INTERVIEW: How I Emerged First Female NUJ-FCT Chairman After 41 Years -Grace Ike

Ms Grace Ike is the current Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council. In this Exclusive Interview with TheFact Magazine, she bares her mind on issues bordering on journalists welfare in the FCT, and the challenges faced during the last election that almost stalled her emergence of becoming the First Female Chairman of the Council. Excerpts:

As the First Female Chairman of the NUJ-FCT Chapter, how would you describe your overwhelming victory at the last elections, and why were you given such massive support?

Well, it was a victory by God. Victory from the people and for the people. I really don’t see it as Grace did it, no. It was as a result of my performance from the National Assembly, as the Chairperson of the House of Representatives Press Corps. And also, my performance as the Vice Chairperson Correspondent Chapel. So, for me, the people saw the need for change. They saw the need for a credible leader, with integrity to change the narrative. They wanted a change from the norms where it was family business and godfatherism, to purposeful leadership. The waves were much if you followed through the whole process. It was such that if you stand, it would consume you. It was not just about Grace. At one point, I wanted to withdraw, but some group of people warned me that it was beyond me, therefore, I could not pulled out of the race. I felt the yearning of the people, because the demand for change was genuine, natural and organic. I couldn’t fight it. My performance at the House like I earlier said gave me that massive support. I did my best to change the narrative at the House of Reps. They had past chairmen, but I came on board notwithstanding their achievements, entered the shoe and surpassed it. I saw past chairmen, not all of them, some of them who were genuinely involved. That passion for change was there. And not for an individual to say he decides who becomes the chairman of the Council. That was the statement that hurt me so much that I will never forget. That particular statement: “I will decide who becomes the next chairman”, was quite appalling. So, the massive support was a victory for God, victory for the people and it goes a long way to teach us a lesson that whatever you are doing, people are watching. The massive support was organic and I am happy we are where we are today, and by the grace of God, we will definitely get to our destination in FCT for the Nigerian journalists.

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Months after your victory at the elections, the outgoing administration has not officially handed over to you and your EXCOs, why the delay and what are you doing about it?

It’s quite pathetic. Ordinarily, I don’t want to touch this question, because there is a probe committee already existing and it will be unfair to go ahead to speak when they have not submitted their report. We expect to hold congress soon and at the Congress, it will be made open to let everyone know the situation of things. But I want to speak as an individual now, and not as a chairman on this particular issue. When you are given a position to hold, be it Church, Hospital, School, Union or public service, the hallmark of leadership is stewardship. If you are given a position and you are about to round up, it is expected of you to handover a file to say this is exactly what I did. But you see people running away from handing over files and using excuses like I don’t believe in the process. If the process was not okay, seek legal redress, go to court. That is what the constitution says. Don’t take laws into your hands. If you are not satisfied with whatever process you have had, whether as a public servant, teacher, doctor, or unionist, please, seek legal redress. But while you are leaving, you must handover documents and financial accounts to the people who voted you in or gave you that appointment. But the reverse is the case as to what we are seeing in FCT. And for me, it is unacceptable, and cannot continue. If it was the norm, it cannot continue. That something was wrong five years ago is not enough reason for us to continue on that path. I have a former chairman who is actually the Godfather supporting them with what they are doing. He is boldly saying after all, some people did not hand over. These are the kind of people we shouldn’t have in leadership positions, because they are not ready to correct the wrongs. That something happened ten, twenty years ago does not mean it should happen today. And then, how do we get it right in 2025 and 2030? It is unacceptable. It is unfortunate because persons like these should be held accountable. Because it shows there is something they are hiding. It shows there is fraud, there is criminality that is why they don’t want to handover personally, and we are not going to let it slide. Whatever you have, even if it’s a zero account, render it and move. Let the world know you don’t have anything in the account. Probably, you didn’t make money, or there was no one to assist you. It is okay, you did your best. But you must handover documents and files to show accountability and stewardship.

