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Waheed Odusile’s tortuous journey to NUJ’s headship

By Kabir Alabi Garba
26 July 2015   |   11:27 pm
THE electoral victory, last Saturday morning of Alhaji Abdulwaheed Odusile as the newly elected president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has become another case study in the harvest of persistent pursuit of an ambition. He polled a total of 354 votes to defeat his closest rival, Prince Rotimi Obamuwagun (from Ondo Council) who…
Alhaji Odusile… taking the oath of office as NUJ President in Abuja on Saturday

Alhaji Odusile… taking the oath of office as NUJ President in Abuja on Saturday

THE electoral victory, last Saturday morning of Alhaji Abdulwaheed Odusile as the newly elected president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has become another case study in the harvest of persistent pursuit of an ambition.

He polled a total of 354 votes to defeat his closest rival, Prince Rotimi Obamuwagun (from Ondo Council) who got 333 votes. Six contestants sought to occupy the top seat vacated by Mallam Muhammad Garba who completed his two-term tenure in office last June. Other candidates were Prince Dele Atunbi (also from Ondo), 51 votes; Seiyefa Uzaka from Bayelsa (46 votes); Mike Aladenike from Edo (25 votes); Mustapha Lamidi from Abuja Council (12 votes).

Similar to the experience of Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari who won the March 28, 2015 Presidential Election after he had recorded three failed attempts in 2003, 2007, and 2011, Odusile had also sought to serve the union as Deputy National President thrice (2006, 2009, and 2012) without success. Interestingly, the 2006 contest pitched Odusile against Mallam Garba whom he succeeded as president on Saturday. The other two attempts (2009 and 2012) had Prince Obamuwagun as co-contender who floored Odusile during the two encounters.

In fact, the race, initially, appeared uphill task for Odusile with Obamuwagun in the contest especially with his profile as the Deputy National President for six years who had also defeated Odusile in the previous two encounters.

But the major obstacle to realising his ambition to lead the union as president, as it turned out, was the failure to reach a consensus with another candidate from his Ondo Council, Prince Dele Atunbi who also served as Vice-President (South West zone) under Garba’s administration. Atunbi’s 51 votes could have given Obamuwagun the victory if both had worked together.

The highpoint of the Delegates Conference was the peaceful conduct of affairs, the overwhelming presence of police officers notwithstanding. During the Business session that preceded the election on Friday afternoon, the immediate past president, Mallam Garba, who presided over the session, had tasked delegates from all over the country on the need to conduct a free, fair and transparent election. And that was exactly what happened.

In his post-election remarks after the swearing-in ceremony, Odusile gave gratitude to God Almighty for the victory. He described the election as historic not only because he won “by the margin of 21 votes,” but also because the “victory is coming exactly 21 years after Lagos State Council of the NUJ had last shot as the President of our great union. I must indeed thank God for this and therefore pay tribute to the last President of NUJ to come from the Lagos Council, the late Comrade Ladipo Lawal, our mentor, leader in Lagos, who, I must confess, had predicted that Waheed would, one day, become the president of the NUJ. That prediction has come to pass today. May Allah (SWT) continue to grant Ladi Lawal’s soul eternal rest.”

He continued, “I also want to thank especially everybody that participated in this election, particularly my co-contestants, with special reference to the immediate past Deputy National President, Prince Rotimi Obamuwagun, who we were told lost his dear wife on Friday morning at the start of the electioneering segment of the 5th Triennial Delegates Conference. We pray that Almighty God should grant her soul eternal rest.” The prayer was accompanied by one-minute silence in honour of the departed soul.

“This is the dawn of a new era in our union,” Odusile said while commending the efforts of past leaders of NUJ who, according to him, have continued to identify with the vision of the union’s founding fathers as a vibrant group in the realisation of the ideals and aspirations of Nigeria as a country. “We are indeed indebted to you all for the foundation you had laid for this union. And it is on that foundation that this newly elected team intends to build a stronger and long lasting future for our union.”

Now on the campaign promises, he said, “this team is committed to our programmes of action during the campaign. We will keep to those promises. And please hold us responsible for the promises made while seeking your votes. For instance, we are fully committed to pursue enhanced welfare programme for journalists in Nigeria.

“One of the first things to do when we assume office properly is to pursue this Media Salary Structure and ensure that our employers give us what is commensurate with the efforts that we put in this noble profession. The Special Media Salary Structure we promised would be realised by the grace of God. Related to that is the issue of non-payment/delay/owing of salary arrears of our members. It is disturbing. Our message to the debtors (media owners/publishers) will be loud and clear: pay our members as at when due or close shop. NUJ shall no longer tolerate non-payment of salaries of our members. We will pursue this programme vigorously. Besides, we will also seek a law that will make owing of salaries of workers illegal in Nigeria. We are going to collaborate with other labour unions to achieve this as we believe that until this is done, employers of labour will continue to owe workers in Nigeria, especially in the media industry.

“On the NUJ Radio that we promised to establish, in the next few weeks, we shall formally apply and obtain a licence to operate a radio station in Nigeria. The NUJ Insurance scheme will be broadened to include Health Insurance in order to foster well being of our members at all times. The package will be participatory and the details will be worked out as soon as the new executive council settles down.

“Also, the defence of press freedom, the rights of our members shall be pursued vigorously by this administration. But the health of the industry is also important, so, we want to implore the Federal Government to bail out media owners in Nigeria because the media is in distress. On this note, I want to thank everyone for the confidence repose in this new leadership and promise that we will not disappoint you.”

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