Few nights ago the FCT council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) survived a near fait-accompli by certain fellows who were bent on sending the union to the abyss. They had masqueraded as supporters of a certain individual who purported to be interested in an electoral position at the council.
The impasse that ensued from a congress held by the leadership of the union was an indication of a grand plan by some individuals to have their way. These folks had gone forum shopping for all manners of persons and reportedly paid them to throw spanners in the wheel of the congress if need be.
Thank goodness that wisdom prevailed as more discerning elders of the gathering tacitly allowed them to chorus their way through the night. And indeed they disclosed a script to hijack the chairmanship and secretary positions of the newly constituted credentials committee to screen aspirants vying for the November council elections.
Well, the point being made is that the committee has made its choice for principal officers. Alas however this choice doesn’t seem to go down well with certain interest blocks at the National level of the union who, it is alleged, have sworn to reject the membership of the credentials committee they once endorsed. A committee duly agreed to by a congress where they ‘charioted’ an untraceable and unusual crowd that filled the hall.
Given this, therefore, is it a progressive move for the national secretariat, as insiders alleged, to want to instigate a constitutional crisis in a state council to give it reasons to impose itself in a kangaroo fashion?
One would have thought that the entire “five fingers” of the secretariat led by respectable and responsible gentlemen would shy away from being soiled by the proverbial red oil. But thinking so is seemingly fast-fading into an imaginary wild goose chase.
If that be the case, who then would save the union from the path of ignominy? Will the elders fold their hands and watch the conscience of a respectable professional body overtaken by market forces propelled by an ungodly ego from an individual’s family feud? Does the NUJ constitution 2023 as amended permit the national secretariat to instigate crisis in sister state councils as a forerunner to taking over the structures of the latter? Is the case of selective amnesia in the application of the union constitution what the NUJ needs at this time of healing?
To think that the national office would seek to anchor strength on the provisions of such areas as Article 4 of the union’s constitution, without drawing the same strength and inspiration from Article 3 of the same constitution tells of the proverbial Voice of Jacob and the Hand of Esau.
Mathematically, 3 comes before 4. So, why is it convenient for the minds at the national to skip 3 for 4, except if it is to be interpreted that more erudite minds are fast becoming students of the Supreme Court judgment in the matter of the Imo state governorship election where a distant 4 became 1 and the winner of the poll; an arrangement that has defied all strands of logic, and arithmetic.
In essence the credentials committee must first and foremost possess a certificate/degree in journalism or Mass Communication or have a PGD in the aforestated field should they be a graduate of any other discipline before being considered qualified enough to merit membership of the committee. The other side is that aspirants and would-be contestants must meet the requirements of Article 3 of the NUJ constitution before contemplating contesting the election.
Even more, there is the need now, more than ever, for interested persons at the national to take a holistic look at the constitution. The era of piecemeal preview inspired by whatever motivation should be discarded for the progress of the entire body. Anything short of this is asymptomatic of the desire and willingness by those involved to throw the union into crisis and disrepute.
Moreso, the union leadership at the upper level must pick a clue from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu himself, especially from his ministerial appointments. Tinubu has demonstrated a heart large enough to deserve a Global Golden Badge (GGB).
He stretched his hands to the opposition All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the appointments of Bianca Odinaka Odumegu Ojukwu (APGA), wife of the feared war veteran and former leader of war time Biafra, the late Chief Odumegu Ojukwu; and Nyesom Wike (PDP), FCT minister. This posture is the Hallmark of cerebral leaders and statesmen who are driven by their love for their people.
Little wonder the likes of Senators Victor Umeh, Tony Nwoye, Eyinnaya Abaribe, described President Tinubu’s fatherly appointment of Bianca Ojukwu as minister as beginning the process of national healing and integration.
Well, whether it is the proverbial yam or cocoyam that is boiled, higher reasons must prevail at this point. The credentials committee must be allowed to do its work, as all aspirants must subject themselves to its deliberations and conclusions regardless of whose ego was bruised in the election of the committee’s principal officers.
And the national secretariat must be responsible, reasonable and responsive enough not to set the FCT council ablaze especially now that a new NUJ president is warming up to take over the union and redirect it to higher grounds.
Mmesoma Ike,
Abuja