NUJ advocates for journalists and journalism practice in Nigeria, do you have the capacity to negotiate better deals for your members?

It is my belief and prayers that before the end of our tenure, NUJ-FCT’s story will be different. We are setting a pace that when the next person comes, he or she will be happy to lead NUJ. Some people have lost interest in NUJ because they feel it doesn’t matter. The immediate past executives made NUJ unattractive. They made people run away, meanwhile, they were milking the Union. They were using the platform to milk the Union, I can authoritatively say so. No one is saying do not make money but you have to make money in such a way that you don’t blackmail people. You blackmailed agencies, ministries, departments, government officials, individuals who ordinarily should contribute their quota to nation development, but because you want your personal gain, you blackmailed them. Coming on board, we say no, we will not do that. We want to be transparent and accountable to the people. And that takes us to the issue of welfare for our members. We came on board on the 4th of December. By 24th December, we were already distributing bags of rice to over 800 members. It might not be much, but the heart behind what we are doing is what matters most. It shows that we are willing to listen to our people and attend to their yearnings. Welfare is paramount and we will continue to do that. We will go farther to see that we reach the yearnings of our people in terms of welfare. Same with training and retraining. We are already reaching out to relevant authorities, well-meaning Nigerians and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to see how to partner with us, remember, NUJ is also an NGO. There is no subvention, what you get is even in the Constitution. It is part of goodwill from well-meaning Nigerians. And we must not abuse it. We are going to speak in one voice to improve the living standard of members in FCT.

How would you handle the issue of brown envelopes, and non-payment of journalists by Publishers in FCT?

What do you understand by brown envelope? I asked this question because what you might see as a brown envelope, is not what I will holistically describe as a brown envelope. Do not forget that the media has budget allocation in all Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) of government. And I will refer to that as honorarium. So, we must stop calling it a brown envelope. You have people who go to events, they give them honorarium or sitting allowance. Even in the budgetary allocation for the President, there is honorarium for movement and logistics. Go to MDAs, they have and when it gets to our turn, they say it is a brown envelope. If we attend your event, term it as honorarium. But because they want to undermine us they call it a brown envelope and we must not accept that. Is it because it is packaged in a brown envelope not to be seen? Is there any way you want to give someone money and put it in a white envelope? Okay, maybe we will start a system with white envelope. I am not totally in support that the term brown envelope should not exist, no. I am kicking against people coming out to say journalists and brown envelopes. It is called honorarium. If I come to visit you or cover stuff for you and there is a package for that in your ministry or agency, you made available honorarium, because you must have requested money from somewhere and you say it is for media stuff. We also need to help ourselves to clean the system. And for Publishers who are not paying. The economy is not smiling but they are making money. If you want your reporters to give you the best, you must pay them. If we must clean the system, we have to start paying. And that is why I am happy that the National Secretariat is coming up with the Media Enhancement Bill to partner with the Guild of Editors, Some NGOs, IPC and even some publishers to see how we can pass the bill to promote remuneration for journalists. Outside of Nigeria, journalists are well paid. People are happy to be journalists. Journalists in Nigeria should conduct themselves properly so they don’t look down on them.

There seems to be an increasing number of attacks on journalists by Politicians and Police Operatives in FCT, how do you intend to handle the issue?

We have made this clear that when you have issues of brutality or harassment report to us so we follow up to ensure that the investigation is balanced and objective, and give the parties fair hearing. Brutality on journalists is on the increase and we have zero tolerance for this. And I am happy the FCT-NUJ is on top of it, the same with the National Secretariat. We are also seeing how we can partner with some NGOs to create more awareness and sensitisation on the need for the media and the police to work together. The media and the police can get things done without clashing. We have zero tolerance for harassment, not only of police, but also of politicians. There is a need for us to work together. Overall, there is a need for us as journalists to adhere to whatever rules and regulations that are put in place so as to foster unity.

