Jola Ogunlusi: Doyen of NUJ @90

On September 25, the Former National Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) , Comrade Jola Ogunlusi will be 90 years old.

His friends and associates have planned a thanksgiving service for Saturday, September 28, at the church of Pentecost, 21, road, FESTAC Village, to give praise to God for preserving the life of the man, who crossed many turbulent waves, along with others to make Journalism and its practitioners get to the promised land in professionalism and unionism.

Pa Ogunlusi has a course to praise God for sparing his life. He was humiliated, suffered setbacks, survived a ghastly motor accident, was incarcerated, and even mocked by his peers in his younger days at Ayedun Ekiti. Because of his poor background, he could not complete his secondary school education. He dropped out at Ansar- Ud- Deen High School Ikole Ekiti in Form four due to a financial crisis. He ended up as a pupil teacher and studied privately at home for the General Certificate of Education GCE.

His love for politics and late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s ideology made him join the services of Africa Newspapers of Nigeria, Publishers of Nigeria Tribune, and Iroyin Yoruba. This was in the early 60s, when a political crisis had engulfed the popular Wild, Wild West and Chief Awolowo was incarcerated. Then it was a crime to buy or read Tribune titles, openly.

He joined the Iroyin Yoruba as a reporter under the late Pa Olu Olofin. His passion for welfarism and trade unionism in the 1960s grew, as he was influenced by comrade J. O. James to join the United Labour Congress of Nigeria, as an Assistant Secretary. Because of the poor financial standing and political victimisation of Tribune workers, working for months without salary. Ogunlusi, to keep body and soul together, was also a freelance reporter for Africa Arts Magazine and LAMP Magazine. He was discovered by Chief Ayo Adedun, who eventually made him take up an appointment with Western State Government newspaper, publisher of Sketch Press Limited, where he was seconded to Gboungboun the Yoruba publication of the newspaper. Chief Mike Pearse, who later assisted him in gaining employment with the New Nigeria newspapers.

His journey into full-fledged trade unionism started in the late 70s when NUJ was at its peak of leadership crisis, which led to Michael Asaju and Sidi Ali Sirajo’s factions. The union was then operating a controversial constitution, and luckily for Ogunlusi he found himself in the camp of Asaju’s faction, which became the reorganized faction by the government.

I remember the brunt I had personally with Igwa’s group, when I used the photograph of Chief Asaju to illustrate a page I planned in the Herald newspaper. At the editorial conference, the Editor, Alhaji Yakubu Abdulazeez had to put his feet down to overrule the views of the likes of Dan Ikunaye and Alfred Ilenre, who were in Sidi Ali Sijaro’s camp. They insisted we must not use Asaju’s photograph.

While on a facility tour in Cuba, Ali Sirajo was in charge of his group, mostly Northern Journalists, who were sympathetic to his course except, Plateau, Borno, and Kwara States. There was no active NUJ unionism in the northern states. This was the period that Jola Ogunlusi’s NUJ Secretariat succeeded in dragging the union to a full-fledged professional and trade union body, fighting for oppressed journalists. Many decrees and draconian laws like albatross, were hanging on the necks of media practitioners in Nigeria.

Despite the fact that the crisis, which started in Jos was not solved at the Akure delegates conference, which led to the emergence of Alhaji Bola Adedoja’s executive, the offshoot of Michael Asaju’s recognized camp, Ogunlusi and his new boss, Adeoja continued to forge ahead, fighting in all fronts to stabilize, journalism practice, which was in serious battles with the government and media owners.

At the same time, many journalists lacked a professional background and there was the need to look for avenues to train them within and outside the country. Having been influenced by Comrade Tunji Otegbeye and Wahab Goodluck, hard-liners in trade unionism, NUJ National Secretary Jola Ogunlusi succeeded in getting training facilities, especially in socialist Eastern Europe.

At a go, 33 Journalists proceeded to three months courses at the International Organization of Journalists (IOJ), in Bulgaria. It is on record that during Jola Ogunlusi’s headship of NUJ secretariat journalists, such as Michael Asaju, Bola Adedoja, Geoge Izobor, to Sanni Zoro, about101 journalists, were sponsored for various courses in Bulgaria, Cuba, Russia and United States of America as well as other facility tours, outside Africa, apart from local trainings.

One of the beneficiaries was Prince Mola Olaniyan, who was NUJ Chairman in Kwara State, in which I was Vice Chairman, while the late Chief Jide Adebayo was secretary, from who I took over the running of the Kwara NUJ as acting Chairman when he traveled until I relocated to Oyo State, where I served consecutively as two-term secretary.

Apart from foreign courses, NUJ during his tenure as National Secretary, contributed a lot to sustain and projecting the Nigeria Institute of Journalism (NIJ) as well as laying foundation for establishment of the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ). When some females, who were not journalists in electronic media were parading themselves as journalists, George Izobor/Jola Ogunlusi executive cut them to sizes, by creating the Nigeria Association of Female Journalists (NAWOJ).

NUJ is an affiliate of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). Jola Ogunlusi secretariat on its own also fought relentlessly against the injustice meted out to its members. The sack of Vera Ifudu by the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) for reporting the missing $2.1 billion oil fund was a good example. NUJ declared a trade dispute against the NTA management and got the Reporter reinstated.

Many journalists would have lost their jobs unceremoniously if the Jola Ogunlusi National Secretariat of the NUJ, had not taken up their cases. They included journalists in Tide, Chronicle, Standard Newspapers, Federal Radio Cooperation (FRCN) among others like Nigeria Tribune, Nigeria Television, MTV, and Sketch Press Limited.

For example, when Dr. Omololu Olunloyo became governor of Oyo State, many journalists were sacked or punitively redeployed to the Cultural Centre and Ministry of Information. The NUJ had to fight relentlessly for their reinstatement.

Many draconian military decrees like Decree 31 prohibiting media organisations were too much for journalists. NUJ secretariat under Ogunlusi formed an alliance with the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) headed by Alhaji Lateef Jakande, and the Nigeria Guild of Editors to form, Nigeria Press Organisation (NPO), to prepare a common front to fight the government and media employers, who wanted to kill newspaper industries and electronic media.

Though George Izobor and his deputy Nasir Zaharadeen meticulously accommodated Ogunlusi to run the affairs of the NUJ, after broadening the NUJ secretariat with the creation of zones, those who came after them, retired him without making proper arrangements to offset his entitlement, which unfortunately are still pending till today.

A cat with many lives, Ogunlusi almost lost his life in a ghastly motor accident along Ijebu Ode road. Unconscious, he, when he regained his memory at the General Hospital, asked for a pen and piece of paper, where he scribbled “Please tell Governor Segun Osoba that his brother is here and could die any moment as a result of a motor accident.

The hospital workers were disturbed by the write-up. A brother to our serving governor? Was this man insane? They were ruminating until the hospital management took the badly written message to Governor Osoba, who in a convoy with a blazing siren rushed down. Sighting the NUJ secretary on the bed with tears rolling down his cheeks, sobbing Governor Osoba instructed the hospital management to do everything in its power to bring him (Ogunlusi ) back to life. Today, he is 90.

Bolaji Kareem, veteran Journalist and former Commissioner for Works and Transport in Oyo State, wrote from Ibadan.