The State Information Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Ekiti State has described the death of Mr Sunday Aribatise and Mrs Nancy Otagbo who were members of the Union as an irreparable loss to colleagues, aquintances and the Journalism profession in general.
In a statement co-signed by the Chairman of the Union, Mr O’Seun Ogunsakin and his Secretary, Mr Adewale Obelewaji in Ado Ekiti, described the death of the duo within just one week as shocking, devasting and unfortunate.
Aribatise who retired from the service of the state government in 2020, served at different times as Director in both Civic Orientation and Information Services Departments in the Ministry of Information, while Otagbo until her death was also a serving Director in the Ministry.
On the death of Aribatise, the Union said it was sad that a veteran whose wealth of experience could be tapped from in order to improve on the competence of the younger generation of Information Officers was lost to the cold hands of death.
It noted that Aribatise left the service with an enviable record that showed competence, ingenuity and transfer of knowledge to officers under him.
The union expressed deep sorrow that the late retired Director left an aged mother whom he could have survived but for the untimely death that snatched him from his family and loved ones.
While reacting to the death of Otagbo, the union said the first and only female chairman of the chapel was a bold comrade who represented the view that gender doesn’t exist in journalism because everyone is a gentleman of the press.
It described the deceased as a hardworking and dedicated leader who always spoke truth to power and never compromised the welfare of her members.
The Union described the death of Otagbo as sunset at noon; noting that the former Union leader died in her prime and at a time when she was aspiring to reach the zenith of her career in the Civil Service.
It added that the vacuum left behind by the death of Otagbo would be hard to fill as she would be sorely missed by all.
“ We were still mourning the demise of Mr Aribatise who was our retired Director when the news of Otagbo’s death came in. The news was sad, devastating and traumatic. Losing two assets at the same time is an irreparable loss to us because they had been of immense contribution to the growth of the Union and the Ministry of Information. Otagbo was the only female chairman of our Union and had been a shining light and pathfinder for younger generation of information officers. Some of us had the privilege of serving under ‘Oga Ariba’ as we fondly called Mr Aribatise. He was a creative and intelligent boss who supervised the departments of Information Services and Civic Orientation.”
“Though we are deeply pained by these losses, we cannot question God who gives and takes. It is our prayer that God would put an end to premature death among our members, grant the family of the deceased the fortitude to bear the loss, comfort members of the State Information chapel of NUJ and rest the souls of the beloved departed ones”, the Union prayed.