“Within the period I was in active journalism practice, I was deeply involved in the politics of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) both in Lagos State and at the national level. Although I never held any official position, but I played prominent roles at various levels as a key stakeholder. The Lagos chapter of the NUJ commands national influence because of several factors, among which is the huge concentration of media organizations in the Lagos area, from which it draws its membership strength. It thus has more media practitioners than any other State in the Federation. The NUJ also has a solid investment in the area of property ownership in many areas of Lagos, especially Victoria Island, Shomolu and Ikeja. These properties are rented out to commercial outlets from which the NUJ generates a lot of revenues with which it runs its activities. Given the economic viability of the Union, the elections into the various offices of the Lagos NUJ are always attended by stiff competitions and intense struggles by different interest groups who seek to control the Union at all cost. These properties generate millions of naira to the coffers of the Union. Many journalists seeking election into the NUJ go to any length and fight to finish to take control because of the huge financial stakes that are involved.
“Against this background, NUJ elections in Lagos come with heightened tensions among journalists who pitch their tents with the competing and contesting camps. This was the situation when Lanre Arogundade, a former President of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) from the University of Ife and reporter with Vanguard Newspapers, Lagos, contested and won the chairmanship of the Lagos State Council of the NUJ in 1994. Moses Ezulike of Champion Newspapers was elected the Vice Chairman and Lawrence Ojabo of Federal Ministry of Information, the Secretary. In course of Lanre`s tenure, there was a leadership crisis which tended to tear the Union apart. Lanre`s problems started when he was alleged to have sidelined some of his colleagues on the Executive Council. He was also accused of using Council funds to prosecute a private case in court against an NUJ member. This polarized the Council and resulted in a crisis of confidence. All efforts at mediation and conciliation by some well-meaning Nigerians and notable journalists, like Richard Akinola, Gabriel Omohinmi and late Ladi Lawal, failed to resolve the crisis. This eventually led to the factionalization of the Council, with Lanre and Moses leading different camps. The crisis took a dangerous turn for the worst when it assumed an ethnic colouration with a good number of Yoruba journalists pitching their tent with Lanre while their Igbo counterparts backed Moses. The crisis continued to fester with none of the camps yielding grounds to each other. The situation later resulted into a bloody confrontation between the two camps at the Shomolu Secretariat of the NUJ.
“On that fateful date which was the day for the monthly Congress meeting of the Council, stalwarts from the Moses Ezulike camp had arrived in the wee hours of the morning to take control of the Council building. The Ezulike group succeeded in
seizing control of the Secretariat because some loyalists in the camp went ahead of everybody to keep vigil at the Secretariat, unknown to the Lanre camp. It was a powerful strategy that really paid off mightily for the Ezulike`s camp. By the time Lanre and his group got to the Secretariat the following morning, the entire complex had been taken over by Ezulike and his group; and they were denied access. With the assistance of some thugs and alleged cultists, Lanre and his sympathizers sought to regain control of the Council Secretariat. But they were firmly resisted by the Ezulike supporters with Stone Agomoh of Radio Nigeria, Osisam Ede of Punch Newspapers and Igbonekwu Ogazimorah of Post Express leading the charge. The key actors on the side of Lanre were Iyobosa Uwuguarien of Thisday Newspapers, Kehinde Bamigbetan of Concord Press, and Tunde Aremu and Bolaji Adebiyi, both of Punch Newspapers. The tense situation degenerated into a bloody fight with some combatants on both sides sustaining varying degrees of injuries. The entire neighbourhood was thrown into a big commotion. Some concerned members of the public had to call in the Police to avert a looming bloodbath.
POLICE INTERVENTION
“All of us present at the venue, including Lanre and Moses were arrested by the Police and taken into custody at the Bariga Police Station. We were locked up in separate cells. It took the spirited intervention of Prince Tony Momoh, a respected former Editor of the Daily Times and former Minister of Information to get all of us released unconditionally. The crisis took a more dangerous dimension when one of the elected NUJ officials and a female journalist, Bola Fasasi, popularly known as Iya Oyo was assassinated in Ibadan in controversial circumstances. Iya Oyo was a prominent member of the Ezulike camp. The continuing crisis later led to the removal of Lanre Arogundade from office and his replacement by Ezulike in acting capacity. The matter ended up in Court with Chief Adegboyega Awomolo SAN and Barrister Amobi Nzelu representing the Ezulike camp. It was indeed a very trying moment for the NUJ in Lagos.”
(Excerpt from Dr. Emeka Nwosu’s soon to be presented new book, ‘Media, Politics, and Power in Nigeria: A Personal Perspective’).
• Dr. Nwosu, a veteran journalist, speechwriter and reputation manager, holds a doctorate degree in Political Economy and Development Studies.