SEGUN BALOGUN
In an attempt to promote decent work for all journalists and
to free Nigeria from the colonial master led to the birth of the Nigeria Union
of Journalists, (NUJ), under a six-man inaugural Executive Council at the premises of
St. Paul's School, Breadfruit Street, Lagos, 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 an independent
Nigeria, via the power of the pen.
In earlier times, such struggle that
“Britain must go” had manifested in the expressed opinions, appearing in the
now extinct newspapers including the Anglo African, The Eagle, Lagos Weekly
Times, The Lagos Chronicles, The Lagos Standard, Lagos Weekly Record, The
African Messenger, The Lagos Daily News, West African Pilot and others.
It was the collective activities and determinations of the
nationalists and journalists in the early 1950’s that compelled the British
colonial government to grant Nigeria independence without shedding blood.
At a
distance, writing editorial comments and reporting the activities of the
nationalists, trade unions, students and other bodies involved in the struggle
to gain independence for Nigeria on the pages of newspapers.
However, the
journalists 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.
The issue led to the group
to form an organization like the Nigeria railway Workers Union or the workers
of the Nigerian Maritime and Ports Authority 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, who 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 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.
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.
