Controversy has continued to trail Delta
State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s alleged
N250 million sponsorship of 16 private-sector
journalists to London for a training on
"Investigative Joirnalism" which has been
described as a jamboree.
This comes as a crisis is currently brewing in
the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of
Journalists (NUJ), which could lead to the
removal of its Chairman, Mr Norbert Chiazor,
over the selection of the reporters for the
London training.
Members of the NUJ in the state have
condemned in strong terms the involvement of
Mr. Chiazor, describing it as a sell-out,
clandestine and compromise, stressing that
the “corrupt” manner he led the selected
private journalists to the jamboree said to be
holding at the Thomson Reuters Foundation in
London is an impeachable offence.
SaharaReporters investigations show that the
state government in its bid to buy the media,
hiding under its human capital development
agenda, allegedly approved a whooping N250
million for the training of the 16 journalists in
London for the second time.
Last year, the council chairman had risked
impeachment following his involvement in
controversial and corrupt circumstances with
the state government to take 12 journalists in
state for a similar jamboree at the Reuters/
Thompson Foundation in London, United
Kingdom.
Before now, the state chairman of the union
has been accused by members of the NUJ in
the state of corruption, flagrant disregard of
the union's constitution, lack of transparency,
respect for members, romance with
government to the detriment of members, as
well as intimidation and harassment of
members.
It was reliably gathered that the embattled
NUJ state chairman had reached an alleged
deal with the state government to be
sponsoring selected private sector journalists
abroad for jamborees in the name of training
so as to avoid any form of bad press
throughout the reign of the administration.
According to a release from the office of the
state Information Commissioner, Mr. Chike
Ogeah, 16 journalists from the print and
electronic media in the state have commenced
a one-week training at the world renowned
Thomson Reuters Institute in London under
the sponsorship of the state government with
the theme “Investigative Journalism” focusing
on ethics and the principles of investigation in
news writing.
Ogeah confirmed that the “Training is the
second to be sponsored by the Delta State
Government. Last year, 12 journalists were at
the Thomson Reuters Institute for one-week
training on News Writing.”
He said Governor Uduaghan, who gave his
approval for the training, is of the belief that
it was in line with his administration’s
programme of human capital development.
It was revealed that apart from the 16 state-
sponsored journalists, others including the
General Manager of the state-owned Pointer
Newspapers, Mr. Bioseh Iwobi, whose tenure
has elapsed, the Permanent Secretary in the
Ministry of Information, Mr. Austin Mowah due
for retirement by 28th of this month, the
special assistant and personal assistant to the
commissioner led by Ogeah himself left the
shores of the country on Sunday, September
22, 2013 for the jamboree in London which
sources said would last for two weeks.
According to a Government House member of
staff, "The governor is at good wasting public
funds. Some of the persons on the list were
the same persons who attended the first
jamboree in London. Mowah, Ogeah, Chiazor, SA
to the commissioner and few others currently
in London were among the first set.”
However, a group in the state chapel under the
auspices of “Chapel Leaders Forum” were said
to have started collating signatories towards
the removal of the chairman. It was reliably
gathered that the chapel leadership shall be
meeting Wednesday to decide the fate of the
embattled chairman.
According to the members, the chairman has
been running the union like a private empire as
well as his failure to hold monthly congresses
which has breached Article F 6a of the union
which states inter alia that “the state
congress shall meet monthly.”
Members of group are also not happy that
Article 2 c has also been breached several
times by the Norbert Chiazor-led executive as
it has failed to “encourage the participation of
members in decision making processes in the
union.”
The chapel's leadership and it's members
were quick to mention the 2012 edition of the
Press Week organized by the Council where
the issue was not discussed at SEC or
Congress before a committee was set up and
inaugurated by the council.
“This led to a subtle boycott of the lecture
aspect of the Week where Governor Emmanuel
Uduaghan despite all efforts to flag-off the
ceremony had to mandate his Deputy, Prof.
Amos Utuama (SAN) to represent him due to
the poor turnout of journalists for the event.
Lagos-based lawyer and gubernatorial aspirant
in Delta State, Festus Keyamo who delivered
the lecture spoke to a hall that had less than
10 per cent of practising journalists in
attendance,” a reporter who is in the know of
what is going on in the union, but craved
anonymity said.
“Also, during the 2012 edition of the Press
Week, despite Comrade Chiazor informing
members of SEC that the National Executive
Council of the NUJ approved that only five
persons be given awards during the Award
Nite, more than eight persons bagged the
NUJ, Delta State Council awards prompting
questions as to 'how much was paid for the
awards?' to be asked and the disregards of the
order by NEC," another reporter lamented.
A member of the Chiazor-led executive also
lamented that the NUJ in the state are
worried that the NEC of the Union may not do
anything against Chiazor as he has at several
ocassions boasted that “I put Comrade Garba
(NUJ National President, Comrade Mohammed
Garba) there, I followed him throughout his
campaign and if you are going to complain, who
will you complain to?”
Meanwhile, a pressure group reacting to the
alleged wastefulness of the state funds by the
state government, Liberate Delta Peoples’
Movement, has condemned in strong terms
Uduaghan’s sponsorship of the 16 reporters to
the London training.
In a statement issued by the group’s
spokesman, Mr. Cadre Drake, titled “Delta
Condemned Uduaghan For Wasting Delta State
Funds On 16 Private Sector Journalists For
Reuters Course In London” and made available
to SaharaReporters said, “Members of the
group have expressed great shock and
disappointment to hear that this current
course was the ‘second’ such sponsorship of
journalists from the state coffers. Liberate
believes that it is not the business of Delta
State to act as the human resources
department of privately owned media houses.
“In addition, the group affirms its strong
support for the principal of ‘freedom of the
press’ and it is sad that even the media house
could not see how this might compromise their
reputation as independent press. The group has
also raised concerns about Reuters accepting
these candidates on their course and have
written to Reuters to tender a formal
complaint.
“Uduaghan is taking the ordinary citizen of
Delta State for granted by the unadulterated
waste of the State funds. Even if this was a
good idea, with more 18 people travelling to
UK, it would have been significantly cheaper to
invite Reuters to Warri. The saddest part is
the incompetence of the Uduaghan
administration is that it’s not prone to taking
correction and listening to good advice; the
people deserve more information from the
Commissioner of Information”.

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