By Owei Lakemfa
Nigerian journalists, wearing medals of bravery in fights against colonialists and politicians and, bearing the scars of battles against military dictatorship, are marking the 70th anniversary of their union.
No, journalism in the country did not start seven decades ago. It was the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, that was established at that time. Proper journalism began in 1859, that is 166 years ago with the publication of the first newspaper ‘Iwe Irohin.’ Since then, the bulk of journalists have strived to be the voice of the people.
‘The Lagos Weekly Record’ published by John Payne Jackson, from 1891-1930, was a torn in the flesh of the colonialists. It combined journalism with political activism, including organising protests against the colonialists.
Five years before the 1914 Amalgamation of Nigeria into a single country, the colonialists had enacted the Seditious Offences Act of 1909 to repress and suppress the press.
One of the most outstanding journalists of the anti-colonial era was Ernest Ikoli. He was the Editor of the ‘Daily Express,’ Member of the Legislative Council and President of the Nigeria Youth Movement, NYM. He mentored towering nationalists like Obafemi Awolowo.
As the Second World War raged, the colonialists imposed the General Defence Regulations of 1941 which curbed workers activities and virtually made strikes in any establishment an illegal act.
The fragmented trade unions knew that they were no march for the formidable British colonial power. Although he was not a trade unionist, Ikoli used his position as the President of the NYM to call a unity meeting of the trade unions in the country. That was in October 1942. All the trade unions turned up, and Ikoli presided at what was to become the first labour centre in the country. There was Anthony Enahoro who, at 21 in 1944, became the youngest Editor of a mainstream newspaper, the ‘Southern Nigeria Defender.’ He was jailed three times by the colonialists for offences which included inciting workers to attack the police and, chairing a national conference in which ‘A Call For Revolution’ was made to overthrow the colonial government.
The NUJ was created on March 15, 1955 to cater for all journalists. It remains a unique union because while generally, the three arms in industrial relations: the employee, senior staff and employers, have separate unions, the NUJ accommodates all three under a single umbrella. The only proviso in its constitution is that anyone who sits on the side of management at meetings with the union, cannot hold an elective office in the NUJ. The NUJ has led journalists through bruising periods such as when media houses were shut down by the Shagari administration. The Buhari military regime built on this by issuing Decree 4 of 1984 under which the publication of the truth or falsehood could be criminal offences. Under Decree 4, two journalists, Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor, were sent to prison.
The Babangida regime tried to intimidate the press mostly by mindlessly shutting down media houses and detaining journalists without trial. In one of the most bizarre instances, that regime, in the wake of the 1990 Orkar attempted coup, seized 19 journalists and accused some of them of complicity, a treasonable crime that carried the death penalty.
Four years before then, a leading Editor, Dele Giwa, was murdered when a letter bomb sent to him exploded. Given the dangers journalists faced, some of them in the late 1980s decided to reform the NUJ and prepare it for the battles ahead. They established a movement, the New Trend, to practise a journalism of social relevance which placed the people at the centre of professional practice. The movement won the NUJ presidency in 1990 and uniquely, established a Journalists in Distress Fund. This effort, which raised huge sums, collapsed due to mismanagement and transparency challenges.
Eventually, the movement itself collapsed leading to marked degeneracy in the union. This was to the extent that in 2020, the NUJ leadership was linking the COVID-19 outbreak, to the roll out of the G5 network! The NUJ had in a salutary move far back in September 1989, empowered women journalists by establishing the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ.
The Nigerian newspaper, like its counterparts across the globe, was faced with the issue of a 24-hour newspaper which would report the news round the clock. The defunct ‘Daily Times’ had begun publishing its ‘Evening Times.’ The ‘Vanguard Newspapers’ and the ‘Guardian Newspapers’ also introduced evening editions, while veteran Editor, Muyiwa Adetiba, published a wholly evening newspaper ‘Today’s News Today’, TNT. However, all these did not prepare the Nigerian newspaper for the on-coming revolution of a round-the-clock newspaper publication which the age of the internet imposed.
The newspapers, in order to survive and remain relevant, had to introduce electronic copies to the hardcopy newspapers they published. Now, the major newspapers, apart from their electronic version, also have their News TV. In fact, some have established full television stations. Today, the demarcation between the newspaper and electronic media has become blurred. All these have implications for journalists as all media can be accessed online virtually for free. These have had serious implications for advert and income which have led some media to collapse, while some journalists are unpaid for months.
These were not challenges the NUJ envisaged, but now at 70, has to face. There is also the advent of Citizen Journalism carried out by non- professional journalists or, anybody who can buy data. Also compounding the problem is the advent of media influencers many of who ride on the back of sensationalism, unverified news, blackmail and, sometimes, outright falsehood in order to make a living or become rich.
The NUJ has played significant roles in the life of the country, but has more tasks to carry out such as the constitutional responsibility of the journalist to hold government accountable to the people. It also needs to ensure that the Freedom of Information, FOI, Act is observed by all.
There are certainly lots of battles ahead as many politicians muddle the Constitution and turn our political landscape into crime scenes.
There is also the danger of weaponising the Cyber Crime Act to criminalise journalism practice and fundamental human rights. This will be intensified as governments realise that in the age of the internet, it will be far more difficult to control information.
Many elites, including those in government have risen to congratulate the NUJ at 70. It is truly an age to roll out the drums, but journalists know that amongst those congratulating them are enemies of press freedom. All lizards crawl on their stomach, we don’t know which have bellyache. May the next 70 years be more beautiful for generations of journalists. Ameen.
