NATIONAL SECRETARY, NIGERIA UNION OF

JOURNALISTS (NUJ)

TO

SENIOR EXECUTIVE COURSE (SEC) 31, 2009.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR POLICY AND STRATEGIC

STUDIES (NIPPS) ON TUESDAY, AUGUST, 2009.

NUJ AND JOURNALISM IN NIGERIA

Without doubt, Journalism profession has come a long way in Nigeria since the establishment of “IWE IROHIN FUN AWON EGBA ATI YORUBA” in Abeokuta, 147 years ago by the Christian Missionaries.

Unarguably, it stands out as one of the oldest modern professions to take root and flourish in Nigeria. Regrettably, however, the establishment of a professional regulatory body as well as unionizing practitioners came at a time when the profession was almost a century old. No doubt this lateness has its effects on development of the profession as well as its practitioners.

Nevertheless, it never robbed it of its vibrancy and vigour at critical times in the historic developments that shaped the fortune and future of Nigeria. In any case, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) have come of age as both a professional body and a trade union group.

A panoramic review of the salient developments in the profession over the years, beginning with the purely educational and evangelistic role of “IWE-IROHIN”, reveals that the profession developed into a veritable platform for leadership training and anti-colonial struggle under the British Colonial rule.

With the spread and acceptance of Western Education and following the creation of Nigeria as one country in 1914, individuals who later turned out to be among our founding fathers saw journalism as an instrument of enlightenment of our people as well as a weapon against the oppression and injustices of the colonial system of government. Prior to this stage of journalism in Nigeria, the adversary sometimes – conflictual roles between the government (colonial authority) and the media has already been established.

Among the earliest newspapers were Lagos Times (1880-1883), Lagos Observer (1882), Lagos Weekly Record (1883) Chronicle (1908) Nigerian Times (1910) African Messenger (1921), and West African Pilot in 1937.

It is generally agreed that the establishment of The Pilot by Nnamdi Azikiwe in November 22, 1937, marked the beginning of a revolutionalised brand of journalism. Its mission was encapsulated in its motto of “show the light and the people will find the way”.

It is a thoroughly people-oriented newspaper whose vision was to liberate the people from all forms of oppression. By 1940, Azikiwe has established the Zik Group of Newspapers with the following in its stable, Eastern Nigerian Guardian (Port Harcourt, 1940) Nigeria Spokesman (Onitsha, 1943); Southern Nigerian Defender (Warri, 1943); Daily Comet (Lagos/Kano, 1944); Eastern Sentinel (Engu, 1955) and Nigerian Monitor (Uyo, 1960).

These newspapers and others came to champion nationalism and anti-colonial struggle while others were established to protect government, ethnic and sectional interests like the Nigerian Daily Times and the Nigerian Citizen, later New Nigeria, all contributed to the development of journalism as well as the development of the nation.

Another phase of development of journalism came under the various military regimes and their coercive form of governance. It was the classic case of a pen is mightier than the sword as today, what the profession of journalism fought for, democracy and good governance is in place even if grotesque in shape. The military are back in the barracks and we are under democratic rule.

The Nigeria Union of Journalists, (NUJ) founded on March 15, 1955 marked the zenith of years of a silent revolution for the actualization of a common front by some early nationalists who formed the core of a call for independent Nigeria. Prominent among those nationalists with the fire of patriotism and nationalism burning in them and their writings were Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Herbert Macaulay, Chief H.O. Davies, among others.

The Union since inception in 1955 had fifteen (15) Presidents with Mr Mobolaji Odunewu (1955-1960) as the first President while Muhammad Garba is the current President.

Similarly NUJ have had five National Secretaries, with Chief Olu Oyesanya (1955 – 1959) as the first secretary and Shu’aibu Usman Leman (2002-date) as the current National Secretary. The Union has a training wing, the International Institute of Journalism located in Abuja, which was established towards the realisation of its vision to train and retrain its cadres and to prepare them adequately to contribute more effectively to National Development. Presently, the registered membership of Nigeria Union of Journalists is above 25,000