Mr. Demola Babalola, Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo State Council, has called on members of the union to embrace peace and live in harmony for a stronger and united union.
Babalola made the call on Tuesday in Ibadan, while presenting the certificates of office to the newly elected executive members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of NUJ in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the election was supervised by Mr. Sola Oladapo, the state Secretary of NUJ, which was held at the Correspondents’ Chapel Secretariat in Mokola, Ibadan.
The new executive members were Mr. Oluseye Ojo of the Sun Newspapers as Chairman; Mr. Jeremiah Oke of the Daily Trust as Vice-Chairman, while Mr. Dare Adeogodiran of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) emerged as the Secretary.
Ojo won the keenly contested election with 36 votes to defeat his rival, Mr. Raji Adebayo, who scored only five votes.
Also, Oke and Adeoogodiran contested for the positions of Vice-Chairman and Secretary unopposed, scoring 38 and 40 votes respectively.
Babalola advised the new executive members to reach out to the aggrieved parties in the chapel and integrate them into the affairs.
He urged them to see themselves as members of one big family for the progress and development of the chapel.
Babalola, however, described the election as “one of the most peaceful elections in the history of NUJ elections in the state”.
He thanked leaders of the chapel for ensuring peaceful conduct of the election, pointing out that the chapel gave him a privilege to be elected as the state chairman of NUJ.
Also, Mr. Moses Alao, the Special Assistant to Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on Print Media, commended the peaceful conduct of the election.
Alao said the exercise had erased the negative perception that journalists could not hold peaceful election.
Earlier, Mr. Sola Adeyemo, the Chairman, Electoral Committee, who conducted the election, said that election would be conducted for the vacant positions of Treasurer, Assistant Secretary and Internal Auditor at later date.
Adeyemo called on the winners to carry other contestants along in the runnings of the chapel affairs.
In his acceptance speech, the newly elected chapel chairman, Ojo, said that the task ahead of the new executive was on how to build unity in the chapel.
He said the chapel had lost a lot of things as a result of disunity in the chapel, adding, “no meaningful development would be achieved where there is disunity”.
According to him, we need everyone’s support and we are going to pursue unity in the chapel and all of us are winners in this election.
“Nobody will place his or herself above anyone; I will run a transparent and responsible affairs,” Ojo said. (NAN)
