Scramble to be NUJ President hits up: Candidates unfold welfare programmes for journalists

Mr Rotimi Obamuwagun, a Presidential candidate in the forthcoming NUJ Delegates conference, on Saturday promised to offer free insurance scheme for all journalists in the country.
Obamuwagun, Acting National President of NUJ, made the promise at the monthly congress of the Lagos Council of the NUJ, while on a visit with his campaign team.
He said that he would also take the issues that had to do with the welfare of journalists very seriously, especially the housing scheme.
“I will also extend the expiry date of the NUJ Identity card to three years,which will cover all my tenure, if you elect me as the national president of the NUJ.
“It is still the normal N2,000, that you have been paying yearly before now, that you will pay for the next three years,’’ Obamuwagun said.
He said that presently, the NUJ has many hectares of land in Abuja, adding that he would introduce Build-Operate-and-Transfer (BOP) to ensure ownership of houses by members.
Obamuwagun said that the income that would be generated from the BOP would be spent for the welfare of journalists.
He also promised to entrench a ‘widow programme’ from which 12 widows would be picked yearly in the six zones to benefit from..
The presidential candidate said that a sum of N250,000 would be given to each nominee through the Wwdow scheme.
The candidate said he had served three NUJ presidents meritoriously as Chairman, Ondo council l; vice president, and as deputy president.
In his address, another Presidential candidate from the Lagos Council, Alhaji Waheed Odusile, said that since Lagos journalists adopted him, the council had spent time and money to prosecute the project which had taken the campaign team to 27 states of the federation.
He recalled that he was had also been endorsed and adopted in Niger, Jigawa and Ogun states.
“As the state won the Presidency in Sokoto in 1994, so shall it be this time around, ‘’ Odusile said.
“It’s about time we took our rightful place in the Nigeria Union of Journalists.
“ I promise to be the servant-leader when we get to Abuja,’’ he said.
Odusile said the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) would be an integral part of the union when he assumed office as the president of the NUJ.
He said he had served three former national presidents of the NUJ as National Ex-Officio based on the qualities they found in him.
Also, Mr Adeleye Ajayi, a contestant for the post of the National Financial Secretary, promised to uphold accountability, financial prudence and improved audit of the union’s account.
“In conjunction with other executives, we would open up avenues of collaboration with some banks to upgrade the welfare of members.
“We would create financial advisory services, and also explore avenues of increasing revenue generation drive of the union,’’ Ajayi said.
The Chairman of Ogun Council of the NUJ, Mr Wole Shokunbi said , “This time around, Ogun is with Lagos and Lagos is getting it right.
“We are still standing by our adoption of Odusile. We have also adopted, at the Zonal level, the National Financial Secretary and we also have a candidate at the zonal level,’’ he said.
Three contestants showed up at the congress, all jostling for the position of the National Treasurer.
The contestants are Mrs Monic Okechukwu, Mr Iliya Garba and Mr Ambrose Nwachukwu.
The three candidates pledged to maintain financial prudence.
The Delegates Conference would hold in Abuja from July 23 to July 26. (NAN)

Photo of journalists kidnapped three years ago
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