Influential members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the South-West boycotted the investiture of the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, as the Grand Patron of NUJ in the zone.
The scheduled to hold at the NUJ Press Centre, Iyaganku, Ibadan, Oyo State capital, eventually held at Premier Hotel, still in Ibadan.
Many associates of the minister attended the event.
The Minister, in his acceptance speech, said the call for Nigeria’s disintegration was crude, expensive and destructive.
He urged the media to be responsible with their reportage in the face of an agitated environment characterised by ethnic rivalry.
Aregbesola emphasised that secessionist agitation is not peculiar to Nigeria, as he made reference to similar struggles in parts of Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.