Adefaye Leads NGE

Gbanga Adefaye

Gbenga Francis Adefaye, Editor, Vanguard Newspaper is elected president of the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), as a new 16-man executive to pilot the affairs of the Guild for the next two years takes off
By George Umunnakwe
“…We make you a solemn pledge here: we shall not do anything that would put the Guild to shame. We made you promises on the independence of the Guild, capacity building and ethical practice of journalism. We will be guided by these promises.”
With those words, Francis Gbenga Adefaye, Editor, Vanguard Newspaper who emerged as president of the Nigeria Guild of Editors(NGE) at it last Biennial congress held last Monday told the capacity – filled hall of the Ikeja Airport Hotel, Lagos what to expect from his newly-formed executive.
Adefaye, who pulled 185 votes to beat Tony Akiotu of Daar Communications pledged not to betray the trust of his colleagues in electing him. At the congress which was attended by more than 300 delegates from across the country, Akiotu who until the election was the deputy president of NGE garnered 10 votes.
Though not satisfied with the regulations leading up to the election, the NGE presidential contestant from the stable of Daar Communications had participated actively in the proceeding before announcing his decision to pull out midway into the election. Together with many of his colleagues in the broadcast media, Akiotu alleged that most of them had been denied accreditation. Ladi Lawal, Managing Director, African Independent Television (AIT), queried the manner the outgoing executive were dissolved without giving proper account of their stewardship, finance wise. He described it as a ploy to sweep under the carpet perceived fraudulent activities of the now dissolved executive. “If this is the way they want to go, so be it. But I won’t have a hand in it,” an implacable Lawal told The Source.
Pressured by his colleagues, Akiotu who would rather channel his grievances to the authorities concerned was later to read a hurriedly prepared withdrawal speech said to be written by Mammode Akude, General Manager AIT, South south.
Flanked by his loyalists, especially Jacob Idienye, presenter, Transport Africa on AIT, Akiotu told the delegates from across the country that his withdrawal was hinged on the fact that most of his colleagues from the electronic media were not accredited by the electoral committee. “By so doing, the election process has been flawed,” he stated.
While Akiotu was inside addressing the delegates, Akude was outside briefing reporters of the formation of a Nigeria Guild of Broadcast Editors.
“Within few weeks the certificate from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) will be out. For many years NGE has been, they don’t have a certificate, but we the Guild of Broadcast Editors will have our certificate in two weeks time,” he boasted.
Denying, however, that the electoral process was flawed and tilted in favour the print, Tony Momoh, former minister of information, and chairman, electoral committee of this year’s NGE biennial congress, explained that what his committee did was to follow and adhere strictly to the constitution of the Guild which has been on for a long time now.
This view was echoed by Adefaye when in his acceptance speech he explained that during the time of campaigns both he and Akiotu had insisted on absolute compliance with the constitution of the Guild.
Adefaye: “It is important for us to note here that this executive is not a beneficiary of a flawed process. If anything, in all our speeches and in our campaigns, we have strictly insisted on absolute compliance with the constitution of the Guild.
“We resisted all attempts to import strange fellows into the Guild simply for the purpose of election into offices of the Guild. We insisted that before you make decisions concerning the future of a club, you must be properly admitted and must know its rules.”
The Source gathered that prior to the election earlier scheduled to hold on July 14, 2008, several desk heads and presenters who were the equivalent of line editors in the print had been brought in to be registered as members of NGE. This move, The Source was told, was intended to swell the number of broadcasters that will throw their weight behind Akiotu who they regard as one of own.
“This was the reason most members insisted on following strictly the constitution of the Guild. They were prepared for the outcome of today’s election, hence they started putting machineries together towards registering their own Guild. We shall see how far they can go,” a member of the electoral committee told The Source.
Determined to have a united front, the new president of NGE, however in his acceptance speech, extended a hand of fellowship to Akiotu. According to him, Akiotu who passionately served the Guild as deputy president for four years ought not bring down what he helped to build. “I appeal to my distinguished colleague to join hands with us to fulfill our dream of an honourable association. You do not pull down a house you sweated to build,” Adefaye said.
Also elected into the executive board of the Guild are Abdulrahman Tukur (Deputy President); Aisha Saleh (vice president, North) Abiodun Raufu (vice president, West); Ogbang Akwaji (vice president, East); John Ndukauba (Secretary); Steve Ayorinde (Assistant Secretary), Abdulhamed Majia (Treasurer) and Samuel Egbala (Social / Publicity Secretary).
Also elected into the Guild’s standing committee are Victor Ogene, Mike Eke, Femi Adesina, Abdulraham Abdulrauf, Isaac Ikhure, Kemi Lazarus and Mustapha Isah.
Among the dignitaries that graced the biennial congress are the Governor of Lagos State, Raji Babatunde Fashola, former spokeperson to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and currently the managing director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Oluremi Oyo; former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, Sam Amuka, publisher, Vanguard Newspaper and Comfort Obi, publisher, The Source magazine who also served on the electoral committee.
In his keynote address, Fashola urged the media to imbibe the virtue of constructive criticism – one in which they would assist in laundering the image of the country positively.
“Each time we push out negative reports and celebrate those issues which could afford us to learn from our errors, you strengthen the hand of the foreign media to feast on the need to launder the image of the country. These are self-inflicted wounds that we could do without,” he observed.