Veteran Journalists In A’Ibom Target New Role, Receive Boost From Colleague 

By; PATRICK TITUS, Uyo 

The League of Veteran Journalists in Akwa Ibom State after its monthly meeting in Uyo, the state capital, on Friday, promised to inject a new life in the journalism practice in the state.

Arising thereof, the league has constituted a three-man panel made of Eddy Ekpenyong, Nene Joel, and Akanimo Sampson, to pilot the training arm of the group.

Chairman of the league, Soney Antai, while inaugurating the panel, charged them to do all they could to scale-up the journalism practice in the state. As a starting point, the panel was mandated to flag-off its responsibilities with a training seminar to be held soon in the state capital.

Encouraged by the initiative of the league, its past chairman, Chris Udofia, donated a high-tech laptop worth some N1.5 million to assist the veteran journalists group to drive home the change they seek.

Udofia expressed disappointment that journalism of today in the state was not how he was brought up in his Nigerian Chronicle days before he joined Champion Breweries as its public relations chief, from where he rose to become the Operations Director of the corporate organisation. 

Recalled that Chris Udofia served as the Caretaker Committee Chairman in Uyo Local Government Area of the state during the regime of Governor Victor Attah.

Receiving the laptop, Antai expressed gratitude to his predecessor who is still concerned about the quality of the journalism practice, assuring that the League is poised to make some positive interventions in what he described as “a noble profession”.

To that end, members of the League are going individually by the title of “Noble Veteran”, just as the Secretary of the group, Eddy Ekpenyong, underscored the importance of journalists improving their weak points if they want to remain great.

As a retired general manager of a radio station, he said, “audience preferences vary depending on the group. Prepare material that is intriguing and appealing to your audience by learning about them. 

“You don’t have to share the same upbringing or worldview as the subjects of your reporting or stories if you want to be a journalist. Being respectful and demonstrating that you care enough to listen are the most important things.”

For Nene Joel, “it is sad that our new generation colleagues seldom review their works before distributing to the general audience”, insisting, “you have to read it aloud to check for any mistakes and the flow. 

“Additionally, they have to make sure their stories comply with their work ethic and requirements. To make sure they’re perfect, they have to ask their colleague or editor to review their copies.”