On Thursday, April 1, Adedeji Ademigbuji former Communications Associate at United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) resumed as the National Information Officer of the United Nations Office for the Coordination and Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Abuja.
His duties in his new role include the following:
Communications coordination:
Support other team members in coordinating communications that reflect the interests and efforts of the whole humanitarian community.
Media relations:
Promote media coverage at local, regional and global levels.
Content production:
Develops and disseminates quality communications material to broaden public awareness of priority humanitarian issues and response and the role of OCHA.
Digital media:
Supports the development and maintenance of OCHA web platforms and social media initiatives.
Prior to the UNWFP job, Ademigbuji was Chief Correspondent at The Nation, Correspondent at the defunct National Mirror, Assistant Features Editor, Success Digest and Senior Executive, Media/Concept at Sunrise Advertising.
Ademigbuji’s movement from the newsroom to the United Nations agencies is a story of determination and rising above the disappointment of not clinching two international jobs and the fear of where the volatile duty station of the UNWFP in Maiduguri.
He shares his inspiring story below:
“ I lost two jobs opportunities after getting to the final stages of a job recruitment process for US Public Affairs as an Information Assistant and US Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Abuja. I had to travel to Abuja with my own money for the final interviews. I was already seeing the jobs as mine, but they never materialise. That was in 2015 and 2016 while working at The Nation as a Chief Correspondent and Brands Editor. I was never devastated. I kept on looking for opportunities until I saw UNWFP advert for a communications associate role with the Duty station in Maiduguri, Borno, the epicentre of a protracted conflict.
“ I applied for the job and left the decision whether to accept the offer to later if selected. By November 2016 the offer came as the successful candidate, then I started following up on the news on attacks in the state. I was a bit worried but summoned the courage that this would not bother me.
“ I accepted the offer after my wife and I prayed about it. I had no fear. I was born to dare. I joined WFP 2017 Jan and moved to Maiduguri leaving my family behind in Lagos. My wife really supported me a lot and my mum too always pray for me. I had a strong belief in God that I would not only enjoy the job but also survived the hardships in the duty station. I had amazing colleagues and worked there for two years until I was redeployed to Abuja in June 2019 after an initial five months of temporary redeployment.
“Though it wasn’t easy for my family because our first son was barely two years old, and my wife was running a degree course at Covenant University and she had to go to work Monday to Friday, lecture Friday to Sat and church on Sunday. Sometimes my first son would wake up at midnight and ask my wife about my whereabouts. But I knew this is just for a matter of time. We would be together again. Now we are all back together, happy.
“ My message is that life is a risk. Do not be afraid to take the risk. Focus on your goal, be prayerful, be diligent and good to your fellow-creatures.
“I have ran a full-time degree with full-time work where the salary wasn’t coming. That was the hardest time of my career but I survived and believed after that that no mountain is too high to climb.
“ I remembered at a time I was stranded in school and did not have transportation fare to go to work, The week but a senior colleague who was running his Masters degree at UNILAG MASS COMMUNICATION department then supported me with a token.
“ That was why I’m happy working in a Humanitarian organisation that provides lifesaving assistance where I could change and save lives of people in dire need.”
