4th November, 2010
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), binding prominent media stakeholders to work in partnership for improved conditions of service for journalists and media workers in Nigeria have been agreed upon in Lagos.
The MOU emerged from a one-day stakeholders’ roundtable on the ‘Working and Welfare Situation of Journalists in Nigeria’ organised by the International Press Centre
(IPC) and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Foundation in Lagos. It was attended by leaders and representatives of media unions and associations, media regulatory bodies, media support groups and editors.
The MOU was immediately ratified by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ); the Radio, Television and Theatre Arts Workers’ Union (RATTAWU); the National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Products Workers (NUPPPPROW); the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE); the Nigeria Press Council (NPC) and the International Press Centre
(IPC). The signatories said it would be presented to other stakeholders for endorsement.
Objectives of the partnership include:
Providing a platform for stronger advocacy and solidarity on measures for the improvement of the working and welfare conditions of journalists in both the private and public sectors; collaborating on all legitimate measures that would lead to the emergence of collective bargaining and the enthronement of a minimum condition of service with country-wide application and popularising and widely disseminating the NUJ Standard Conditions of Service for Journalists.
The Lagos roundtable was addressed by the Minister of State for Information and Communication, Hon. Labaran Maku who said that “no investment in the media can succeed without proper investment in the welfare and development of media professionals and workers.â€
Other speakers included the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr. Mohammed Garba; the Assistant Secretary of the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr.
Steve Ayorinde and the Executive Secretary of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), Mr. Osita Nweke.
Head of Industrial Relations of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Owei Lakemfa presented the first lead paper on ‘Collective Bargaining in the Nigeria Media: Problems,
Prospects and the Way Forward’ while the second paper on ‘Media Independence, Journalists’ Rights and Press Freedom: Overcoming the Threats and Challenges’ was presented by the Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Mr. Edetaen Ojo.
The participants expressed the hope that the MOU would serve as a useful tool and mechanism to check the prevailing culture of indifference to journalists’ and media workers’ welfare as characterized by irregular or non-payment of wages.
The participants observed that current wages in the media industry are quite poor judging by national, regional and international labour standards.
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