The Future Of Our Union Looks Great: A State Of The Union Address

BEING AN ADDRESS PRESENTED BY COMRADE AMOS ETUK, CHAIRMAN, AKWA IBOM STATE COUNCIL OF THE NIGERIA UNION OF JOURNALISTS DURING THE STATE CONGRESS ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2020

Protocol

I have the greatest joy to welcome you to this first Congress of our great Union after the lockdown occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic. I am happy that God has preserved us and will continue to preserve us.

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The pandemic has become more intractable than earlier predicted, leading to what people now see as the new normal in all areas of our lives. I urge you to keep observing the prescribed health protocols as enumerated by the NCDC. We shall continue to take responsibility for our individual safety and pray that one day the world will be free from this ugly situation.

Distinguished colleagues, you will recall that this administration came into being on August 2, 2019, when you all in one accord decided to thrust the responsibility of leading this great Union in Akwa Ibom State on my humble shoulders.

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I have continued to see myself as truly privileged to have earned your enormous confidence to be entrusted with the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in our State. I thank God for this grace upon my life.

I will always keep in mind that I may not be the best; I may not be the most qualified, but you decided that it has to be me and the rest of the wonderful professionals you brought together to constitute this wonderful State Working Committee of our Union. We are indeed a family, united with a common purpose of service delivery. Thank you all and may God keep blessing you and our Union.

I sincerely thank God for the crop of very selfless and dedicated members of the SWC and State Executive Committee. I have enjoyed one year of seamless administration, where members see themselves as members of one family; where in unity of purpose we have together strived to ensure that we build a Union that we would all be proud of.

I thank you all, SWC and SEC members, for this service you have continued to render without counting costs. God bless you all.

It has been an exciting one year of learning; one year of keeping faith in our collective abilities to excel; one year of building together in love and friendship; one year of enthroning an enduring legacy of ethical compliance through asserting love for our profession.

The journey has not been easy, but when I look back at those following us with zest and passion, the burden suddenly gets lighter and the journey becomes more pleasurable. I will proceed to give only but brief account of this one year of stewardship.

WELFARE:

While we were seeking your mandate in 2019, we promised to make the issue of welfare of members a cardinal objective of our administration.

I hinged this promise on the understanding that the Union was created for us to lookout for each other; galvanize the ennobling strength in our numbers to enhance our ability to collectively bear burdens, one for another.

I must confess that we met an existing welfare instrument that gave us the framework on which to get started, and we hit the ground running.

Within the period under review, I report that we lost four members. We made good our commitments to the families of these members, with each receiving the amounts stipulated on our welfare document. We also ensured that bereaved members received our support in cash as our contribution to cushioning the effect of their bereavements.

While we mourned with those who mourned within the period, we also rejoiced with those who rejoiced. In this category, we had a total of 18 members, bringing the grand total for the year to 35 members who received various sums as our welfare package.

Within the year, we doled out over Two Million Naira as welfare package to our members. I must commend the astuteness of the Chairman and members of the welfare committee in bringing this massive support to our members. I must not also fail to commend Chapel leaders for ensuring that funds are made available for our welfare programme.

This, I am sure we all know, would not have been possible without the cooperation and support of every member of the NUJ in the State. As we progress into the second year of our administration, I wish to further solicit your individual support in making a difference in the lives of members, whether for those who mourn or those who rejoice.

TRAINING AND RE-TRAINING

Another notable plank, upon which we campaigned in 2019, was the repositioning of our Union as a professional body, respected and responsible to the requirements of its professional status.

We promised to stick with only professionally qualified members so as to ensure that those who bring shame and disgrace on our professional practice are shut out of our Union. We have continued to uphold that promise.

We have followed up by instituting a series of professional trainings for members to keep abreast of the ever changing professional landscape of Journalism in a fast moving world.

Our trainings have cut across every strata of our membership, beginning with an eye-opening one- day workshop held at Eket for State Executive Committee members, where the issue of leadership and mentoring as tools for organizational growth were the key themes.

We, in collaboration with Next Edition Publications and Policy Alert, hosted a two-day seminar on engaging political players in a security tensed atmosphere. This seminar brought respected journalism professionals and revered media veterans from across the country to Uyo.

At the Chapel level, Correspondents’ Chapel and State Information Chapels also organized training programmes, which were also made available to interested members of the Union. Our Press Week for 2019 was also a platform we consciously used to further train our members.

The Press week ended with an award night where deserving members, who showed commitment to professionalism through excellent production of media contents were selected and rewarded.

These are measures that we deliberately applied to promote ethical and professional compliance in our media content. In the coming year, we intend to do even more. It is our dream that we will be able to attract enough support to send our members to international conferences and media workshops around the world.

ENGAGEMENT WITH POLITICAL LEADERSHIP IN THE STATE

We have had a one year of robust relationship with the State Government. During the period, the State Government had two interactive sessions with Journalists in the State.

