NIGERIA UNION OF JOURNALISTS (LAGOS COUNCIL)

Evolution of Nigeria Union of Journalists

AT forty-nine, it is not too early in one's life to start tag stock of one's achievements and failures. Undertaking such assessment for the Nigeria Union of Journalists as it clocks forty-nine therefore is not preposterous given the circumstances of the birth of the Union.

The NUJ's birth was linked to the struggle for the independence of Nigeria. The struggle, it would be recalled gave birth to many protest groups, all yearning for the country's independence from the British. The groups came in various shades. Some were political in nature, like the Nigerian Youth Movement, a platform for the nationalists. Others were trade unions and professional groups.

It was the collective activities and efforts of the nationalists and journalists in the early i950's that compelled the British colonial government to grant Nigeria independence without shedding blood. Apart from writing editorial comments and reporting the activities of the nationalists, trade unions, students and other bodies involved in the struggle for independence on the pages of newspapers, the journalists, however, had no central body through which they could take any action like other groups.

What they could not express as a body was done through newspapers like the Anglo-African, The Eagle, The Lagos Weekly Times, The Lagos Chronicle, The Lagos Standard, Lagos Weekly Record, The African Messenger, The Lagos Daily News, West African Pilot, The Daily Times and many others that came later.

Present-day Ogun and Lagos states, being the base of the earliest newspapers, naturally played leading roles in this regard. No wonder, two journalists, the late Chief Bisi Onabanjo and the incumbent Chief Segun Osoba, who at various times presided over the affairs of Ogun State, were both Journalists with the late Bisi Onabanjo being one of the founding fathers of the NUJ. The fire of patriotism and nationalism that burned in their write ups then must have endeared them to the people, thereby building reputations which became useful as political capital in their latter lives. Of course, there were other stronger men like Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Herbert Macaulay and Chief 11. O. Davies all of blessed memory who after sojourning either in Europe or America for their education, came back Home to liven up the struggle.

Many of the journalists then had little education and with the ideas brought by their more enlightened colleagues, they began to agitate for better pay packages from publishers. As these young and enthusiastic journalists started to compare notes among themselves, their desire for better conditions of service became more pronounced. It however, did not occur to them that they could pursue the goal through a common point.
Rather, they were more concerned with the competitive aspects of their work as workers in different media stables. At places of assignments, whenever they came together, the issue especially the need to form an organization like the Nigeria railway Workers Union or the workers of the Nigerian Maritime and Ports Authority were often examined but no one was ready to take the bull by the horns. It was at this juncture that the late Chief Olu Oyesanya appeared on the scene. A fresh graduate of journalism from Britain, where he had been exposed to professional union activities, his return to the country in 1954 did all the magic to set the stage for the formation of the union.

While in Britain, he was a member of the Institute of Journalism, a purely professional body operating, according to him, at Tudor Street near the popular Fleet Street in London. Though the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Britain, was already in existence then, he claimed he was only aware of their operations but he was never a member. So, when he came, he went about mobilizing his colleagues.

His preference was however for a body like the Institute of Journalism but since the people on ground were already working on a constitution for a union, he had no choice but to accept the idea of a union especially since the practitioners were keen on using the body for salary agitations. The inaugural meeting was held at the premises of St. Paul's School, Breadfruit Street, Lagos on 15"' March, 1955. That day, 49 years ago, a resolution forming the Nigeria Union of Journalists was passed, but there was no election of officers, as the draft constitution was not approved until later.

One factor that must be noted about the birth of the union was that the late Chief Olu Oyesanya who spearheaded its formation was then an Information Officer in the Department of Information under the colonial Government. At the second meeting of the NUJ, officers were elected after the constitution had been ratified.

The two principal officers that emerged were the late Mobolaji Odunewu, the first Nigerian Chief Information Officer as the President and late Chief Olu Oyesanya as the Secretary. Perhaps, it is only pertinent to reflect that though the first president of the union as well as its first secretary and other subsequent important officials were Information Officers, today, their presence in the union is generating a lot of controversy. Other members of the 6-man inaugural executive included the late Ebu Adesiye who was the Treasurer while there were three ex-officio members—Mr. Increase Cooker, Chief Bisi OnabanJo (Aiyckoto) and H. K. Offonry.
One major issue that was settled at the second meeting was the appropriate name for the union. There were two schools of thought as to which name the body should bear. While the first school of thought said it should be Nigerian Union of Journalists, the second group argued that it should be Nigeria
Union of Journalists. According to the first school of thought, the union will be for only Nigerians practicing journalism.

