the challenging publicity terrain in carrying out the responsibility of his office. Mohammed Abdulkadri is married and blessed with children.