The attention of the Ekiti State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has been drawn to a report of alleged coercion of some of its members in the State into another union which is strange and unknown to the NUJ either at the State or national level.
It is reliably learnt that the said action is currently being perpetrated by a body which goes by the name Society of Nigerian Broadcasters (SNB) whose mission is to extort unsuspected broadcasters.
The Union also discovered that its members at the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State (BSES) and some other Broadcast Stations are being forced to join the unknown association, and also threatening unwilling and uncooperative NUJ members.
The report equally has it that while NUJ members in the affected stations are being coerced, they are also being threatened that failure to join the said association would cost them their promotion and career progression.
For the records, NUJ is both a trade union and professional body which serves as a central umbrella for journalists working in print, electronic and even New Media across the country.
In as much as we are not against the introduction of a new association, the Union however frowns on any deliberate attempt by anybody or group, to run down NUJ, or undermine its integrity.
We are aware that the Public Service Rule (PSR) which guides the Public Service of Ekiti State, does not permit subscription to two different labour associations or unions, and also does not hinge promotion of workers, especially broadcasters, on membership of any association.
The Council equally notes that workers enjoy freedom of association, according to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and therefore, coercing members to join a certain association amounts to an infringement on their rights.
The council hereby calls on government and relevant authorities to call the masterminds of this illegal association to order.
E-signed
O’Seun Ogunsakin
Secretary, Ekiti NUJ