This was faulted and it was argued that everyone practicing the trade in Nigeria could be a member of the union. Apart from Caucasians, it would be recalled that there were many journalists from other African countries in Nigeria then. The question of the status of the union was also strongly debated but this was settled in line with agitations of the young journalists who wanted a platform to fight their cases for better pay package. From the very beginning, the NUJ was a trade union body. This was reflected in the laws governing the body and the union was also registered under the then Labour Laws Cap 2000. But despite the fact that it was a trade union constitution that was made, it lacked the details that could make it function effectively as a trade union.

The operators too lacked the wherewithal as a trade union. This was one of the observations of the Abiodun Panel in the Restructuring of Trade Unions, which led to the demand that full time staff of all trade unions must have some trade union experience and also be imbued with the knowledge of the industry in which they operate.
This was what led to the employment of a full-time National Secretary at the National Secretariat in 1978. The union has indeed weathered many storms. The end of 1969 struck out its name out from the list of registered unions because it had failed to operate as a trade union. It never filed a single return from its inception even though the law demanded that every union must file an annual account with the office of the Registrar of Trade Unions.

However, when this became known to the leaders of the union, a second attempt to reregister the 'union was embarked upon in 1973. But the law under which it was registered in 1955 had changed. This was not taken note of while the new form was filled hence the second attempt was again turned down. It would be recalled that under the 1955 laws, in cap 700 of the Labour Laws, five journalists working in the same medium could register a union, but the 1973 law required members to pick those to sign the form from the areas covered by those who are to be members of the union.

This meant that a spread all over the country viebranche8 or councils existed was needed. It also implied that journalists in Lagos'0boe could not reregister the union, which, by then, had l2 state councils spread over the federation. The union remained de-registered and operated as a mere professional body till 1977 when the Abiodun Trade Union Restructuring Panel embarked on the industrialization of trade unions in the country. The Abiodun Panel was to reduce more than 1,000 mushroom unions to less than 100. These included both junior and senior staff associations.

The NUJ would have missed the opportunity but for the efforts of some journalists in Lagos and the old Western Region who used the pages of their newspapers to draw attention to the NUJ. It was through their efforts the NUJ and other unions which had been deregistered before the exercise were included and got carried along in the Abiodun programme.
This effort was misunderstood by some members of the union particularly those in the northern part of the country who were under the leadership of Alhaji Sidi Ali Sijaro. This led to the New Nigerian Newspaper publishing some materials critical of the Abiodun Panel. All the same, the panel called two meetings of the merging unions between October and November 1977.

The first meeting was to discuss and carry out necessary amendment to the institutional draft given to each would-be industrial union. This was the golden opportunity that was used to introduce some ideas, which, today, make the NUJ an effective union and at the same time a professional body. The NUJ, after the restructuring became more effective as government required that all industrial unions must appoint a full time National Secretary who must not only have the knowledge of the Industry where he is to operate but must also have a good grasp of trade union practices.

Another meeting of the union took place in Benin in November 1977. - This was when the first set of officers as an industrial union were elected. Before the new dispensation, the growth of the union from its first council in Lagos had been made easy by the high mobility of journalists with those initially involved in the activities of the union in Lagos moving either on transfer or on operation to other states. where t he union was launched in 1955, accounted for 85 per cent of journalists operating in the country then. The proximity of Ibadan to Lagos as well as the existence of many media outfits such as the Nigerian Tribune Group, the Nigerian Broadcasting Service, the Western Region Television Service, coupled with the existence of formidable representation of other newspapers based in Lagos all worked together to make the launching of the Ibadan Council possible within the same year.
Alhaji Lateef Jakande who had been involved with the union in Lagos and who was then shuttling between Ibadan and Lagos largely facilitated the early launch of the second council. He was then a senior editorial staff of the Daily Service and the Nigerian Tribune.
The third council was that of Enugu for the then Eastern Region which was facilitated through the efforts of Chief Kens-H. Offonry, an ex-officio member of the first executive. It took much longer to launch the fourth branch in Kaduna. This was due to the lifestyle of the people in the region as well as the religious situation in that part of the country.
Readership of news Papers in the region was also low hence not many journalists were there, since the southern papers did not all maintain offices in Kaduna.
The fourth council was eventually launched there in 1958 through the efforts of newspaper correspondents who had one way or the other participated in the union in Lagos. Benin Council came next in 1963.

The expansion of the union from then became rapid as more states were created. There was awareness among members so much that wherever the found themselves at the break-up of arty state they immediately gathered to form a council. By 1966, there were 12 state councils.
The union now operates 36 state councils, four zones and more than 210 chapels and a headquarters at the Federal Capital Territory which serves as the national secretariat. Before the 1977 amendments and the appointment of fulltime national secretary, the union operated a mobile secretariat whereby the secretary resided there, the secretariat was located.

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