Ifidon Janet
The Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Lagos State chapter, headed by Qasim Akinreti, on November 11, 2017, held its monthly congress.
At the end of it, a communiqué was released. Part of the resolution was a call on the federal government to take a stand on the anti grazing bill which some states in the country like Benue have introduced to halt the violence between farmers and Fulani herdsmen. The Journalist also frowned at the 2018 budgetary allocation by the Federal Government as it relates to education. It urged the government to allocate higher percentage, in line with UNESCO’s 26 percent recommendation, to the education sector to engender development.
The Congress also kicked against plan by the Federal Government to clamp down on social media practitioners, saying that such a move will amount to stifling the media and denying people access to alternative news. Also in ensuring that the job and interest of professional journalists are protected, the NUJ was urged to step up training and retraining of its members in line with current trend in the industry. It was also resolved that the union should research and champion new marketing models to aid media development so as to meet its financial obligations and commitments in the changing phase of the economy.
The state council was also urged to set up a welfare committee to assist journalists facing challenges and also to liaise appropriately with management of media houses on prompt payment of salaries.
Concerning the crisis on land matters involving journalists in Lagos State, various committees set up to look into the matter were given up to this month, January 2018, to submit their reports to enable the Union take a stand on the way forward.
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