COMMITTEE OF SENIOR JOURNALISTS IN DELTA:

STATE OF THE UNION

We have watched and read with a growing sense of anger and disquiet, the needless vituperations, shenanigans and provocative incitements by certain so called journalists, whose claims to the profession are both questionable and in-credible, both in terms of the medium (media) they purport to represent and the authority on which they have anchored the brazen and warped crusade with which they have bombarded the sensibilities of other more discerning professionals, in recent times.

The climax of this dance macabre, by these horde pugnacious, uncultured gang of mutinous fifth columnist was the insane effrontery and complete disrespect to the entire membership of professional Journalists in the State, which compelled them to proceed to temporarily seal and barricade the Secretariat of the Delta State Council of the NUJ, along DBS Road, on the morning of Monday, March 3, 2014, after purportedly assaulting the security man in the premises, harassing the staff of the Secretariat on duty and carrying out other uncouth actions which attracted the consternation and opprobrium of on-lookers and passers-by.

The situation was eventually normalized, according to reports, after the law enforcement agents had waded in and instructed the unruly agitators, with a stern warning, to subsequently act with decorum in the expression of their discontents, thus leading us to conclude unequivocally in the words of Prometheus (in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem The Masque of Pandora) that, “those whom the gods want to destroy, they first make mad.”.

Against the backdrop of these recent happenings and in our spirited effort to set the records straight and to henceforth protect and safeguard our Union from the unsolicited and needless negative publicity generated by these misguided and obviously manipulated interests, the Committee of Senior Journalists in Delta, embarked on wide consultations with ranking and distinguished professionals of this category and also invoking the faultless and all accommodating Doctrine of Necessity, arrived at the following resolutions, after an extra-ordinary meeting, held at the NUJ Press Centre, DBS Road, Asaba, on Wednesday, March 5, 2014, viz:

1. That, there is only ONE NUJ, Delta State and that contrary to the spurious allegation suggesting that there is an Executive vacuum in the NUJ, Delta State Council, the Comrade Norbert Chiazor led Executive has since set up a credentials committee, headed by a well respected professional and comprising recognized professional members of the NUJ Delta State Council, long before the purported March 2, 2014 terminal date of the Exco

2. That the process of electing a new Executive Council for the NUJ, Delta State Council has already commenced and the Credentials Committee has already issued a credible and well publicized Election Time table and conducted a transparent nomination process from which the list of candidates for the respective positions shortlisted for the elections, has already been forwarded to the national Secretariat of the NUJ, Abuja

3. That we applaud the endorsement of Wednesday March 19, 2014, as the fixed date for the NUJ Delta State elections, by the National Secretariat of the NUJ, after the remaining procedural formalities for the elections have been appraised and express our joy that this pragmatic endorsement by the National Secretariat has finally nullified the arguments of a constitutional breach which certain elements had hinged their warped crusade and zealotry to truncate the continuity and solidification of our dear union by maliciously undermining the electoral process

4. That we recognize and acclaim the credibility and professional capacity of the CREDENTIALS Committee and repose complete trust and confidence in their ability to deliver a credible, free, fair and acceptable elections to the NUJ Delta State Council and in the same vein, urge all true members of the NUJ Delta State Council to turn out enmasse on election day to elect and endorse our next Executive Council and put the enemies of progress to shame once and for all

5. That we challenge anybody to produce constitutional evidence; Chapter, Section, Sub-section or any other evidential instance in the NUJ constitution, where it is stipulated that an Executive Council of the NUJ MUST hand over on the exact date it was sworn-in into office, after its tenure has elapsed

6. That we challenge anybody to produce constitutional evidence; Chapter, Section, Sub-section or any other evidential instance in the constitution, where it is stipulated that a member, group of members of any other body of any nomenclature, has the authority to seal up and barricade the Secretariat of the NUJ and even proceed to forcefully eject staff of the council

7. That we strongly advise all those who are intent on causing trouble with the devilish objective of disrupting the forthcoming NUJ Delta election, that they immediately re-think their malicious agenda as we are ready to explore and apply all necessary and legitimate measures, even in the event of deliberate, perceived or anticipated provocations, to secure, protect and sustain the continuity and consolidation of our union, through the process and instrumentality of the forthcoming NUJ, Delta elections.

8. That, after having weighed the so called allegations leveled against the out-going leadership of NUJ, Delta State Council, alongside its remarkable and outstanding accomplishments both in infrastructural achievement and human/professional capacity development, as well as the sustenance of peace and harmony in the union and indeed the latent and handsome potentials for greater achievements in all the above mentioned sectors in the coming years , we have come to the inevitable conclusion that the only desirable way forward is the continuity and consolidation of these gains and promises and as such, we unanimously endorse the candidature of Comrade Norbert Chiazor, as the carrier of this progressive vision, and lend our support to the groundswell of endorsements from all the other sections of the NUJ, Delta, as the next Chairman for the NUJ, Delta State Council.

9. That while we recognize the right for members to agitate and advocate in the event of perceived allegations (some of them deserving further attention, while some others amounting to nothing more than ridiculous propaganda), we however strongly advise them to seek redress in the event of such disenchantments, through the due process and statutes provided and defined in the applicable instruments and avenues as contained in our constitution, instead fermenting unnecessary trouble and unduly heating up the polity and sending wrong and negative signals and impressions about the membership of the NUJ, Delta State Council, to the global community

10. That pursuant to these resolutions afore listed, we, as recognized and respected senior professionals in the Journalism practice in the state and indeed as bonafide members of the NUJ, Delta State Council, shall not hesitate to invoke the Doctrine of Necessity, as a requisite tool to legitimize our intervention in the event of future situations that threaten to dislocate our union and portend to jeopardize our collective march towards the continued sustenance, consolidation and entrenchment of peace, unity, and the exploration and expansion of the professional frontiers for new achievements and accomplishments both for our members and our union.

WE HAVE SPOKEN.

God Bless the NUJ, Delta State Council
God Bless Delta State
God Bless Nigeria

DAVID DIAI
CONVENER (For and on behalf of the Committee of Senior Journalists in Delta)