Malam Mohammed Garba, the National President of NUJ,? has said? that the insurance policy initiated by the union will become compulsory for all working journalists in Nigeria from 2013.
Garbamade the statement in Lafia on Friday while addressing a congress of the Nasarawa State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) ahead of the national delegates conference of the union in May.
He said the insurance policy was in three categories with the least benefit of N1.5 million attracting a premium of N6, 750, while the category with N3million benefit would attract? N12,850? premium.
Garba said the highest category with N5million benefit would attract N20, 550 premium.
He said the categorisation was done in order to make the benefit more attractive and “surprisingly, more journalists have registered for the N5 million benefit package than the other two packages, since the categorisation was done.”
He said the union had already discussed the issue of making the insurance policy mandatory with the leadership of the? Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria and other stakeholders.
Garba? said the insurance scheme would form part of the issues to be discussed at the media stakeholders’ forum to be held in November.
He? encouraged members to join the scheme, saying that families of deceased members of the union, who were registered, had started benefiting.
“ In fact, we recently had the privilege of giving out a cheque of N1.5 million to the widow of one of our colleagues in Akure, who died in an auto crash last year, ” the president said.
He expressed the hope that before the end of 2012, the National secretariat? would have relocated to its permanent site being constructed on a 5 hectare piece of land in Abuja.
The president said the complex would also accommodate the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ).
He explained that the foundation laying ceremony for the construction of? IIJ classrooms and offices for the registrar would be carried out in June.
Garba said the affiliation of the institute with University of Maiduguri had been renewed.
The president said the governing and academic boards of IIJ had been reconstituted with Otunba Olusegun Runsewe as the Chairman of the Governing Board to tackle the challenges of rejection of IIJ certificates by various institutions in the country.
Garba, assured journalists that the union was working hard for the accreditation of all courses run at? IIJ by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), adding that Zenith bank Plc had? approved N100 million bank guarantee for the NUJ for the accreditation.
Commenting on the 22 per cent hazard allowance approved by the Federal Government for workers in the media, Garbasaid that it was not a substitute for the media salary structure that NUJ was demanding.
He said the approval was an interim measure to improve the working condition of media workers, adding that letters had? been sent to all state governments? to pay the allowance to their workers.
He said that there would be challenges from some states as well as private media organisations over the implementation.
Garba urged the state councils of NUJ to always liaise with the national headquarters in order to surmount the challenges that might arise.?
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