Barring any last-minute hitch, journalists with existing personal projects in Ogun State are set to benefit from interest-free loans.
This was made public after the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) sought a partnership with a real estate firm, Pelican Valley Nigeria Limited.
It is believed that the initiative, when finalised, will propel the beneficiaries’ aspirations further and encourage them to persevere on the path to self-sustainability.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pelican Valley, Dr Babatunde Adeyemo, disclosed this in Abeokuta when he received a 4-man NUJ delegation comprising Chairman, Wale Olanrewaju; State Secretary, Bunmi Adigun; Chairman, Information Chapel, Femi Osipitan and Bolaji Abiodun on Friday.
During the visit, Olanrewaju sought a symbiotic partnership with the firm in the areas of developing the first Ogun journalists estate and a newsroom within Iwe-Iroyin premises to be named after late Mass Communication scholar, Professor Lai Oso, among others.
Adeyemo also urged journalists practicing in the state to start charting a path towards getting themselves profitable projects they can do to address financial insecurity.
“Having considered the economic vulnerability of an average journalist in Nigeria using my personal experience as a case study, I decided in the course of time to combine my news reporting with real estate business, so as not to lose my economic power and become economically vulnerable, which might eventually affect my objectivity in news reporting.
“As they say, ‘he who pays the piper dictates the tune.’ This singular conviction and adventure gave birth to the Pelican Valley Nigeria Limited and our numerous estates today.
“Today, Pelican Valley has not only become an household name but I, as the CEO of the estate firm, have become the poster boy of the real estate sector in Ogun State, having established one of the fastest growing estates in the state.
“I am an unrepentant advocate of second address, not only to the Nigerian journalists but also to politicians and political officeholders, who see public offices not as a service to humanity but a business venture.
“In view of the above development and our zeal to bring in more journalists into the ‘second address’ drag net, Pelican Valley Nigeria Limited is proposing a platform where journalists who are already into an existing and functioning ‘second address projects’ can be encouraged with an interest-free soft loans to propel their aspirations further and encourage them to be on the path to self sustainability.
“This intervention should not be perceived as a national cake as disbursement would be personally scrutinised by us and will be 100 percent based on merit,” Adeyemo said.
It will be recalled that the real estate firm facilitated the facilitated the construction of the Iwe Iroyin mosque about two years ago, among other soft and private empowerments to vulnerable members of the council.
Speaking earlier, the NUJ chairman hailed Adeyemo and attributed the success story of the Pelican Valley Nigeria Ltd to the upright and responsible manner he had conducted himself when he was in an active journalism practice.
Olanrewaju, however, used the visit to intimate Adeyemo of basic facilities and infrastructural needs of the council and solicited his support to address them.
and then