Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Delta State Council, has appealed to sons and daughters of Isoko to help save the life of one of their members, Comrade Dave Okpogadie, who is very sick and needs money to continue his cancer treatment.
Mr. Dave Okpogadie is a former correspondent of ITV and currently works with the Nigerian NewsDirect. He comes from Emevor in the Isoko North Local Government Area.
Comrade Okpogadie who has been battling cancer since 2024 started his treatment with surgery at Asaba Specialist Hospital. After that, he was moved to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu for chemotherapy and radiotherapy — special treatments that help fight cancer cells.
The NUJ Chairman, Comrade Churchill Oyowe, explained that Comrade Dave now needs to stay in the hospital for more than three months to complete his treatment.
The total cost of the treatment is N10,321,000. This includes the money needed for hospital stays, medicine, blood transfusions, tests, and other important care.
Chairman Oyowe said that the Union has already helped Dave twice before, “We have intervened at the initial stage. We gave out N1.8 million at first and then raised more money the second time. So far, we’ve raised about N4.5 million,” he said.
He also shared that one kind person, Comrade Shola Adebayo, gave a large donation of N2.5 million during the second round of fundraising.
The Delta State Ministry of Information and the Delta State Contributory Health Commission have also supported the cause. The Ministry has written to the State Governor, asking for a special intervention.
The NUJ has a welfare committee in charge of managing all the donations and spending. The chairman of the committee is Comrade Ruth Omejie from the Field Information Chapel and the secretary is Comrade Ameachi Okpara from the Asaba Correspondents Chapel. It is a nine-member committee made up of people from different parts of NUJ Delta.
Although the committee does not have a corporate account yet, donations are being sent through the chairman’s account.
The NUJ believes that with the support of caring individuals, Comrade Okpogadie can get better and return to doing the job he loves — journalism.
