It was long, it was rough, it was not easy but yet we succeeded. After surviving the longest academic session in the last 4 years and enjoying about four to five weeks break that prior seemed unnecessary due to the unforeseen 6 months ASUU strike experienced in 2013; the Union of campus journalist hereby welcomes you back to school for the 2013/14 session which is obviously overdue. We hope and wish that this new session will be an improvement over previous ones in all your endeavours. We also congratulate and welcome all fresh students to the nation’s premier university. We wish you a hitch free sojourn on campus.
Our sincere appreciation goes to all University of Ibadan campus pressmen for their tremendous support, commitment, and hard work both in the local press organizations and the UCJ in the erstwhile administration. The successes achieved would have been impossible without your various efforts which were like drops that consequently amassed to become the mighty ocean of Success. We hope to see more of your relentless effort.
Appreciation also goes to the 8 man executive of the erstwhile administration most especially the ever-objective president (Titiladunayo Daniel Damilola) and the always efficient Public Relations Officer (Odefemi Toluwase) for their immense contribution to the success of the administration. May your cups never run dry.
On the 15thth of March,2014, the current executives were sworn in although with some vacant offices, we resolved into co-option of registered UCJ members to fill up the vacant offices. We appreciate the immediate response given towards this course.
Meanwhile, due to the nature of the 2nd semester (disrupted calendar due to 6months ASUU strike), arrangements for usual annual UCJ internship in the various mainstreet media outfits could not be made. Attempts to make the program possible failed as the time of notification of the media houses was too short to ensure an impactful internship experience. We therefore apologize on this regard and promise to make it up to all interested pressmen by making arrangements for a wonderful internship experience in the next sessional break.
Having welcomed you back to school, I will like to outline to both pressmen and the general student body on campus all UCJ programs and activities for the semester.
PROGRAMS INVOLVING PRESSMEN ONLY.
Registration of Senators
The UCJ senate which is the decision making body of the union is one of the 5 organs of the union. It is composed of all members of the Secretariat, editorial board, all editors-in-chief and 2 editors each from all the local press organizations. We therefore implore all Editors-in-Chief of local press outfits to register their names and names of two (2) other editors that will ably represent their interests in the decision making proceedings of the Senate. Please do well to send very articulate and objective members of your local press as they will be the intermediaries between UCJ and your local press.
Registration of Local Press Organizations(L.P.Os)
Article 5, Section 14, Subsection 1 of the UCJ constitution states that “membership of UCJ shall be composed of all duly registered press organizations on the campus”. Deductively, UCJ is not indebted in any way to any campus press organization that fails to register. We therefore enjoin all the local press organizations to please register in due time. Registration is for a stipulated amount which will be decided by the senate in the first senate meeting.
The Heartbeat Tabloid
The Heartbeat Tabloid is an annual publication of the UCJ. It is a rich platform through which past, recent, and impending activities are objectively evaluated. At the appointed time, we shall call for articles from pressmen to this regard. We anticipate your quick response.
Seminar/ Workshop
We promised as part of our manifesto that a never-remain-the-same, improve-your-journalistic-skill workshop shall be organized to help bring all the journalistic potential in you to action. Renowned and established mainstreet media personalities shall be brought down to University of Ibadan to ensure that the objectives of the program are achieved. Publicity measures shall be duly adopted prior to the program. You should not miss opportunities like this.
UCJ Alumni Reunion
It is my utmost joy to announce to everyone that the 2nd Edition of the UCJ Alumni Reunion shall be held during this administration. As the name implies, it is a program that aims to bring together all UCJ Alumni who in their days wielded the pen in the path of truth and consequently have their names engraved on the sands of time. It promises to present a great avenue where past heroes of Campus journalism can be met; an avenue where one can get more encouraged as regards our potential opportunities as campus pressmen. The maiden edition of this event was held in the Titiladunayo Daniel led administration and it recorded magnificent success. The 2nd edition promises to be better.
PROGRAMS INVOLVING ALL STUDENTS.
Intervarsity Essay Competition.
This is a UCJ program that is open to all interested students. University of Ibadan students and students from other universities shall have the oppotunity to rub shoulders with one another in this battle of wits. Registration forms will be out prior to the showpiece and strategic publicity measures shall also be put in place for adequate notification.
The Students’ Union Presidential Debate
Greatest Uites! It is imperative for me to salute the political awareness on campus towards the student union offices despite the poor response towards political offices in the Faculties, Halls of residence, departments etc. Posters bearing different faces welcoming us back to school now flood major, popular and strategic places in the campus.
As a matter of fact, the Union of Campus Journalist which is saddled with the responsibility of championing freedom will stop at nothing to ensure that every electorate is well informed about the credibility of his/her preferred candidate. To this effect, a presidential debate shall be organized prior to the election where each presidential aspirant shall be given the platform to prove to the public why he/she is better than other candidates. Thanks
UCJ website and other information Channels
We are glad to inform everyone that the promised UCJ website is now fully functional and in a matter of weeks, a seminar shall be organized for some selected pressmen as regards the optimum usage of the website. You can also advertise your interests on this site as it presents a wide platform where you can meet your target audience.The domain name of the website is www.ucjui.com. Visit and Explore!This shall be one of our information channels including the bulletin and the popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
Once again, the President, Mr. Kayode Folayemi, and other executive members welcome both fresh and returning students back to school. We implore all campus pressmen to be responsive to all UCJ activities- they are highly rewarding. The greatest service is service to humanity. Remember, “UCJ is Our Union”– and we are all stakeholders.
A publication from the desk of the P.R.O
Union of Campus Journalists,
University of Ibadan.
