AniokeAfter a successful election recently held virtually at this year’s International Publishers Association (IPA) General Assembly, Nigeria’s Chief Uchenna Cyril Anioke has been elected to join the Executive Committee of Geneva, Switzerland-based association. Other members who also joined the executive committee from publishers associations around the world include Dante Cid (Brazil), Sharon Hague (UK, statutory appointment), Lawrence Njagi (Kenya, re-elected), Christian Schumacher-Gebler (Germany, statutory appointment), Heidar Ingi Svansson (Iceland, re-elected), and Chunchi Yu (China, statutory appointment).
Others who stepped down alongside Adedapo in the Executive Committee are Pengyi Li (China), Joachim Kaufmann (Germany), Arys Hilman (Indonesia), and Lis Tribe (UK).
In his reactions to the development Anioke said, “It is a call to service. It is a call to show that all is well with my State, my Country and indeed my continent, Africa. I will devote the next three years to showcasing Nigerian and African publishing potentials by paying utmost attention to freedom to publish.”
Also, Brazil’s Karine Pansa succeeds Bodour Al Qasimi as president-elect of IPA while Gvantsa Jobava of Georgia is vice president-elect. Pansa is the third female president to be elected to run the affairs of the global publishing body. In her parting statement, Qasimi said: “My presidency reinforced my belief in what we do as an industry and also reinforced my respect and appreciation for publishers. I witnessed first-hand their generosity, resilience, and determination despite all the challenges. I am truly inspired by their hard work and passion and I’m confident that our industry is in safe and capable hands as we write the next chapter in our book.”
The incoming President, Pansa, who has been IPA Vice President, noted, “I’d like to thank Bodour for her exemplary leadership, tireless dedication and competence in dealing with the complex issues that our industry have had during the past two years. It honours me to follow your path and be the third female president of IPA. I am excited to serve our industry and support our members’ recovery, and to continue to ensure IPA is an inclusive organisation represented and respected globally.”
For IPA Vice President-elect, Jobava, “It is a special honour and responsibility to be IPA Vice President. My Georgian roots, my experience of occupation, drive my fight for a better world. Our sector has a unique weapon to achieve it – the book. A tool to educate, spread diverse voices, and create a free society. That is why I will dedicate my vice presidency to strengthening IPA’s main pillars: copyright, freedom to publish, literacy, inclusion, and educational publishing. I will fight for the well-being of our members’ publishers, because books published by them make our world better.”
Anioke and his other six colleagues will assist President Pansa in piloting the affairs of the global publishing body to execute IPA’s mandate to publishers worldwide.
