An Address Delivered By The Oyo State Commissioner For Information And Orientation, Prince Dotun Oyelade, As A Special Guest On The Occasion Of The June 2024 National Executive Council (NEC) Meeting Of The NUJ And The Investiture Of Governor Seyi Makinde As Grand Patron Of Union, Held At The Dapo Aderogba Hall, NUJ Press Centre, Iyaganku Gra, Ibadan On Friday 21st June, 2024.

It gives me great joy to be among you this morning.

It goes without saying that having being part and parcel of NUJ for the past 47 years, I have the entitlement to be comfortable and feel very much in the mix at this event.

This epoch making gathering is equally unique because it is the first time that the State will be hosting an NUJ, National Executive Council, NEC, meeting.

Eleven days ago, about 72 senior Journalists across the nation and representing most media houses paid us a working visit during which His Excellency, Governor Seyi Makinde and his team was able to take them round part of the State to inspect by themselves some of the projects that we have embarked on in the past five years.

I’m happy to report to this august meeting that after an exhaustive tour that had Gov. Seyi Makinde fielding tough and probing questions from our visitors, they were obviously very satisfied with what they saw and heard and the resulting reportage and feedbacks are our testimony that this administration is doing very well.

Our solid performance on the ground and in all spheres of human endeavour in Oyo State notwithstanding, we owe the NUJ a bunch of gratitude for reporting government activities factually and getting clarifications on grey areas at all times.

Gentlemen of the press, two years ago, during its annual press week celebration, the NUJ in Oyo State publicly declared that Governor Seyi Makinde is the most media friendly governor since the inception of Oyo State.

The Union acknowledged that the support extended to Journalists in Oyo State by Governor Makinde surpasses all the support made by previous administrations combined.

And I am quoting Oyo State NUJ.

Recall that Governor Seyi Makinde has a long history of support for the NUJ dating back to 2013 when he donated an Ultramodern Science Laboratory to the Pen Group of Schools.

A few years ago, he also donated a brand new bus to the NUJ in the State apart from other welfare gestures which I must say are well deserved.

I mentioned all these not to promote this administration but as a reporter myself, to add to the volume of credible information and extend the frontiers of the good relationship between Journalists and the State.

We sincerely thank the Demola Babalola-led executive for professional fairness at all times and to reassure this gathering once again that we will continue to do all in our power to ensure a perfect enabling environment for journalism and free speech to continue to thrive in our State.

E-signed

Prince Dotun Oyelade

Honourable Commissioner for Information

And Orientation

Oyo State

21st June, 2024