Ondo journalists to boycott May Day rally, other labour activities

By SAMUEL ENI

Members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ondo State Council, have resolved to boycott all activities of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), holding in the state including the annual May Day rally coming up later this week.

The union also passed a vote of no confidence on the state leadership of the NLC for allegedly taking issues affecting the welfare of journalists in the state with levity.

The state chairman of the NUJ, Akinfolayan Owanikin, in a communique issued at the end of the April edition of the union’s monthly congress, put the public on notice that the NUJ, an affiliate of the NLC, is pulling out of the umbrella body until further notice.

The NUJ then directed its members not to participate in any NLC activities or give coverage for any event organised by the labour union, including the coming May Day Rally in Akure.

According to Owanikin, the NUJ took the decision after reviewing the recent events in the state in which the state leadership of the NLC had allegedly failed to play its expected role either in defending or protecting the interest of journalists in the state.

The union cited the recent incident at the Ondo State Radiovision Corporation, where some NUJ members were arrested and detained for protesting the unbearable working condition in the state government-owned media organisation.

“Despite the fact that we carried along the NLC State Chairman, Mrs. Bosede Daramola, from the onset on the issue of OSRC, she refused to intervene in the crisis. When the government set up a panel on the matter, the NLC refused to submit its position paper or make any representation to the panel despite our pleas.

“This, of course, is not the first time that the NLC would turn its back at the NUJ when it needs it most. In recent years, there have been many incidents involving journalists in the state in which the NLC would refuse to play any role.

“One of those was the assault on a cameraman at a May Day Rally by policemen a few years ago which led to the death of the cameraman while the NLC chairman often refuses to mention the plights of NUJ members in her speech during Workers Day events. The union therefore condemns in strong terms the insensitivity of the NLC to the plights of NUJ members in the state.

"The council commends the Ondo State Government for setting up a panel of inquiry to look into the rots in the OSRC with the hope that the outcome will bring about the desired change and improve the working condition of the entire workforce in the establishment,” the statement read.