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A senior reporter with Newsline Newspaper, Mr. Akawu Ibrahim, has emerged as one of the most outstanding journalists in the print media category.
The quintessential journalist, with over one and a half decades of journalism practice, was among the thirteen nominees crowned with the prestigious award yesterday at IBB Pen House during a ceremony to mark the 2023 Press Week of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Niger State Council.
Justina Asishina of the Nation Newspaper and Abubakar Akote of the Daily Trust were also among the awardees for Most Outstanding Journalists in Print Media.
Others who carted the award home in the broadcast category included Maimuna Raji Egigo from Prestige FM, Umar Borno from Radio Niger, Pamela Doma and Zainab Khaleel Kobo of Niger State Television, and Fatima Usman of NTA.
Mustapha Nasiru Batsari of Voice of America, Sani Muhammad Sani and Nurudeen Isyaku Daza, both of Prestige FM, and Mal. Aliyu of FRCN emerged as outstanding journalists awardees in the indigenous languages category.
Jibrin Usman Kodo of the Niger State Ministry of Information went home with the outstanding information officer award.
During the ceremony, the Chairman of NUJ, Niger State Council, Comrade Abu Nmodu, enjoined the awardees to work hard to justify the award bestowed on them.
He encouraged journalists to continue persevering in the face of daunting challenges by upholding the truth, which is one of the cardinal ethics of the noble profession.
The Niger State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists is holding its 2023 Press Week, with a lecture and award ceremony kick-starting the event.
The grand finale will take place on Saturday, February 3, 2024, with the investiture of Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago as the Grand Patron of the union and the launch of the union magazine.
The occasion will be held at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi International Conference Centre, Minna, by 9:00 a.m.
Nigeria Health Watch (NHW), in collaboration with the Niger State Government through the state ministries of primary healthcare, secondary healthcare, and tertiary health, has graduated about 25 fellows of the state Health Misinformation Management fellowship.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony held at the Haske Luxury Hotel in Minna, the state commissioner for secondary and tertiary health, Dr. Bello Tukur, said the fellowship programme was important to the state health sector because it would help curb health misinformation in the state.
He observed that a misinformed person was more dangerous than an uninformed person and appreciated the NHW for identifying the gap because it was important to pass the right information to the public at all times.
Dr. Tukur, who said the damage misinformation can cause was more severe than the lack of information, recalled how people were made to bath and drink salt water, which led to the deaths of some hypertensive people during the Ebola era.
He said the fellows will serve as vanguards for the health ministries and help in the dissemination of the right information to the public, expressing optimism that the state will have successful public health programmes this year with the help of the fellows.
While congratulating NHW and the graduands for the successful completion of the fellowship programme, the commissioner promised that they would accord them all the necessary support to effectively discharge their duties.
The state commissioner for primary healthcare, Dr. Ibrahim Dangana, who was represented by Dr. Ahmed Abdulsalam, said he was excited about the programme and that the fellows will serve as soldiers for the dissemination of righteous health information.
He said that with the nature of the training received by the fellows, there will be a pool of local experts that will assist officials in the health sector of the state when the need arises.
In her remarks, the Director of Programmes at NHW, Dr. Kemisola Agbaoye, said the organisation was overwhelmed with the level of commitment the fellows put towards the success of the cohort one programme, adding that they were proud of them.
She disclosed that they were already in talks with the state ministries of primary healthcare and secondary and tertiary health on how to institutionalise the project and get the fellows integrated into the already existing structure of community mobilisation and rumour management in the state.
Earlier in his overview of the cohort one programmeme, the state epidemiologist, Dr. Patrick Gimba, said the fellowship programmeme was designed to empower the participants with skills to effectively identify and address health misinformation in the state, their communities, and their work places, and to foster strategic partnership among stakeholders.
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