By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The Fache of family of former Spokesman of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Abubakar Jimoh, has instituted an award christened Dr Abdul Aziz Anako Fache (DAAF) Memorial Award for Health journalists in Nigeria.
Dr. Jimoh disclosed this recently at a lecture/award ceremony organized in his honour to celebrate serving over 30 by the Association of Nigeria Health Journalists (ANHEJ) in Abuja, weekend.
The lecture/award ceremony was to honour of Dr. Jimoh who recently retired after over 30 years of service as NAFDAC Spokesman.
The award is targeted at best Health Reporters in both Print and Electronic media in Nigeria.
According to Dr. Jimoh, there are entries for the two categories of awards ,which carry a monetary prize of N250,000 for each beneficiary, will take effect from March 2024 while the award ceremony will hold in September.
The annual merit awards, Dr. Jimoh stated is to immortalise his only brother, a seasoned medical practitioner who died tragically of cardiac arrest on September 22, 2022, at the age of 53.
The annual merit award he said is instituted in honour of Dr Fache to promote hard work, dedication, diligence, and excellence in health reporting in Nigeria.
“Dr Fache was a multi talented scholar, seasoned medical doctor, Lawyer and Author of Literary works. This award will help reduce pain, shock and irreparable loss of the rare Gem.”
A concerned friend of Fache family, Hajiya Memunah Aliyu, former Executive Director of Aso Savings and Loans Limited, who donated N500,000 to this cause and the awards fund, said that the financial prize will continue to increase as more donors have made pledges”.
Speaking earlier in her lecture, the Executive Director of International Society for Media in Public Health (ISMPH), Chief Moji Makanjuola, called on journalists in Nigeria to move from what she described as “event journalism to investigative journalism.”
She urged health journalists occupy a sensitive position in the country because, according to her, Nigerians rely on them for regular health information.
She also commended the retired Spokesman of NAFDAC, Dr. Jimoh for his hard work and dedication which she said, made NAFDAC a household name in Nigeria.
Chief Moji reiterated that Dr. Jimoh demonstrated rare qualities of humility, compassion, dedication and resilience to duty.
She called on experts in the health sector to work closely with the health journalists to ensure Nigerians get the right information that will help them make informed decision concerning their health.
Speaking, the President of ANHEJ, Mr Joseph Kadiri, commended the worthy efforts of the Fache Family and urged other well meaning Nigerians to emulate this gesture.
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