By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The Nigeria Union of Journalists ( NUJ ) FCT Correspondents’ Chapel received with shock the demise of one of our members, Mr. Ude Ejikeme who died in the early hours of Tuesday April 16th 2024 after a brief illness at Garki Hospital Abuja.
In a statement jointly signed by Comrade Jide Oyekunle and Raphael Oni the Chairman and Secretary of the Chapel respectively on Wednesday described the untimely death of the veteran journalist as a rude shock as its happening when the union is trying to recover from a similar incident.
From God we came and to Him we shall all return, the Correspondents Chapel to this end is announcing with heavy heart the death of a professional colleague, committed and dedicated to his work, Mr. Ude Ejikeme of the Dawn Newspaper. Who died on Tuesday 16th April 2024 after a brief illness.
We console the immediate family of the deceased, Management of the Dawn Newspaper, friends and professional colleagues and pray that God Almighty comfort those he left behind by giving them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
Late Ejikeme was a committed unionist and has contributed immensely to the growth and development of the union and journalism general.
We are going to miss his courageous attributes and mentorship. He was one of the pillars of the union who served the union meritoriously in different capacities with his wealth of experience and aura of intelligence.
Ejikeme left behind a legacy of humility, excellence, professionalism and will forever be remembered by those he has inspired as a role model in the profession. His death has left a huge vacuum that would not be easily filled.
The statement also tasks all members to pray and seek God’s divine intervention in putting an end to the recurrence of this unfortunate incident in the union.
We are also using this opportunity to call on all our members to give priority to their health irrespective of the prevailing economic hardship in the country because ‘health they say is wealth.
Ejikeme hails from Mgowo, Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State and he was the former news Editor of The Dawn Newspaper and Abuja Bureau Chief of Daily Star Newspaper and a civilian Commissioner of Police.