…Records date as “Memorable Day”
by Christiana Gokyo, Jos
Journalists in Plateau State, especially Correspondents’ Chapel of NUJ Plateau State Council, have been charged to always take personal responsibility for their safety and welfare during their duties.
The advice was given during Special Prayers organised in memory of their late colleagues, who died 17 years ago, in the course of their duty in a ghastly motor accident in Shendam, on the 16th of May 2007.
The prayers, which held at the NUJ Press Center Jos, on Thursday, were not only for those, who died but also for the survival and members of the Chapel.
The guest lecturer, Prof. Taye Obateru, was also a Vanguard Newspaper correspondent during the incident and who is now a lecturer with the Department of Mass Communications, University of Jos.
While giving the advice, Prof. Obateru urged journalists to always take personal responsibility for their safety because no one would do it for them, saying, “You must be alive and healthy to be able to report and not to be reported. The well-being of journalists is the well-being of the society.
”There is the need for journalists to remain ethical in discharging their responsibilities, while considering other honest sources of income to survive,” he said.
He urged journalists not to rely on remunerations that are not forthcoming and sustainable, observing that “the poor remunerations have become a global thing,” while describing the ‘brown envelope’ syndrome as an insult to the profession.
The Correspondents’ Chapel Chairman, Plateau State, Mr. Polycarp Auta, explained that the event was to seek God’s protection for all journalists in the state.
According to him, “The essence of the gathering was to remember and pray for the repose of the souls of our colleagues, who died in the ill-fated incident, in 2007, while it is also an opportunity to remind ourselves of the need to take precautionary measures towards ensuring the safety of all journalists.”
Also, the State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Hon. Musa Ashoms, stated that the State Government was in solidarity with the Chapel, while assuring that government would synergize with the Chapel to come to the aid of the deceased families.
On a sympathy note, he noted that, “It was quite unfortunate that our colleagues died the way they did; it is good to have fond memories of our friends and colleagues.”
There were also goodwill messages from former (Plateau State) Governor, Joshua Dariye; one-time State Chairman of the NUJ, Katdapba Gobum, and the current National Internal Auditor of the NUJ, Ladi Emmanuel, and the NUJ Chairman represented by the Vice Chairman, Pam Musa.
The event was a special prayer for journalists, survivors and the deceased families by Islamic and Christian clerics, with exhortations for followers to pray always. Prayer is a potent weapon in the hands of believers. This underscores the importance of prayer as a shield against life’s spiritual and physical hazards, in the face of daily threats.
It could be recalled that, on May 16th, 2007, some journalists in the convoy of former Governor Joshua Dariye, were involved in a ghastly motor accident that claimed the lives of 8 Journalists along Yelwa-Shendam Road, while on an official trip to cover the commissioning of some projects.
Those journalists include the Daily Champion Correspondent, The Nation, Leadership, AIT, New Nigerian Newspapers, NAN all Correspondents, Camera man of NTA and the driver of the bus.