By Zayamu Hassan
The Health Editor of The AUTHORITY Newspapers, Malam Hassan Zaggi, has been re-elected as President of the Association of Nigeria Health Journalists (ANHEJ).
A statement issued by the ANHEJ secretariat to newsmen, said the association also elected other new executives to pilot its affairs for the next two years.
The election which took place in Abuja, saw the re-election of Malam Hassan Zaggi, with Bassey Ita Ikpang of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) as Vice President, while Gloria Essien of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) was elected as the Secretary General of the association.
“Others elected into the executive are; Toyin Adebayo of Daily Independent as Treasurer; Regina Otokpa of The New Telegraph as the Welfare Director, Emmanuel Kutara of Radio Nigeria (FRCN) emerged as Provost and Nike Adebowale of Premium Times was elected as the Financial Secretary,” the statement said.
In a remark while swearing-in the new executives, Chairman Board of ANHEJ, Mr Godwin Odemijie, commended the Chairman of the electoral committee, Frank Ajufo and members of the committee for the smooth conduct of the elections.
He also appreciated members of the association for conducting themselves in a peaceful manner before, during and after the election.
He applauded the outgoing executives for the good leadership they provided in the past two years, noting that the peaceful atmosphere that was enjoyed during the election was a testimony that they carried the entire members along.
Mr Odemijie, however, urged the new executives to work hard, in order provide the needed leadership and ensure Nigerians get the right health information for them to remain healthy.
He observed that Health journalists have an enormous role to play in complementing Government efforts at curtailing the spread of COVID-19 in the country, by ensuring Nigerians have informed and accurate information concerning the pandemic especially on the vaccine roll out.
He regretted that the health sector is bedeviled with a lot of challenges and therefore called on the Executives to work together with the stakeholders and partners to hold the government accountable in order to get the required health information for onward dissemination to Nigerians.
Responding on behalf of the new executives, Malam Zaggi, commended the entire members of ANHEJ for conducting themselves in a manner that is exemplary for others to emulate.
He called for support and cooperation from all the members for meaningful progress to be achieved in the next two years.
Malam Zaggi who further vowed the executive’s readiness to listen, receive suggestions and ideas that will lead to the growth of the association, insisted that, “nobody has monopoly of wisdom and knowledge. We all compliment each other.”
