At the 2025 Annual Classic Dinner hosted by the Edo State Council of the Union Benin City, the national president of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Alhassan Yahaid that his administration would make sure that the welfare of journalists in Nigeria is improved through regular and continuous engagement with employers, the government, and other stakeholders in the industry.
The president also praised the governor of the state, Sen. Monday Okpebholo, for his enthusiasm for state development and urged the populace to support the administration. Yahaya praised the Edo State Council of the NUJ for organizing the annual event and urged that it be maintained.
In her remarks, Mrs. Abimbola Oyetunde, the Union’s Deputy National President (DNP) and the first female journalist to hold that position in the history of the Nigerian National Journal, praised Edo State journalists for their support of the Union’s State and National Leadership and urged that it be maintained.
Comrade Festus Alenkhe, the head of the NUJ’s State Council, stated in his welcome speech that this was the fourth Classic Dinner under his leadership and that it was intended to provide a chance for journalists and their families to relax.
Governor Okpebholo’s designation as the NUJ’s Grand Patron was the event’s high point. He was represented by his Commissioner for Communication, Orientation and ICT, Hon Paul Ohonbamu who in his speech said Governor Okpebholo was a media friendly governor who would not gag the press and urged practitioner to remain professional “and adhere to fairness, equity and objectivity in all your reports. He speaks less; instead, he expresses himself via his actions.”
High-profile individuals attended the event, including former World Medical Association (WMA) President Dr. Osahon Enabulele, Chairman of the Edo State Inland Revenue Service (EIRS), Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor Friday Aghedo, former Commissioner for Communication and Orientation Adaze Enwanta, former Union chairmen in the state, veteran journalists, representatives of the Oba of Benin, Patrick Ochogam, Chairperson of the Nigerian Association of Women (NAWOJ), the newly elected chairman of the Correspondents Chapel, Adesuwa Ehimuan, Chairman, Edo State Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN), and Kehinde Osagiede, among others.
