By Emmanuel Elebeke

The Chairman of National Union of Journalist, NUJ, Abuja chapter, Mr. Chuks Ehirim while reacting to Buhari’s inaugural speech called on the new President to address problems of media practitioners. Ehirim, who accused past administrations of spoon feeding private media owners who don’t pay their workers said he expects the incoming administration to address the issue by enacting a law against such practices and ensure that henceforth such media owners are no longer patronised by government.

President Buhari

“I wish the new government will tackle the problem in the media industry is facing, problem that has continued to bedevil several media houses, problem of fund shortage, problem and lack of government attention. This problem of Journalists working for months, especially with private media organizations without being paid needs to be addressed by the incoming government.

“There is a way government can address it by making laws that will discourage such practice so that they will know that it is not part of the culture of Nigeria that people should work and not be paid. In other climes like South Africa, you can’t establish a media organization, recruit people and at the end of the month you don’t pay them. When one of our own tried it there, everybody saw the outcome.

“Here in Nigeria, successive governments have continued to patronise owners of media organizations that visit this injustice on journalists. If government can withdraw its patronage from such people and acknowledge that what they are doing is wrong, who are cronies and major contractors of government, and this must stop.

“They are the people that patronise government most and government knows that such people do things that are not comfortable to journalists.

On relocating

On Buhari’s declaration that he will be a President for all, the NUJ Chairman said, “He is right to say that because in the past, when a President emerged, a particular set of people would say it is there own, whether he did well or not, they will continue to defend him. “So for him to say he will be President of all, I think it is correct, he has to be President of all Nigerians and that has to be demonstrated in the way he will carry out his programmes, the kind of appointment he is going to make, the execution of policies and all the rest.

That is what will determine whether he really meant what he said or not.