The Morning After The August 1st NUJ AKS Council Election
The slither of the sun is peeking over the skyline in a radiant white form. Birds are calling to one another almost simultaneously from nearby bushes and electricity poles. It’s the morning after a historic election of one the most important unions in Akwa Ibom state – the Nigeria Union of Journalists.
Unlike the previous morning, the simmering anxiety of the contestants and their supporters is gradually giving way to newer emotions – fulfillment and regrets.
Congratulatory messages have taken over online platforms that were beleaguered with electioneering messages. Phone calls are still pouring in to the mobile devices of those who emerged victorious; although the number is declining compared to the night when the results were announced.
This morning brings with it some healthy dosage of relief from what almost became the most worrisome brand of electioneering the NUJ has witnessed in a long while. Stakeholders and even non-members had expressed their fears that some commentaries weaved as campaign messages as put forward by supporters of some candidates were embarrassing and not befitting of the status of a revered union whose members are usually said to belong to the fourth estate of the realm in the society.
Like tens of dishes stacked in the backyard of the home of the host for a major festivity, or perhaps debris thrown up at the shore by waves of the ocean, the result of the election has dumped a tasking job on laps of the Chairman and other members of his executive committee – that of reaching out to members of the opposing camps and showing them the big picture of height the union would attend when all factions thrown up by just-concluded election merge to march towards a popular goal.
As I write this, there a clear pointers to the fact that the lot on who to lead the union for the period of another three years will fall on the current Chairman of the union – Elder Patrick Albert. Most of the members I have interacted have said they will be asking him to lead the union for a second term.
This means he will be making history as the first chairman to return for a second term in office. It also means that he will be the linchpin in task of reaching out to all the factions. He is also the one to provide the melting pot where all the electioneering promises of his executive committee are refined and served to the electorates.
I have utmost confidence that the first three years had done the wonderful job of opening his eyes to even more efficient ways of getting things done. I have studied his promises and they look achievable. When attainable campaign promises meet a committed and forward-thinking leader, the result should be an outpouring of achievements.
On the morning after the August 1st elections, the ship with the registration number NUJAKS will leave the harbor for a sail that would last for a period of three years. Thankfully, the ship will have Elder Patrick Albert as captain - a man who taken the union on a rewarding sail these past three years.
If the day goes down in history as a sunny day, the heat of the sun will solder us together as one indivisible and virile union. If it rains, the showers will only soften the ground for us to sow seeds for a greater union. Whatever the weather condition, the union will still win.
And as the story of creation goes, there will be morning and evening on the day after the August 1st election!
