Akinreti: The kind of NUJ President, Chairmen we need

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By Lekan Otufodunrin

Choosing who to vote for, as Chairman, in the last election of the Lagos Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists, (NUJ) was not a difficult choice for me.

Despite the intense campaigns by the two camps that vied for various positions behind the two candidates for chairmanship, I never for once doubted that my vote would be for Dr Qasim Akinreti.

I must admit that his opponent was also a good candidate, but on the scale of preference of the kind of Chairman I felt the council needs now and the years ahead, Akinreti perfectly fitted the bill.

My decision was not only based on what his manifesto was, but what I had always known about him as not just another desperate office seeking union leader.

His very high educational qualifications, professional accomplishments and clear vision for the future of media practice in the country easily convinced me that he was the best man for the job of taking Lagos NUJ to a higher level for the much needed professional media union leadership in the state.

Already, he has began to show the stuff he is made of with the various steps he is taking along with other executive members. He proved to the the kind of Chairman Lagos journalists should be very proud of at the School of Communication Rights seminar we both attended in Nairobi, Kenya from December 10-16,2017 organised by the World Association for Christian Communication.

His presentation and contributions during various sessions were not surprisingly very profound.

The organisers and participants found his depth of understanding of scholarly and professional media issues very rich and illuminating.

He provided very informed and researched based narratives about Nigeria that changed the negative perspectives some participants have had about our country.

So impressed were some participants by our Chairman’s erudition that they can’t wait to invite him to their countries to share his wealth of knowledge at their programmes.

I flew back with him from Nairobi on Saturday feeling very proud that we have in Dr Akinreti, a very worthy ambassador of media practice in Nigeria. Only the brightest and the best should be good enough to lead our media groups.

Thank you Dr Akinreti for being the new face of the kind of NUJ leader we need for times like this in the media industry.

Otufodunrin is former The Nation Sunday Editor, now Online Editor.