NAWOJ’s 11th President Makes Maiden Broadcast

Great NAWOJians!!!

On November 25, history was made. There hasn’t been any other time in the over 3 decades history of our noble Association that we witnessed such huge number of women Journalists that converged , as seen on November 25, all determined and united for the purpose of the progress of our dear association.

At that point, it dawned on us that leadership failure, in the event that we won, is not and will never be an option.

Today, history is not only made, it is written, the new dawn no longer beckons, it is here with us, a time for all members of this noble association to rise up to the challenge of building an association and sustaining the legacies of our mothers of old.

You have all spoken through the ballot and expressed your desire for a new leadership direction in a free, fair, and credible electoral process, albeit still evolving and will get better with time.

Now is not the time to engage in sibling rivalries or expression of angst with our dear sisters but time to take stock and reflect on how we can remain together and resolute to grow this association and keep the twilight of the new dawn aglow.

In all modesty, I salute the courage of everyone, both those in the frontline of driving the bandwagon of change and those who felt the modest efforts they had made was enough to keep the association moving for another 3years. You are all heroines. We celebrate you!

Like we said during a recent conversation, and reiterate now, that NAWOJ and NAWOJIANS won this election and we all must put our acts together in actualizing the vision already drawn out in a clean slate, in order to achieve good success.

We express our profound appreciations to all NAWOJIANS, regardless of their political affinities, who left homes, work, career and businesses to take the risk of journeying from various locations to come to Abuja to vote in the election. We also express our appreciation for the confidence you all reposed in us to lead this association. We assure you that it will be a collective trajectory to excellence and stability.

We celebrate you all!

We also celebrate your determination and commitment to unionism, the painstaking effort individuals put into the campaign, the resources personally committed, the goodwill generously expressed, the prayers said, the counsels given, all these formed a bedrock on which we celebrate this new dawn today. May you all be richly blessed. Ameen.

More than anything else, your outward expression of interest to support us further strengthens and propels our will to remain determined to grow this association and take it to enviable heights.

We are Team-Unite, and we are joining forces with all NAWOJIANS in their various capacities, from the National to Zonal and state levels, and together, we will work and render good report of our stewardship.

Dear NAWOJians, we have an association to nurture together. Our modus operandi is simple. To grow together in fellowship.

From the acrimony flowing from the campaigns, we can clearly understand why the first two items on our manifesto are apt: Reconciliation and Reuniting. We can not continue in that stead. We will call for a conference where we will all eat from one plate and drink from the cup of Sisterhood and forge solidly ahead together. Even while our steps falter, let’s lean on our collective strength.

The purpose of that Conference is to unite everyone so that our pursuit of a common goal will be unimpeded by acrimony bottled by members.
It has become even more imperative with this election. I therefore urge everyone to let go and let’s live!

We must address the challenge of unity, peace, and progress of all with a strength of character that matches the pulling down of strongholds.

We will build a virile and well bonded relationship among members while upholding our motto: “Dignity in Service.”

Together, we will create opportunities for personal development and membership growth and work towards enhancing the highest professional attainment for members.

We will address the deficit in the professional development of members by taking solid steps to ensuring that trainings are shared across zones every time they are accessed from sponsors or organized internally by the National Secretariat.

We will work out a realistic welfare programme for women journalists in need. The welfare of our members, including retirees and those having one form of physical challenge or the other, should be our priority as leaders.

We can not divest our interest as an affiliate of our parent union by separating ourselves from the NUJ. We will seek a special audience with our president, Chief Chris Isiguzo, and appeal for space in the vast NUJ land and get space to erect a temporary structure until such a time we can develop our land. Being a father that he is, he will no doubt, oblige us.

We will be networking with other professional groups and replicating their success stories and drawing lessons on leadership dynamics from our mothers of yore, from whom we will have ambassadors and resource persons.

Great NAWOJIANS, we can not achieve these without team spirit. Hence, we will be hitting the ground running with our code: Team-Unite to propel this vision.

Once again, we enjoin you all to come to the table and bring your best bet along. Let us all put our best foot forward! Together, we can!

We also salute all our leaders, from the father of our union, Chief Chris Isiguzo, President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, to our Mother General Yeye Omisewa Ifeyinwa Omowole, Former National Chairperson of our great association, to all our past National Chairpersons and immediate past National Chairperson and my sister Ladi Bala, (leadership is a continuum and so we will always be in communication with you), to our dynamic BOT Dr Bimbo Oyetunde, to our ebullient and articulate DG Comrade Grace Ijeoma Umeh, to all Zonal Vice Chairpersons and Chairpersons of our state chapters, to all members in office and outside, to NAWOJIANS in the diaspora who kept supporting the vision, to all our sponsors, God bless you all. May Allah SWT increase you on all sides. Ameen.

Thank you! Once again, thank you!

Comrade Aisha Ibrahim K. Bura
National Chairperson

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