By Comfort Olayinka
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) has brightened the festive season for 600 of its members by distributing bags of rice.
The initiative, led by the newly elected council chairman, Comrade Grace Ike, was unveiled at the FCT NUJ Secretariat in Utako, Abuja, marking the first batch of a planned wider outreach.
In her address, Ike emphasized the importance of Christmas as a time for promoting unity, love, and peaceful coexistence, values that the NUJ is committed to upholding.
Despite not receiving any handover from the previous executives, Ike’s leadership has already made a significant impact by prioritizing the welfare of the members.
She expressed optimism about further distributions in January 2025, aiming to include even more members in the initiative.
Ike also emphasized the transparency and inclusivity of the process, which was designed to reach out to over 600 members through chapel leadership and union registers.
With a focus on rebuilding member participation and fostering unity, Ike’s team is determined to ensure that the NUJ FCT Council becomes more transparent, accountable, and responsive to the needs of its members.
In response, Ubong Ukpong from Daily Asset Newspaper lauded Ike’s efforts, noting the rapid progress and praising the leadership of the first female chairman of the council. “Her leadership has brought a new energy to the union, and we believe the best is yet to come,” Ukpong remarked.
“Grace Ike has done marvelously well. How many weeks? Look at the ecstasy, look at glory of the new house. It is what even the Bible said that the glory of the later house shall be better than the former.
“The glory of this present NUJ has began show and it will be better than what it has been all these years because this is the first time a female is coming and she’s coming with the touch of a mother and believe that by the time she is one year, she will do better than she’s doing now,” he said.
This initiative reflects a promising start for Ike’s leadership, as she strives to create a more united, efficient, and member-driven union in the FCT.
With a focus on rebuilding member participation and fostering unity, Ike’s team is determined to ensure that the NUJ FCT Council becomes more transparent, accountable, and responsive to the needs of its members.
“We decided to distribute rice during this festive period. We all know that Christmas is all about celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ which promotes peaceful coexistence, love and unity. So, we decided to do this, we thought that we took an oath and we pledged that we are committed and dedicated to the well-being and welfare of our members. This is the first of its kind and it is not going to end here. “
“We went through a criteria to see that we get this across to over 600 members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists in FCT, particularly reaching out to chapels leadership who will in turn go through the register of the last congress to get across to their members.
“There was no hand-over note but we decided to go selfless and we decided to put smiles on the faces of Nigerian Union of Journalists, FCT. Like I earlier said, this is the first of its kind and it is not going to be last. This is the first batch, the next batch by God’s grace we are looking at January to see how we can reach out to as many as we can. But the borne of contention here is to let us know that it can not be business as usual where you hear that we have bags of rice given to 30-40 persons.
“We decided to come out openly to make it all inclusive, to carry everybody along, to let people know that we are transparent, we are ready to be accountable, we are ready to be efficient with whatever we do and to let them know that members of the newly elected executives are wishing them merry Christmas. For us, it is right step in the right direction and it is a welcome development – just to put smiles on the faces of NUJ members in the FCT.
“We are less than one month in office and as you can see we have hit the ground running. Like I earlier said, we did not wait for the hand over notes. Nothing was given to us but we chosed to go out there pursue stuff for our members and bring it back. What is driving this cause is because we have the interest of members at heart. So, giving back to the society, giving back to humanity is all we are yearning for.
“Like I earlier said, we want to bring members of the NUJ, FCT Council back to their union. Let them come and take back their union and participate in activities that belong to the union. So, the driving force is passion for humanity, the driving force is to give back to the society, the driving force is we are selfless, we are humble and we are dedicated and committed to meet the yearning of our people,” she added.
