By Grace Alegba and Lucy Osuizigbo
Lagos – Mr Mohammad Abdulkadir, Manager, News and Current Affairs of NTA, Channel 10, Tejuosho, has advised candidates
for the September 30 elections of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lagos Council, not to mortgage integrity in the quest for power.
Abdulkadir gave the advice when the campaign train of Mr Adeleye Ajayi, a Chairmanship aspirant in the forthcoming election and an
Assistant Editor-In-Chief with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) visited the chapel on Tuesday in Lagos.
“I am happy that you are not bereft of ideas. We will work with you by the grace of God. I will have good synergy with you.
“It is good to stand on the side of the truth. There is no way to avoid the constant challenges when vying for leadership positions, but you should not lose your moral bearings.
“Lagos is the nerve centre of journalism and the NUJ in the country; and we need to set standards with this election,’’ he said.
He said that the office of the NUJ chairman requires a candidate that is disciplined; has ideas, wisdom and integrity as well as time to pilot the affairs of the union.
Abdulkadir lauded the vision of Ajayi that promised to include collective responsibility and carrying elders in the industry along when voted into office.
Also, at the Nation Newspapers, Mr Soji Omotunde, General Manager, Training and Development, said that the election should not be a do- or-die affair among aspirants but a call to service.
The Managing Editor of The Nation, Mr Lekan Otufodunrin, said the union required leaders who would drive professionalism and capacity
building in the industry to improve reportage.
“The industry is going through a lot of crisis with the emergence of new social media; we need capacity building to boost professionalism,
relevance and earn public respect.
“With career development and professionalism in place, the union can access grants from international organisations for members,” he said.
Ajayi, while responding promised that if elected as the next chairman of the state council of the NUJ, he would always seek the advice of elders in piloting the affairs of the union.
He also promised to run the union through committees as a way of carrying members along.
He said his major focus would be accountability, entrepreneurship and capacity training.
The chairmanship candidate, however, debunked allegations that he was being sponsored by some persons within the union to run as chairman, stating that he was an independent candidate.
“I have conscience and I have come of age and, therefore, I cannot be a stooge to anyone.
“I have contested elections as National Financial Secretary, President of Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) and
Secretary of NAN chapel without the sponsorship of anybody.
“ I am independent minded and I remain so.’’
Ajayi, an Assistant Editor-in-Chief at NAN, is a former President, Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria, a former secretary of NAN chapel and the immediate past National Financial Secretary of NUJ.