Who is deceiving who in NUJ?
When I read a letter to the Senate President, written by the President Nigeria Union of Journalists, Mr Ndagene Akwu complaining about a plot by Senator Smart Adeyemi to destabilise the Union, I keep wondering who that letter is out to serve. To be sincere that letter is not written with the interest of NUJ at heart and whoever authored this letter was trying to protect his interest, not the interest of the Union members. For long, I keep wondering and asking myself; is NUJ really for journalists or for few opportunists who hold their members to ransom?
I have written several times on how this noble profession was bastardised by quarks and group of opportunists who parade themselves as journalists. I also wrote on how editors in several news organisations connived with publishers to exploit their members, but the leadership has not found that relevant to write to the National Assembly seeking for redress, or to address the problem of its members. In fact, as I am talking to you a lot of journalists who registered as members of NUJ since 2007 don’t know their fate. To my surprise it was only now when their leadership was threaten that they find it relevant to talk. If NUJ is really professional union as Akwu claims, why the fear of it been destabilise by one individual?
NUJ has a lot to fight for, not trivial issues like this. First, the National Leadership has lost touch with its branches in various states of the federation. And little has been done over the years by the Union to satisfy the yearnings and aspiration of its members. A clear example is how members are left on their own when in crisis. Remember the story of a Journalist who was humiliated and demoted from grade level 10 to 7 in one of the North-Eastern states? Mr Akwu what have you done to save that member? Smart Adeyemi is not the problem of NUJ and he can never be. Do not try to divert the attention of Nigerians and the members of NUJ from your dismal leadership failures; rather the best thing to do is to resign in order to give way to young and energetic individuals who have the Union at heart to move it forward.
The NUJ leadership has failed to provide needed leadership at all levels of the Union. And with allegation of corruption and mismanagement of Union funds, Akwu should have explained to the Union how he managed their finances during his stewardship. As a leader one has to learn to carry everybody along and should as much as possible try to be impartial. Failure to do that will create suspicion and lack of confidence from followers.
The Union has been turn into a business venture, where the leaders organise media jamborees or tours to various states with a view to get gratification from State Governors. Do you see any hope for the Union with this attitude? What hurt me most is the way our veteran journalists show non-challant attitude towards the activities of the Union. NUJ needs intervention and serious one. It was Abdullahi No-Sweat that wrote in People’s Daily how today’s journalists, who (almost 90% of them) are incompetent and undisciplined freelancers, simply walk into a newspaper house and offer their services, much as a mercenary would, without pay. Their buccaneering journalism will pay them. They only need a platform which only a newspaper will provide. They have nothing to loose; they only want to use the pen for extortion, blackmail and character assassination. What they do with their pens and their merchants ships on the high seas in those days of old.’
No-Sweat said these kinds of journalists are no different from armed robbers because robbers might not kill but these nasty characters deliberately, calculatedly, wantonly and malevolently assassinate the character and worth of their victims; utterly destroy them on the demand for a brown envelope or what is commonly referred to as Choppe. For how long can we allow some few individuals, majority of who are not even journalists to continue bastardising this noble profession because of failure of leadership? Journalism and journalists is too expensive to be left in the hands of crooks and ravenously greedy people to soil it and drag its name into a stinking cesspool. Most journalists in Nigeria prefer to go for news stories that divide the people instead of uniting them, spread hatred instead of love, cause and promote, riots, and give support to their ethnic and regional interests. It has always been this way since after the independence through the dark days military dictatorship.
It is time we salvage this profession and take a new direction, the country needs our services. Nigeria can only be saved from the moral decadence – corruption, bad leadership, election rigging, unemployment, and many problems bedevilling the country if journalism profession is redirected from reporting to satisfy the whims and caprices of leaders, our ethnic and regional interests to taking an approach based on reporting issues, critiquing and proffering solutions. For the past twenty years or so journalists have suffered a lot, from military dictatorship to another form of abuse – of poor remuneration, very bad condition of service and so on. But we can do ourselves good if we ensure good, transparent and accountable leadership in NUJ. Nobody can do that for us. The Profession and its members have to change the acronym GMT (Giya, Mata, Taba) to PAT (Professionalism, Accountability and Transparency).
Mr Akwu is better you resign and open a way for dialogue and reconciliation. Don’t take the path of African leaders who prefer to remain in power even if they are irrelevant. A word is enough for the wise.
Kabiru Danladi,
Lawanti Village, KM25,
Along Gombe-Bauchi Road,
Akko LGA, Gombe State,
Nigeria.
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