𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐔𝐒 𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐒,
𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐀𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐋 (𝐍𝐔𝐂𝐉-𝐔𝐂𝐂)
10/09/2026
NUCJ at 40: Pat Okonkwo Recounts Union’s Founding and Early Days at UNICAL
By Umoh Samuel
A former member of the Nigerian Union of Campus Journalists (NUCJ), Pat Okonkwo, has revealed historical details about the origin and early development of the union, stating that NUCJ was founded at the University of Calabar (UNICAL) around 1986.
According to Okonkwo, the pioneer founder and first President of NUCJ was Comrade Nwabueze Ugorji Nwabueze Ugorji, a Theatre Arts graduate of the University of Calabar, who later worked briefly with Cross River Radio in Calabar.
He disclosed that the first national convention of NUCJ was held at the University of Calabar in 1988, during which the then NUCJ-UNICAL Chapter President, Jenkins Okoh, was elected National President. Okoh, according to Okonkwo, is now deceased.
Okonkwo further recalled that NUCJ maintained a close relationship with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Cross River State Council, under the leadership of one Okonkwo, who, he said, adopted the campus journalists and their chapter as non-paying members of the union.
Describing campus journalism in the pre-1990 era, Okonkwo said student journalists operated press clubs that published news and articles on raw sheets of paper, which were displayed on billboards covered with glass for protection and aesthetics.
He mentioned some of the press clubs active at the time as Premier Press Club, Echo Press, ELSA Press and Malabor Press.
“Some of us went ahead to join the national press and broadcast industry with distinction,” Okonkwo said, reflecting on the impact of the early campus journalism movement.
He also revealed that the NUCJ Dinner was an annual event held every December, adding that he served as Public Relations Officer of the union from 1987 to 1989 and was also an ex-officio member of the national body.
According to him, there was no Department of Mass Communication at the University of Calabar before 1990. He noted that Theatre Arts and the Department of English and Literary Studies were among the academic disciplines closest to journalism at the time.
However, he stressed that membership of the campus press was not restricted to particular faculties or departments, as students from across the university participated actively in journalism.
Okonkwo's account provides an insight into the early history of campus journalism at the University of Calabar and the evolution of NUCJ as a platform for training and developing student journalists who would later contribute to Nigeria's media industry.
-- Pat Okonkwo (Public Relations Officer, 1987/1989)
Signed:
COMR. FASORANTI TIMILEHIN FRANCIS
EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT,
NUCJ-UCC
+234 813 322 9898