I am Barrister Soalabo West, Partner in the law firm of Metropolitan Partners, a lawyer and personal confidant of Prince. Tonye Princewill He asked me to represent him because of the high regard he has for all you esteemed members of the press and the great NUJ. I sincerely apologise for his absence and I assure you that his absence was unavoidable.
On behalf of Prince Tonye Princewill, I welcome you all to this triennial conference and thank you all for making the-effort to travel long distances to be here today. I also wish you all a safe trip back after a successful conference. Port Harcourt is safe, thanks to our untiring Governor; and I enjoin you to make the best of what the city can offer without over-exerting yourselves of course. I understand you will have a few discussions and hold an election. A few of you may be anxious but please permit me to say a few words before we embark on the main business of the day. .
Elections are very important in democratic organization. Essentially, it ensures that people who lead the organization are a choice of the led. Simple! The process must be seen to be transparent. Unfortunately this is not the case in many elections conducted in Nigeria. Some of you here have courageously reported these wrong practices and the ugly effects of them on the polity. Your case should therefore be different. We are looking up to the NUJ to set the pace in this regard. So I implore and charge all of us here (voters, those running for office and those saddled with the responsibility of conducting your elections) to act right. To act according to the agreed rules and guidelines set down for the conduct the elections. I plead that they should also consider the laws of Nigeria, particularly the provisions of the constitution relating to our fundamental rights. Many elections have been won at the ballot and lost at the courts (and vice versa) when parties choose to act outside the established ground rules and law.
A lot of people who are familiar with Prince Tonye Princewill say he is somewhat of an enigma. An engineer, politician, philanthropist and now journalist! His love for the pen profession and for journalists is unrivaled. This is not news. In fact it is this love that has led him to maintain a weekly column in the Vanguard. I think he should be invited to join the NUJ as a practicing journalist. He is available to all of you most of the time and he has continued to provide assistance in measures usually above what he can afford. Apart from the assistance to individuals, he has
been helping out orphanages, assisting in the development of talents iii the entertainment industry and supporting local women with microcredit through the Rivers State Micro-Finance Agency. Two donations that specifically touched the members of the NUJ that he has made recently are to The Tide Newspapers and to the Correspondent’s Chapel. I am s sure he is ready to give some more support. He has asked me to pledge the sum of N500,000 for the procurement of equipment to assist the development of the business center of the NUJ Correspondents chapel and N2.5millon to assist the incoming NUJ Exco to start their work. The Prince is ready to receive the new Exco on a courtesy call on his arrival from his trip abroad to exchange ideas on how to move the Union forward. I expect the new Exco to liaise with his Media Chief, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze to facilitate this.
I thank you all for the great respect you have shown to the Prince of the Niger Delta by inviting him to Chair such an august event and
assure you all that it will not go unnoticed. I therefore pledge the continued support of the Prince and organizations within his sphere of influence to the cause of journalists in Nigeria and the profession of journalism.
Prince Tonye Princewill is grateful for this opportunity. I wish you all a successful election and deliberations! May God bless the NUJ, may God bless Rivers State and may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria! ###
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