Abuja – Mr Mustpha Lamidi, a Presidential aspirant in the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) race, has said that his priority as president would be the welfare of journalists across board.
Lamidi, who is the current National Auditor of NUJ, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said that his aspiration to be the helms-man of the union was borne out of his desire to contribute to the growth of journalism in the country.
The desire, he added, was to ensure that the union took its pride of place in the nation’s schemeof things.
The aspirant said he was not happy about the state of welfare of journalists in the country, noting that, if given the chance,
he would ensure that journalists were well paid like their counterparts in other developed countries of the world.
“One of my primary objectives for running for the position is to ensure that journalists who are doing essential services in this country are well taken care of.
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“When you have elections, census, national emergency among others, journalists are on duty, they call us essential service providers and we are always handy to do our job.
“My position is that Nigerian journalists must earn essential pay that is commensurate with their struggle, sweat and sacrifices for the Nigerian society.’’
Lamidi said Nigerian journalists were the major champions of the democratic government the country was currently experiencing, hence there was need to ensure that they enjoyed the benefits.
“Nigerian journalists fought for the democracy that we are enjoying since 1999; some of our colleagues like Bagauda Kaltho and others were killed in the course of their duty as journalists,’’ he added.
He noted that good welfare package for journalists could be achieved through attitudinal change, stressing, however, that they must conduct themselves well whenever and wherever they found themselves.
“We need to have good welfare packages for journalists; we can achieve this through attitudinal change on our part and I am going to be at the forefront of this campaign.
“I don’t want to see my colleagues being treated shabbily; we must be respected,” he said.
He said that he would lead the battle against quackery, adding that the police and other law enforcement agents would be involved in sanitising the noble profession.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NUJ election is slated for July 26 and July 27 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.(NAN)
