By Amuda Dan Sulaiman FAB.
Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists NUJ, Kogi State Council, Comrade Adeiza Momohjimoh, yesterday broke fast with practicing journalists at the press centre, Lokoja.
The journalists in attendance include state correspondents, newspaper publishers, bloggers, radio presenters and staff of the NUJ press centre.
Traders around the NUJ press centre also joined the breakfast.
Addressing the gathering during the breaking of the Ramadan fast, the NUJ chairman said the essence of the event was to foster unity amongst the union and its members.
Momohjimoh used the occasion to advised Journalists not to derail from strict adherence to professional ethics in the conduct of their duties.
He said strict compliance to laid down rules regulating the practice of journalism was necessary for ensuring the dissemination of reliable and credible information.
He stressed that journalists should not use their medium to cause disaffection among Nigerians, adding that stories should not be concocted to satisfy selfish interests.
He assured that the union under his watch, would monitor the activities of all journalists in the state, to ensure that they operate within set down rules of the profession.
In his Ramadan lecture, the Imam of the NUJ mosque, Alhaji Musa Tanimu Nasidi, called on Muslims to continue to uphold the tenets of Islam beyond the month of Ramadan, saying they should do by strengthening their faith in God, showing love to one another and always embracing peace and harmony in conflict resolution.
He urged Muslims to remain steadfast, committed, peaceful to the worship of Allah and continue to pray for the development of the state and prosperity of Nigeria as a whole, even as he admonished Muslim faithful to continue their good and noble deeds, even beyond the month of Ramadan.
According to Nasidi, Ramadan is a period of prayer, thanksgiving, forgiveness, spiritual training, and self-examination, and urged Muslim faithful to avoid acts and things forbidden by Islam during and after the holy month.
“We thank the Almighty Allah that we are alive to witness another month of Holy Ramadan- a serious spiritual exercise to strengthen our Islamic faith.
“It’s an opportunity for us to thank God and perform one of the injunctions of the month of Ramadan which is to bring Muslims brothers and sisters together to observe Iftar,” he stressed.
In his remark, Abubakar Hussein Suleiman, the NUJ deputy chairman, who said the Ramadan fast break was the first of its kind, thanked Momohjimoh for the gesture and prayed God to continue to bless him and his family.
Suleiman told the gathering that; “We should continue to show love, forgiveness and respect to one another while the lessons of the Ramadan must reflect in our daily lives.
According to the deputy chairman, steadfastness and submission to Allah will make society habitable to all and devoid of war, hostility, rancor, poverty and other calamities.