Through those interactions, the Governor used the opportunities to explain government policy directions and laid bare actions and challenges of government. Such interactions have helped in ensuring a better relationship between Government and Journalists in the State.

There were, however very tense times, when some persons were picked up by security agencies for allegedly publishing fake and defamatory stories, mostly using the social media space.

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It is on record that no registered Journalist was so picked up, except a female journalist, Mary Ekere, who was remanded in prison custody at the instigation of the State Environmental Sanitation Agency. On that single occasion, the Union rose in unison and fought and defeated forces seeking to muffle press freedom.

We are happy to report that our members have conducted themselves in a most creditable manner in their reportage. We must continue to project our profession in the most positive light through strict adherence to ethical reportage and professional presentation and treatment of news.

We must use this opportunity to thank the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, His Excellency, Mr. Udom Emmanuel for his open and accessible policy towards the Union.

The Deputy Governor, His Excellency, Mr. Moses Ekpo, MFR, a senior professional colleague has also shown so much love and commitment towards the success of our programmes. Akparawa Ephraim Inyang, the Chief of Staff to the Governor and our Grand Patron within this period continued to play very significant roles in ensuring the stability and progress of the Union.

We congratulate him on his appointment as Chief of Staff to the Governor and wish him many successes. We salute the former Commissioner for Information, Sir, Charles Udoh, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Ekerete Udoh for their support.

We express our happiness at the recent appointment of Comrade Ini Ememobong, who had made all the sacrifices that culminated into a very healthy relationship with the State Government when many roads seemed to have been closed.

The NUJ wishes Comrade Ini Ememobong huge success in his new appointment, even as we pledge our total support to him in his new Office.

WORSHIP IN THE UNION

We realize that we owe everything we have achieved and the ones we hope to achieve tomorrow to the benevolence of the Almighty God. To that effect we have not toyed with our commitment to worship Him at every turn of events.

To this end, we have had a number of corporate thanksgiving services, including one to thank God for our election, the one we held to mark our Press Week and the mother of it all, our annual Thanksgiving Service held at Ika.

I must pause here to thank the Chairman of that Ika Thanksgiving Service for the success that attended that event. Comrade Inimfon Silas, the Union extends hearty congratulations to you and your team for that massive mobilization and smooth conduct of the service.

The State Council also had a couple of Solemn Assemblies and we thank the Chaplaincy for the services. We also thank them immensely for the last December carol service, where awards and prizes were given to Chapel choirs.

SPORTS

We appreciate the sports committee for the health week and all the sporting engagements. As we strive to have our members live a healthy life style, our intention was to make the health walk a regular activity of the Union, but the pandemic cut short that intention, but we hope to resume as soon as we are able to work out the right protocol for a recommencement of the activity.

THE FUTURE

Professional colleagues, as we look at the year gone, we have to also look at the year ahead of us. I see us moving even faster in our resolve to better the lots of our Union. In the new pages of this second year of our leadership, we will focus on the promise of the completion of ongoing Projects within the premises of the Union.

The building committee, ably chaired by the State Vice Chairman of our Union, Comrade Nene Affia is daily committed to achieving a good result. Within this next quarter, we will ensure that work begins on the completion of the Auditorium.

I want to assure all of us that our commitment shall be redoubled in this second year. We shall go the extra miles to source funds for the completion of the projects, including creative means of attracting investors on PPP arrangements to ensure that no uncompleted project is seen within our premises.

We shall continue to deepen government journalists’ relationship and expand the frontiers of development –minded reportage in the State.

We intend to oil this relationship further by periodically inviting political leaders to exchange information with us at Congresses, which we had already commenced with the invitation of the Honourable Commissioner for Finance that engaged us during the preceding year.

We shall reinvigorate our training programmes and make the major move of international exposure through training.

We shall constitute our 2020 Press Week Committee, New Year Thanksgiving Committee and look forward to yet another entertaining and spiritually fulfilling night during our Christmas Night rendition. I can assure you we will take our 2020 Press Week Celebration to the centre stage of national limelight.

CONCLUSION

Distinguished colleagues, we are still counting on your support this second year to serve you better. We fully understand the role unity plays in every organization and that is why we continue to plead with all our members not to sit on the fence.

If you have any misgiving on any area of our governance, including governance style, please do not hesitate to call our attention to any issue of your concern. We shall listen, because we serve better when we listen to learn and understand. We in the SWC have never claimed to know it all and that is why we keep coming to tap from our members.

We urge you all to keep participating in committee activities as that is a leadership training ground that we have made available to all our members.

God bless you all SWC members; God bless you all SEC members; God bless you all Past Chairmen; God bless you all Chapel leaders; God bless you all Committee Chairmen and members; God bless you all our veterans: God bless you all members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists Akwa Ibom State Council.

Thank you for your overwhelming support. Our future looks truly great…

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