Journalists and professional hazard

By Abdulhameed  A. Ujo

Every profession has its hazard. The unique feature of the hazard of journalism profession is that it is multidimensional. These hazards could be divided into two categories, i.e., those that are internal and those that are external.
Those that are internal are related to both condition of service and management style of owners of media houses. On the other hand, external hazards are those from institutions in the environment of media houses.

Internal hazards are those that relate to poor personnel management where journalists are recruited without good condition of service. Under such condition, journalists are treated like slaves. Employment conditions are associated with the following ills: no proper recruitment contract as their employment is at pleasure of the owner of the media house.  Journalists are hired and fired at the pleasure of the owner, emoluments are poor and hardly enough to meet basic necessities let alone enable them to live in comparative comfort; journalists are made to commit ideological suicide by following the bias of the owners of media houses instead of adhering to professional principles.

The situation is further compounded by the saturated unemployment market in the country which did not provide journalists with employment options. This made them to happily sign contracts of institutional slavery rather than die a quiet and slow death due to deprivation and starvation.
The second hazard of journalism in Nigeria are those that are external. An ideal environment for the practice of journalism is a democratic system of government.

While the constitution guarantees freedom of expression certain regimes, democratic or authoritarian, consider journalists as their enemy and do not hesitate to use the sledge hammer on them. During the regime of Governor Abubakar Rimi in Kano, the State’s own Triumph newspaper was burnt down by political thugs thereby ending the career of many journalists; other examples include the bomb blast in the offices of two newspaper houses in Abuja and Kaduna, the attack on the Kano office of the Daily Trust and the closing down of the Press Centre of Murtala Muhammed

International Airport, Lagos. The foregoing activities sent many journalists to the unemployment market.
The third external hazard of Nigerian journalists are harassment, arrests, detention and trials on false charges. Those who sufferer this fate include Tony Amokeodo and Chibuzor of Leadership, six journalists from the New Nigerian, Standard, Blueprint, Aminiya, Voice of Nigeria Hausa Service and Nigerian Television Authority camera man; Akinola Ariyo of New Nigerian; Dale Fabuba of the Vanguard, Akinwale Abolulade of the Punch, Gbenro Adesina of The News, Sola Adeyemi of Compass and Bisi Oladele of The Nation, Iyase Joshua of Radio Station City FM Lagos, Suleiman Isah of the Daily Champion and Abdullahi Adamu Kanowa of Zamfara State Radio.

The fourth external hazard relates to ultimate sacrifice of some of them. Those who made this sacrifice include: Dele Giwa of Newswatch; Ephraim Audu of Nasarawa State Broadcasting Service; Paul Abayomi of Thisday; Godwin Agbroko of Thisday; Bolade Fasasi of National Association of Women Journalist; Chinedu Offoaro of The Guardian; Samson Boyi of the Scope; Bayo Ohu of The Guardian; Nathan. S. Dabak of the Light Bearer; Sunday Gyang Bwede of the Light Bearer; Sam Ninfa-Jan of The Details, Zakariya Isa of Nigerian Television Authority, Edo Sule of The Nation, Fidelis Ukwuebe, a Freelancer; Okezie Amaruben of the News Service and Tunde Oladepo of The Guardian.
Those journalism whose services were interrupted by long detention and wrote their prison letters include Kunle Ajibade, The Pen is Still Mightier; Chris Anyanwu (Senator), Rats on Two Legs, Ben Charles Obi; My Trial was a Charade, George Mbah, I Knew I would Outlive Abacha; Onome Osifo-Whisky, God and Mandela Inspired Me to Survive Abacha’s Gulag; Babafemi Ojudu, They Wanted My Magazine to Die.

The foregoing relates to the major hazards of the profession of journalism in Nigeria. These hazards emerge because of lack of institutionalisation of democracy. The right to practise journalism is guaranteed by the Constitution and other laws. This right is difficult to realize in practice largely due to activities of politicians and others with vested interests. Instead of regarding journalists as partners in progress, they view them as enemies who are only interested in exposing them. This is due to lack of proper political education. With proper political education such as the one designed and implemented by the defunct Centre for Democratic Studies established by the administration of General Ibrahim Babangida to bridge the information gap between journalists and media, the challenge will be minimized.

There should be a systematic training programme in which journalists and politicians are taught their roles in the democratic process. The hazard of the profession of journalism is a phase in the political evolution of Nigeria. It is necessary for both politicians and journalists to be aware of this fact and work towards resolving it. Politicians should be reminded that the three branches of government which are the legislative branch which performs the function of law making; executive branch which implements the law and the judicial branch which interprets the law are watched by the media. The media is the fourth branch which performs the “watch-dog” function on the three branches of government for the people. Rather than viewed as enemies, journalists should be regarded as friends of politicians whose role should be encouraged.