The president, Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr Femi Adesina, has stated that the late vice chairman of the SUN Publishing Company Limited, Mr Dimgba Igwe, would have survived the accident that claimed his life if prompt medical attention had reached him.
Speaking in a telephone chat, Adesina who recounted his last contact with Igwe in a tone laden with nostalgia recalled four grueling hours the late journalist had battling with his life.
According to Adesina, who said he was a protege of the late journalist, having worked under him as a reporter in the defunct WEEKEND CONCORD, the late Igwe was initially moved to a private hospital somewhere in Isolo.
“When the staff of the hospital sensed that the injuries sustained by Igwe was beyond the scope they could cope with, they transferred him to Isolo General Hospital. Unfortunately, there was no surgeon around at the time he was taken there, so they had to move him to Lagos University Teaching Hospital where he died,” he said.
Adesina whose voice betrayed his emotion said the deceased had to endure four hours of pain, as the incident occurred about 6am but he had to give up the ghost at the emergency surgical theatre about 10am on Saturday.
Nevertheless, Adesina eulogised the late newshound whom he described as a mentor to many successful journalists in the country today.
On what he would remember the late journalist for, he said: “He trained me just as he trained some other journalists at that time. I was a young reporter when I joined the Sunday Concord in 1989. He was the deputy editor, so he virtually trained us in the rudiments of the profession.”
NLC demands investigation, prosecution of driver
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged the Federal Road Safety Commission to investigate, apprehend and prosecute the driver of the vehicle that allegedly knocked down Mr Dimgba Igwe.
The late Igwe was at the weekend killed by a hit-and-run driver as he jogged around his residence at Okota in Lagos.
The NLC, in a statement by its general secretary, Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, described the death of Igwe as a big loss to quality journalism.
The statement reads in part: “We received the sad news of the unfortunate death of the vice chairman of the Sun Publishing Company, publishers of the Sun newspapers, Mr Dimgba Igwe, who was killed yesterday, reportedly by a hit-and-run driver as he jogged around his residence at Okota in Lagos.
“We remember him as one of the founding editors of the defunct Concord newspapers and, until death, a versatile columnist whose writings have contributed immensely to shaping thoughts, contemporary political discourse, and progressive journalism in Nigeria.
“The circumstance of Mr Igwe’s death calls to question the mental fitness of most drivers in Nigeria as we wonder as to what was the speed level of a vehicle that could run down a man within a small street, resulting in his untimely death in a few hours.”
He stated that once drivers who derive joy in reckless driving get to know they could end up in jail, accidents such as this will be reduced.
He stated further, “We condole with Mr Igwe’s family, the Sun Publishing Company, the Nigerian Guild of Editors and, indeed, the entire media community in Nigeria as we share in the collective agony his death has brought to all of us.”
Source:LEADERSHIP
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