…Demands Non Government Designated Regulatory Heads
By Udesinanna Stephen, Akubulu Ngozi, Deborah Christopher, Grace Ihie
The Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Ekiti State Council, Comrade Rotimi Ojomoyela has said Nigeria Press is one of the freest in the world but demands heads of regulatory bodies to be media appointees, not government designated.
The Union Chairman said this today in his office during an interactive session with Roundoffnews in commemoration of the World Press day.
The Chairman said, “To an extent, we are free as backed by the constitution although sometimes we experience some obstructing actions by the government regulatory bodies.”
He added that to facelift press freedom, the heads of press regulatory bodies should be media owners and not just any government appointees.
“Nigeria Broadcast Commission (NBC) and the Nigeria Press Council (NPC) should not be a government parastatal; that is why we refused to cooperate with them as we think it is a way the government tends to control the press.
“They give us a Press Council and the secretary is appointed by the government it means that whomsoever that is in power is in charge of those two organisation.”
Speaking on the challenges faced by the press, the Chairman lamented on fake news motivated by the new media stating that, anyone with a smartphone can access it (online media) unlike conventional media that have a means of control by censorship; “this is our number one challenge this (online media) has drawn serious attraction because of its windows of freedom,” he stressed.
Furthermore, Rotimi said infrastructure is needed in the media industry to aid media efficiency, saying that cameras are paramount in journalism but it cost a lot to import them.
Regarding remuneration, the Chairman said, “payment of salary is a problem, especially for those in private media, they hardly get paid, even some private media runs on freelance journalists which is against the labour law.
“In recent time the Nigeria Television Authority, NTA has not employed new persons majority left in the station are Senior staff,” he added.