The? President of? Nigeria Union of Journalists ( NUJ )Muhammed Garba, who is also the president, West African Journalists? Association, WAJA. In this interview with JAMES UWEM, talks about his plans to reinvigorate? the pen profession.
As? president of? West African Journalists? Association, what have been the? benefits ?
It quite? an awful experience when I compare? the practices of Journalism in Nigeria and in other West African countries . Ideally Nigeria and maybe Ghana? are? faring? better in? terms of press freedom. So? we are now intensifying our efforts toward sensitizing? other west African countries to realize the critical role of the media and to institutionalize? press freedom .
As president of? WAJA , Nigerian journalists,? more than? other countries,? have benefited from the training programme of WAJA .On the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill (FoIB), I? used? my position as the president of WAJA to collaborate with? regional bodies, like the? Federation of African Journalists (FOAJ) and International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) to intensify? the agitation for? passage of FoIB. But we hope to organize more opportunities? for exchange of visits by West African? journalists for the purposes? of cross fertilization? of ideas? and sharing of experiences.
Globally, what is the rating of? Nigerian journalism practice?
Well, it wouldn’t be fair to compare Nigerian journalists with journalists in the developed world given the status of our environment and equipment at? our disposal and the? numerous odds against journalism? practices in Nigeria which have made it? very difficult for? Nigerian journalists to showcase their best.??
Even at that , a? great number of journalists have excelled in their reportage to an extent of winning international? awards and laurels. Last year, a Sun reporter emerged? best investigative reporter. Another angle to it is the poor remunerations; journalists are? unarguably the least? paid professional work force in Nigeria.
So we are doing fairly well. There? has been tremendous growth in the establishment of media houses despite all these challenges. I think when we have better conditions of service , we will match or even surpass our counterparts in the developed world .
Could these be responsible for the? dearth of investigative journalism, and breaches in ethics? ?
Nigeria’s? economy is such that? the media depend heavily on government for their advertorials and economic empowerment. So in scenarios like these, how can that same media be proactive in exposing the corruption in government? That has been the reason the NUJ is agitating for an all-encompassing stakeholders meeting where all these issues will be thrashed out. We have acknowledged that? these? are really killing the journalism profession.
NUJ is? advocating ways that the media can become financially independent outside government patronage. That is why I took the lead in getting NUJ to? fight for a bail out fund for the media industry, owing to the ominous facts that the media have contributed a lot for the progress of this country.
We? fought for? independence, fought the military and fought for the emergence of democracy and we are still fighting seriously to sustain our democracy . If the CBN can rescue? commercial banks, there is no reason why they can’t? produce a bail-out fund for the media so that Nigerian media can compete favourably with their international counterparts.
During war , the UN Charter protects journalists but they are still being killed. The case of Enenche of Channels TV? is very fresh in our memory. What has NUJ been doing in this regard?
We are categorized as humanitarian organizations, like the Red Cross but unfortunately against the UN charter Journalists are killed at war.?? In Liberia we can remember a lot of Nigerian journalists? were killed, mutilated and many disappeared.? In Somalia,? it has been the order of the day,? killing journalists.
Coming home,? killing and assassination of journalists have been prevalent? right from 1986 when Dele Giwa was killed,? to Bayo and the latest one,Enenche, the Channels TV correspondent killed during a shoot-out between security forces? and the Boko Haram members. In all? these cases,? NUJ has followed up the issues of their due compensations.
The recent case of Enenche, we swung into action, NUJ facilitated the conveyance of the corpse to the mortuary with the assistance of? Kano State government and subsequently followed up to get? compensation for the family from his organization, Channels TV, which they gave quite reasonable amount of money.? It was in view of incidents like this that NUJ under my leadership introduced and makes sure that issues of? NUJ insurance? policy for practicing journalists must be effectively addressed!
How workable and realistic will this insurance scheme be since it is optional?
We needed to start first? to encourage individual journalists to subscribe to the scheme with the? least premium of? N6,700 , to collect? N1.5 m? in events of accident or? death? . The highest is N19,000 and the person gets N5m . I can attest to the fact that our insurance works efficiently. When we had the first incident, based? on our agreement with the IICO insurance company, the payment of entitlements was done within seven working days.
We are looking at the possibility of making it compulsory. Now before you register as a journalist, insurance certificate is one of the criteria. NUJ? now wants to compel? owners of media organisations to insure all? practicing journalists? under their establishments? under the scheme and must remain part of the condition of service .?? I want? to assure you that by 2013, every practicing journalist will be captured in the insurance scheme.
Now , what difference have you made as? NUJ? president ?
The things that propelled me to contest in my first tenure were the? conditions of service in the media. So,? I looked? at NUJ as an umbrella body that can rescue the media industry. Now we are working toward bringing together all stakeholders for effective collaboration to seek? ways of solving these problems.likeour agitation for? the media salary structures where we? are advocating for 22 per cent increase in allowances of journalists.
It has already been approved by Mr.? President, and will become the benchmark for owners? of media houses to? pay? journalists. We are aware? of some organizations that are not viable.? That is why the issue of bail-out fund is my priority. Again , the same type of merger that happened in the banking sector must?? be extended? to the media for us to have a durable and independent media.
But above all,? we have created a better image? for the media, the media are now seen as a factor in the Nigerian project. NUJ is transforming, and? we are? building a permanent? NUJ secretariat. It wasn’t quite good for our image that we are in rented apartment. I had to? put in effort to get the 5.4 hectares in Abuja which we have the Certificate of Occupancy . We had the fund raising at which we realized about a N100m. N50m has been redeemed,? that was what we used in the foundation-laying and other things .
As it is, the land is quit large to accommodate the International Institute of Journalism ( IIJ ) and? part of it will be used to build a shopping complex to be used for commercial purposes so that future NUJ presidents will not have the problem of funds in running the secretariat. The leadership crises that rocked about 19 NUJ state councils were resolved? through our efforts. Today, there exist peace and harmony and no state council is under any form of crisis.
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