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SWAN parallel congresses illegal, NUJ VP says

Published

6 years ago

October 8, 2019

Monday’s parallel congresses held by two factions of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) are illegal, an official of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) said on Tuesday.

Wilson Bako, Vice President of Zone D, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), said in Lafia that the congresses, which were held in Port Harcourt and Abuja, should be disregarded.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that two sets of SWAN national officials emerged at the separate elective congresses to pilot the affairs of SWAN at the national level.

The congress in Abuja elected current Edo Chairman Ahmed Aigbona as President unopposed, with Mike Oboh also emerging unopposed as Secretary-General alongside other officials.

Also, the other congress in Port Harcourt, held almost simultaneously, returned Honour Sirawoo as National President through a voice vote, with other officials also elected unopposed.

Both congresses were held contrary to NUJ’s directive, which had asked that both events be suspended pending when issues surrounding the conduct of the elections were resolved.

Bako told NAN that NUJ’s stand on the matter still stands and both congresses are illegal.

“This is because issues which led to the factionalisation of the Association and the emergence of the two factions have not been resolved.

“But it is unfortunate, in the sense that SWAN members exercised a sense of disrespect to constituted authority.

“The national body of NUJ, which each member of SWAN must be a member of before contesting as a SWAN official, gave a directive which has now been disregarded.

“The directive was that since there were petitions to be sorted out every faction should halt any further action. That is, there should not be any election pending when those petitions are sorted out.

“But unfortunately, the two factions went ahead and conducted elections in Port Harcourt and Abuja. Each one emerged with their officials. Both of them are illegal. I now see a situation whereby SWAN has

entered a problem it will hardly come out from,” he said.

Bako however expressed optimism that the NUJ President, Chris Isiguzo, would rally both factions to a meeting to hold constructive discussions which would resolve the division in SWAN.

“I know that the NUJ President is an intelligent person. He is someone who knows the NUJ Constitution very well. At the end, he will have to call the two factions to come for a round table discussion. But, for now, those elections conducted yesterday are null and void.’’

Bako expressed hopes that proper elections would be conducted after the discussion.

“But as long as they remain as factions, I will suggest that all of them should be expelled from NUJ. It is unfortunate that people can be so desperate, lawless and reckless because they want power,” he said.

The NUJ vice-president warned that unless the two factions gave NUJ its due respect as SWAN’s mother union which it is affiliated to, no progress can be made.

“The National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) is answerable to NUJ. So, why should SWAN be different?

“We have the political news reporters association, business news correspondents and a few others, but they are all answerable to NUJ. Only a fool will say it has nothing to do with its mother,” he said. (NAN

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CLTC DG Reaffirms FG’s Dedication to Nurturing Innovative, Productive Nigerian Youth

Published

1 week ago

September 29, 2025

The Gleamer

By Joel Ajayi

The Director-General of the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre (CLTC), Ms. Rinsola Abiola, has reaffirmed the Centre’s commitment to raising young Nigerians who are productive, innovative, and imbued with patriotism, service, and integrity.

She gave the assurance on Monday in Abuja in her goodwill message at the ongoing two-day Retreat on Presidential Priorities and Deliverables — 2025 Mid-Term Review, where she also commended the Ministry of Youth Development, led by Hon. Ayodele Olawande, for championing youth-focused initiatives under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

According to Abiola, the retreat provides a unique opportunity to review and realign efforts to ensure that government policies and programmes translate into measurable impact in the lives of Nigerian youths.

“This retreat is both timely and strategic. It provides a platform to collectively review, align, and sharpen our focus on the priorities of Mr. President. More importantly, it allows us to deepen collaboration within the youth development sector to ensure that government policies deliver real change to our young people,” she said.

Highlighting the Centre’s achievements, Abiola disclosed that over 6,000 youths have been trained in value orientation and re-orientation in the just-concluded half-year period. She emphasized that the CLTC, with its long history of building citizenship values, leadership capacity, discipline, and volunteerism, remains steadfast in supporting the Ministry’s mandate and national priorities.

“We see ourselves as partners in this great task of nation-building. Our goal is to raise young Nigerians who are not only productive and innovative but also committed to the spirit of service, patriotism, and integrity,” she added.

Abiola urged stakeholders and participants at the retreat to bring forward actionable strategies that would strengthen coordination, eliminate bottlenecks, and accelerate delivery on presidential mandates.

She concluded by reaffirming CLTC’s readiness to collaborate with the Ministry and other agencies to advance youth development across Nigeria.

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