The NUJ-FCT Chapter is wearing a new look for a couple of weeks under your leadership, how did you achieve that feat even when you are yet to access the Union’s account?

Well, we came on board and what we saw was alarming. It was dirty. The environment, and the system. And the first thing we decided to embark on was to sanitise the system, and that is what we are still doing to sanitise the Union. It is wearing a new look and you are happy to see it because of the calibre of the executives you elected. The calibre of individuals that are sitting here today as your chairman, vice chairman, treasurer and secretary. These are persons with credible background and integrity. For us, it is not about coming on board to want to use the platform to enrich ourselves. I in Particular, I am into humanitarian activities. I give back to society without expecting anything in return. There is this joy that I feel anytime I give without waiting to get it back. We came selfless. We did not come because we want to be selfish or amass wealth, no. Because of the background we have already most times what happens during leadership role or position is to check the person’s background. We do not do background checks and we fall into that pit of having bad leaders in the Union. But this time around people were determined to go to the roots to ask questions. So background check matters a lot. Coming on board, people know me for me. Grace is somebody who wants to give. Grace is somebody who wants to put a smile on their faces and that was exactly what I came on board to do without minding whichever account they have, and are sitting upon so that people will not know the fraud and criminality they have committed. I was in the House, when I was leaving after the elections, I took the Chairman who won the election to the bank and I said sir, this is the letter introducing the new persons and I removed my name as a signature, and I replaced it with his own name and phone number. And afterwards, I declared the amount in the account. People who do not give accounts have committed fraud, take it from me.

Journalism is a noble profession, but fake journalists abound in FCT, what are your plans to stop these quacks and charlatans from operating freely in FCT?

I don’t know if you have visited the NUJ-FCT website recently. I think the essence of it is to also have a chapel leader and executive give us the names of their members, upload them on our website. So when you go for an event and someone parade his or herself as a journalist, please, quickly go to the website, ask the person which of the chapel do you belong to, if he says I am correspondent, check if the name is there, if it is not there, he or she is not a member of NUJ. This is the fastest way of cleaning up the system. And aside that we are also looking forward to partnering with the data Commission, to see how we can get this digitised. So, if it is not there on the list, please drive such a person away. We are not taking it for granted and that is why NUJ-FCT is advising that as a member you have to make sure that the chapel leader uploads your name, so you don’t face embarrassment at events. If the name is not there, you don’t have business dealing with that individual. We have our ID Card for the year, but if you are not comfortable with the ID Card, please, go to the website, it is as authentic as anything you can think of.

Nigeria currently is pushing for gender equality; women inclusion and empowerment, what plans do you have for female journalists in FCT?

Well, I am a member of Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) and the idea is to use the platform to push for gender equality and inclusivity. Aside that even as Chairman of the NUJ-FCT, the first female, it wasn’t without rough road. The road was very rough, it was challenging. 2024 was a defining moment for me and I will never forget it in a jiffy. It goes a long way to tell you that there are persons in life who you think will stand by you, those you least expect are the people that will stand by you. And those who know you too well are the ones who would want to break your destiny. But when God says yes, who are you as a man to say no? So, we are no longer clamoring for 35% affirmative action, we want to go for 100%. I know with the President Bola Tinubu administration, the President has this passion for women inclusivity in his government. You will agree with me that we have women participating in most of the activities in the present administration. And that is exactly what I am doing too, not minding that it is not for women. NUJ is for both genders. But women are breaking barriers. If you want to build a nation, bring up a woman. Our gender is our strength. We want our voices to be amplified and I am happy that for the first time in the history of NUJ-FCT after 41 years, a woman is sitting here to say that by God’s grace it will not be business as usual. And I also want to use this medium to say thank you to the male folks, some of the male folks who believe that when you give a woman the chance to lead, they will transform and turn around whatever it is given to them positively, so we will do more programmes and activities to promote women. I will support NAWOJ-FCT in whatever they are doing because it is a sister association under NUJ. We will continue to do our best until we get to the final destination.