YES, A NEW GUILD IS POSSIBLE

Close Watch By Bolaji Adebiyi Bolaji.adebiyi@thisdaylive.com

Bolaji Adebiyi reviews the recent meet of editors and says the guild is charting a new course

During the Nigerian Guild of Editors’ electioneering that preceded the biennial election earlier in the year, one of the candidates proposed that a new guild was possible if its members would empanel a quality leadership that would cater to their professional and welfare needs. The guild, he argued, had become a closed circle that was benefitting a few people, and that beyond its annual conference and biennial convention no other concrete activities take place in the organisation of over 500 members.

At his screening, he was asked if his campaign slogan was not a rabble-rousing cliché to garner votes. His response was that he intended to work with others in the leadership to open up the guild and make it more accessible and relevant not only to its members but also the entire citizenry. The guild, he contended, must reform and refocus to earn the respect of the public and endear it more to its membership. Members of the panel were sceptical and did not hide it. “Well, you would soon come in, and you would see that it is not as easy as you have put it,” one of them told him. “We shall see,” he responded.

At the end of proceedings, the outcome gave some hope that indeed, a new guild is possible. Peopled by two sitting editors and a managing director of national dailies, one head of news of a national broadcast network, a deputy editor-in-chief of a national wire service and a director of the external broadcast service of a national broadcast network, it was obvious that the guild had a chance to refocus and reform.

Soon after the outcome was announced, the elders called a meeting of the principal officers and admonished them to do things differently. First, they called for the restoration of the dignity of the body of editors. In the past few years, the guild had relied virtually on state governments’ sponsorship of its conferences. This had impacted negatively on the organisation so much so that there was no more certainty about the form and content of its principal activities because the sole sponsor, usually a state government, determined the time and venue of the events. The new leadership would have to end this by diluting its sponsorship base and encouraging members to fund the guild’s activities.

Second, the new leadership was to be more transparent and accountable to its members. Third, it had to reform the membership and fellowship recruitment process to bring it in line with the constitution, and finally, increase the opportunities for members to interact and exchange notes on the profession.

Six months may be too early to do an assessment of a two-year tenure. But if the morning shows the day, some form of chest-beating by the Mustapha Isah executive may be permitted. It’s ability to empanel appropriate committees to clear the backlog of applications for fellowship and membership is certainly commendable. At least, no one has queried the outcomes of the panels, which cleared eight of the 21 applicants for fellowship, and 13 of the 21 applicants for membership. The successful candidates were inducted at the 17th All Nigeria Editors’ Conference held in Abuja last week.

The ANEC was a record in many respects. Determined to wean the guild of the habit of sole government sponsorship as admonished by its elders, the new leadership expanded the sponsorship base to 15 as at the time of the conference. Of the 15 only two were state governments. The rest were corporate organisations. The big bucks came from the banks, United Bank for Africa, Zenith Bank and Access Bank. Big corporations, including Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Nigerian Deposit Insurance Company, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigerian Communication Commission, Trustfund and Air Peace made the sponsorship list.

Despite being new, the leadership was able to organise the conference within the third quarter original band and in spite of the new innovation of members picking their accommodation and transportation bills, it was oversubscribed. Fearing a low turnout, the organising committee had set a target of 100 subscriptions. At the end of proceedings, 350 members came to Abuja for the only meeting of editors.

Without a doubt the subscribers must have been happy with the content of the conference and the ambience of the venue. The theme: ‘The Media in Times of Crises, Resolving Conflict, Achieving Consensus,’ spoke to the state of insecurity in the country and tried to locate the role of the media in chatting the way forward. The keynote speaker was Dapo Olorunyomi, the world acclaimed activist journalist and the editor-in-chief of the respected investigative online news portal, The Premium Times. He spoke virtually from the United States to a rich gathering of top-rate editors and dignitaries, including Mele Kyari, NNPC’s group managing director; Umar Danbatta, vice executive chairman of NCC; and representatives of the secret agencies. Ray Ekpu, an accomplished journalist, chaired the event.

Everyone that came had take-aways. The secret agencies were assured of the media’s critical collaboration provided they stepped up the game. The editors were made aware of and discussed the danger posed by alternative information dissemination platforms even as viable financing options were thrown up for discourse. Also brought to the table was the controversial issue of regulation and need for the media to come to terms with the inevitability of a regulatory framework that would help to standardise journalism and the industry.

Of equal importance is the import of editors planning for life after office. Leading that discussion was Aliyu Abdulhameed, managing director of NIRSAL, who put the editors through the possibilities in the agriculture sector with Funke Egbemode, a past president of the guild and present commissioner for information and civic orientation in Osun State, warning about the dangers of not investing for the future. “If you are too busy to plan for your future, something will do you ooo!” she warned.

The organisers of the conference would not have been human if everything went on smoothly without any itch. Yes, a number of big names that were advertised did not show up. But the idea of the meet was not about big men coming over but about editors across the country bonding together to discuss the state of the nation as it affects their profession. Obviously, many of them who had not met in years saw an opportunity to reconnect and catch up.

In all, the Abuja ANEC showed that the guild leadership and its members are capable of doing whatever they set their mind to do. And already in the kitty is another respectable foreign sponsorship for six zonal capacity building seminars that would benefit about 300 editors. Isn’t the guild refocusing and reforming? Yes, a new guild is possible after all.

Adebiyi, managing editor of THISDAY Newspapers, writes from bolaji.adebiyi@thisdaylive.com