NGE has expressed shock, sadness and a deep sense of loss over the death of one of its dedicated members and veteran journalist, Emmanuel Yawe.
By Emma Ogbuehi
Yawe died in his sleep last Thursday, March 10, 2022. Until his demise, Yawe was the National Publicity Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF).
A statement from the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), signed by its President, Mustapha Isah, and General Secretary, Iyobosa Uwugiaren, recalled how the late Yawe remained a committed member of the Guild even after several years of retiring from public service, describing him as editors’ editor.
The statement said: “Mr. Emmanuel Yawe was one of the peace makers and voices of reason who ensured that the last elective Congress of the Nigerian Guild of Editors in Kano was smooth and rancour-free”.
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It added that even after the Congress, Yawe played an active role in the last biennial Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC), which held few months later in Abuja, where he served as a key discussant in one of the sessions on Security.
NGE recalled that at that session, the late Yawe brought his experiences as Editor, publisher, government spokesperson, public servant and mouthpiece of the ACF to bear, as he advised Editors on how best to report issues of national security, especially in a volatile and delicate country like Nigeria.
A distinguished journalist and author, Yawe was, at various times, Member, Editorial Board of Advisers, The Point Newspaper; Editorial Board Member, People’s Daily Newspaper; Managing Editor, New Sentinel Newspaper; and Editor, Crystal International News Magazine. He also served on the Editorial Board of the New Nigerian Newspapers between 1982 and 1983.
A 1979 graduate of Political Science from the University of Ibadan, Yawe, between 1988 and 1992, served as Managing Director of Gongola Press Ltd, and before then, Director General, Governor’s Office, Gongola State between 1987 and 1988; Editor, Sunday Triumph Newspapers 1984 – 1987.
Yawe, who hailed from Donga local government area of Taraba State, briefly served as Chief Press Secretary, Governor’s Office, Gongola State (Now Adamawa and Taraba states) in 1983.
He was 66.
“NGE joins the family, the entire fraternity of the pen, the ACF and the governments and people of both Taraba and Adamawa State in mourning the painful exit of this media icon and peerless patriot, who, at 66 years of age, still had a might lot of service to give to the fatherland.
“Emmanuel Yawe will be greatly remembered as a true professional who gave his all to the journalism profession in Nigeria. We will miss him greatly”, the Guild said.